Tuesday chug for children aged 6 to 8 avidly watching "their teacher" Sandra Apperman. Story and photos by Cynthia Barmor

After several unsuccessful attempts to introduce English is Fun to the children of Neve ESRA in Modiin – they had no zietsfleish (patience) – we came up with the idea of offering Fun-glish to the general community. We had an excellent teacher, a great plan, a catchy name, now all we needed were the participants.

We formulated a plan, advertised in the local newspaper, on Facebook, through our mailing lists and local email listings, and talked it up wherever we could. We also printed flyers to insert into the ESRA Magazines and distribute at every opportunity.

I would have been happy to start with one class of ten. To my surprise and joy, the one class very quickly became five, children and adults alike, all wanting to improve their English in a novel and entertaining way.

Fun-glish is given by Sandra Apperman, an English teacher with terrific creativity, who conveys the language through games, stories, drama, music and specific topics, such as nature and science. Everyone gets a chance to speak, while others listen and absorb the language for an hour each week. 

Getting to grips with Fun-glish in Modiin

What is so rewarding is watching everyone's enthusiasm and enjoyment during the activity.We are currently running two children's and three adult classes on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. And we are looking to expand our reach to adolescents and adults with advanced spoken English in the evening hours.

Not only are we providing an outstanding service to our community, but we are also expanding our membership at the same time, since members receive a significant reduction in the cost of the annual program (490 shekels as opposed to 650 shekels). It started last November and will run to the end of June.

ESRA is a unique organization with a unique niche – we are all native English speakers. What better way to contribute to our communities than through the promotion of English which every Israeli needs. In Modiin, we have focused on just that through our Let's Talk program, which is still going strong since its inception seven years ago.

English Tutoring Program is another activity that helps fulfill this objective, while our bookshop, ESRA Books illustrates all that we are. To this we have now added Fun-glish, an innovative program that also encourages membership. A win-win for all.

For further information regarding Fun-glish, please contact Sandra Apperman at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 0523847983