Yup. Sure has. Over two years without writing in my blog is in fact more than a while. There are a hundred and one reasons for the lapse, but I’ve made a New Year’s resolution to be more diligent, starting now. 
I also plan to share my extensive experience of working with Hebrew Speakers of English (HSE) to enable my readers to communicate more effectively in English, starting now. 

I guess most readers understand the title of this post and the circumstances under which it could be used.  But I’d be interested to know how many would actually use it as part of a greeting to someone you don’t know very well and whom you’d not seen for some time. 

Curious about this very question, I carried out a small survey among a group of Hebrew speaking professionals, all volunteers in an organisation that assists kids with their school work. 
Of the 14 who filled in the brief questionnaire below, all 14 had heard the expression and almost all were able to identify it as something you’d say to express:
מאז שנפגשנו  עבר זמן רב
However, only 8 of the 14 indicated that they would actually use the expression! 
Unfortunately I didn’t ask מדוע in my original questionnaire, so I’m going to use my blog to pose the same questions. 



      1.       כן  / לא   :  ‘It’s been a while’?     האם אי פעם שמעת את המשפט

       2.          הבע דעתך באיזה מצב היו אומרים את המשפט הזה.   לא יודע  / היו משתמשים במשפט כאשר....
 ........................................................................................................................................

       3.          האם היית משתמש במשפט הזה ?     כן  / לא. אם ענית לא, פרט מדוע.   ................................................................................................ ......................................

In my next post I’ll explain why I think many HSE might be reluctant to use this and other idiomatic expressions when they communicate in English.  Lola