בהתחלה פחדתי לדבר בכיתה, אבל עכשיו אני מרגישה בטוחה יותר ויותר.

בהתחלה means at first or in the beginning.

The prefix ב־ usually means in, at, or during. So here it turns התחלה into an adverbial expression: at the beginning / at first.

A useful detail: in התחלה, the initial ה is part of the word itself, not necessarily the word the.

The ending ־תי marks first person singular past tense: I did something.

So פחדתי means I was afraid or I feared.
It comes from the root פ־ח־ד, which is related to fear.

This is why Hebrew does not need אני in the first clause: the verb itself already tells you the subject is I.

לדבר is the infinitive form, meaning to speak.

In Hebrew, after verbs like פחדתי (I was afraid), it is very common to use an infinitive to say what someone was afraid to do:

• פחדתי לדבר = I was afraid to speak

The ל־ on לדבר is the normal marker of the infinitive, similar to English to in to speak.

בכיתה means in the classroom or in class.

It is made from:

• ב־ = in
• הכיתה = the classroom / the class

When ב־ is added to a word with ה־ (the), Hebrew often combines them into one word:

• ב + הכיתה → בכיתה

So the definite article is still there in meaning, even though it is absorbed into the form.

In the first clause, פחדתי already tells you the subject is I, so אני is optional.

In the second clause, מרגישה is a present-tense form, and present-tense forms in Hebrew do not show person clearly the way past-tense forms do. They mainly show gender and number. Because of that, Hebrew often includes the pronoun:

• אני מרגישה = I feel

So אני is especially helpful in the second clause.

מרגישה is the feminine singular present form of להרגיש (to feel).

That tells you the speaker is female. If the speaker were male, it would be:

• אני מרגיש

So this sentence is being said by a woman or girl.

Because בטוחה is also feminine singular, matching the speaker.

After מרגישה (feel), Hebrew uses an adjective that agrees with the subject:

• feminine: אני מרגישה בטוחה
• masculine: אני מרגיש בטוח

In this sentence, בטוחה means something like confident or secure, not necessarily physically safe.

That is a very common thing learners notice.

In Hebrew:

• past tense first person singular does not distinguish gender
  
  • פחדתי can mean I was afraid for either a male or a female speaker
• present tense does distinguish gender
  
  • מרגישה = feminine
  • מרגיש = masculine

So the first clause is gender-neutral, but the second clause reveals that the speaker is feminine.

יותר ויותר means more and more or increasingly.

Repeating יותר is a normal Hebrew way to show gradual increase:

• בטוחה יותר ויותר = more and more confident

Compare:

• יותר בטוחה = more confident
• בטוחה יותר ויותר = becoming more and more confident

So the repeated form emphasizes a continuing change.

Not exactly.

A single יותר often just makes a comparison:

• יותר בטוחה = more confident

But יותר ויותר adds the idea of progress over time:

• I keep getting more confident
• I feel more and more confident

That fits very well with the contrast between בהתחלה and עכשיו in this sentence.

Yes, the word order is very natural.

Hebrew often puts time expressions first to set the scene:

• בהתחלה = first, at the beginning
• עכשיו = now

So the sentence is built around a clear contrast:

• at first
• but now

That makes the emotional change easy to follow. The word אבל simply marks that contrast, just like but in English.