3 Things You Should Know About Learning a Second Language: Ask a Missionary - Reader Question

Reader Question: How do you get over the language barrier especially as a missionary in a country that does not speak your first language?

I want to start off by saying that this question addresses a very important issue in mission work.

While the use of the English language has rapidly spread all over the globe, and is widely used in nearly every country, the temptation is great for native English speakers (or even those who speak it as a 2nd language) to rely on that fact.
However, as a native English speaker who has learned to fluently communicate in another language, I have found that the effort I have made to overcome the language barrier has paid off in dividends.Learning to communicate in a person's native tongue takes you to levels of fellowship with them that you would not attain by relying on them to speak in a foreign language. Furthermore, in learning to speak a foreign language, you learn more than just a 2nd language - you learn a culture.  So many things are wrapped up in the words, grammar, intonation, and pronunciation! 

To answer your question, I will borrow from my own experience.  Learning to speak Croatian was no picnic - let me tell you! The language is hard and the grammar very complicated. 


3 Things You Need to Know About Learning a Second Language
1. Get a good foundation in grammar
You simply cannot learn to speak a second language well if you do not have a good foundation in grammar.

Start first with your own language.  Do you have a good understanding of the grammar structure in your mother tongue? You will need this to compare and contrast sentence structure and grammar elements that are necessary to learning a foreign language.

Attend a language school or pay for private tutoring, but you will need some professional assistance at the start.  Do not just rely on books and conversation to help you speak. In order to learn a second language well, you need to learn it right!

2. Speak, speak, speak!
I cannot emphasize this enough. Once you begin building a good foundation for speaking, you need to speak! This may almost sound stupid to say, but it is far more intimidating than reading and writing. These tend to come easier than speaking because you have time to digest or examine what you are reading and writing. When speaking, you must have the ability to think, translate, and pronounce all in the same moment.  It is intimidating, especially when as you speak you either seen confusion or amusement on the faces of your listeners!
When I was just beginning to speak, I would board a bus or street car and look around for a little old lady sitting alone.  I would then sit next to her and ask her the time.  She would then hear my accent and struggle for the right words and say, "Oh honey! You are not from around here, are you?"  That would start a conversation rolling!

Another element to speaking is accent. I have found that while many people learn to speak a foreign language, they often do not go the extra mile to adopt the accent. To me, this is just as essential as learning the language. Do yourself - and everyone else -  an extra favor and go that extra mile. The process is not always fun. At first you may feel like you are insincere, being a copy-cat, and you will likely feel very weird.  I felt all of that.  It really intimidated me - a lot! But, it was what I felt I needed to do. While I still have a hint of an accent, it is actually not very strong. I am still working on it. My goal is to sound as much like a Croatian as possible. This helps you be more understandable, and it helps to reduce the barrier of you being so foreign.
3. Do not take yourself too seriously
If you do #2, you will find two humiliating things to be true:

1) a 5-year old child will have a stronger vocabulary than you. This is particularly humiliating to people who thrive on communication and who have a strong vocabulary in their mother tongue. Your limited vocabulary will limit the topic of conversation for you, and it will force you to communicate on very elementary levels. This is only a phase, and if you submit yourself to it, you will find that it will not last very long.  If you fight it by occasionally switching to your mother tongue in order to communicate better, that phase will last as long as you continue this lazy habit!
2) you will make very embarrassing mistakes.  I have said, "I peed a letter" and "I am hoooot" (in the sense that I am a hot woman, not that it was hot in the house). I have said I am boring rather than I am bored, and a myriad of other strange and embarrassing things! It comes with the territory.  You may even use foul language without realizing it.  Don't let that hold you back - it happens.  Get over it and move on. Learning to speak a foreign language is a baptism of embarrassing fire - but if you can learn to laugh at yourself, you will be miles ahead of everyone else!
It is my opinion that a missionary who intends to serve long-term or for a lifetime is obligated to learn the language of the country he is serving - and learn it well.  In my opinion, it is not enough to learn a few basics in order to "get by". If one is to take on this daunting task, he should go all the way. Learn it fluently, learn the accent, remove the barriers, sound like the ones you serving.  
By doing this, you will earn the respect of the people you serve, and amazing doors will open to you that will provide ample opportunity to share the gospel!

  

  Do you have a question related to missions?  Feel free to contact me via email, comment below or visit my Facebook page to ask your question.  It will be featured here during our fall Answer the Call series!


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