Magnes' Yiddish and German-speaking father arrived in San Francisco in 1863 where he abandoned Yiddish. His mother was also German-speaking. Magnes grew up with English as his first language but his command of German was sufficient for his two years studying in Germany. In 1895 he heard Russian orator Rabbi Hirsch Masliansky lecture in Hebrew and this awoke his interest in modern Hebrew. While in Germany he joined a group of young Zionists dedicated to learning Hebrew. He also made a determined effort to learn Yiddish which he put to good use when working with new immigrants in New York. Once in Palestine he studied and became fluent in French, the other major European language used in the Middle East. He also studied Arabic but never gained a command beyond formal exchanges.