Hebrew is a Semitic language in the Afro-Asiatic family, and shares many features with Arabic. Hebrew is the official language of Israel, and the language of the Jewish religion. As such it is used every day by the approximately 7 million Israelis, and it is spoken and understood to varying degrees by Jews across the world. As a Semitic language, there are many aspects of Hebrew that are very different from English. This can make it difficult for ESL students, especially as they begin to learn English.