Language Learning: Part One

One of assignments I received this past week during one of our first classes was to read a small handbook entitled Learning a Foreign Language: A Handbook Prepared Especially for Missionaries. As I go, I am to write a one-page summary about each chapter as well as a description of what I personally learned from it.

So far, I have only read the first two out of five chapters, and already, they are proving to be fascinating and insightful! I am highlighting sentences constantly as I go!

Because I am finding the material so fascinating, I wanted to share with you what I am learning. So, here is the summary of chapter one. Look for additional chapters in following blog posts!

Chapter one, Languages Must and Can Be Learned, is a fascinating explanation for prospective missionaries of both the importance and definite possibility of mastering a foreign language. As missionaries, the ultimate purpose for learning to speak another language is that the message of salvation and transformation through Jesus Christ might be communicated clearly in a way that makes sense to the people who speak that language. Therefore, learning another language includes much more than mere words. It also includes knowing the culture of the people, their idioms, jokes, and analogies to which they can relate. It’s about understanding their problems, their needs, and their aspirations. To put it simply, learning a foreign language is about getting to the heart of the people in order to share the heart of God.

Despite the barriers that many adults must overcome in order to speak a different language, this chapter emphasizes the fact that these barriers can be conquered with the right attitude and plenty of diligent effort. What is often more difficult to progress past are the excuses that so many people make, particularly Americans, for why they cannot (and therefore will not) work toward developing fluency in another language. Such excuses often include being too old, being tone deaf, or not having adequate time. However, these excuses are just that and do not represent realistic impossibilities. Learning a language certainly takes a lot of time. Many think this is a waste for missionaries, but it is not! Taking the time to learn to speak the native tongue of the people they hope to reach is the pivotal aspect that could make or break their ministries in the future. A helpful scale of proficiency is shared in this chapter by which students of a foreign language can measure their progress and prevent stopping short of their ultimate goal.

Learning to speak a foreign language is possible! Certainly, it requires great effort, endless hours of study and practice, humility, and constant interaction among the people who speak the language, but no language is unlearnable.