Learning a Language

A few minutes’ reflection should make it clear how acute the need for help must be in all lands where English is not the common language. A very small group of brothers and sisters go to preach the Truth in a foreign land. When they hold lectures they do so without the company of other brothers and sisters to fill the hall and give their warm support; and there is only a bare minimum of literature. From the beginning they are suspect as a small, foreign group, and this is enough to drive most people away. A few seekers after Truth, after many hours of discussions and Bible-searching, decide that this is the Truth, and come out from the wider circle of their church to join us. (How many of us can honestly say that we were stalwart seekers for Truth of this caliber ?) All that the new brothers and sisters can know of the brotherhood is what their teacher(s), who for a while must lead in all the meetings and Bible Classes, tell them. Not only do they miss the encouragement of larger ecclesias and visiting speakers, but also all the wealth of spiritual knowledge that has been built up over the years in the writings of our community. Slowly a body of translated material and Bible studies of various sorts is built up — but how meager that is compared with all that we have come to take for granted!

If you then ask: what can I do to help to make all the work of learning a foreign language worthwhile? The answer will obviously differ in detail in different countries, but basically the needs will be the same. If you can move abroad, then there is of course very much that you will be able to do, helping with discussion classes, writing to correspondents, sending

our postal courses etc., preparing illustrative material to make addresses more attractive and convincing, designing advertising material, preparing displays that will partly compensate for the lack of workers and the scanty audience at public meetings. And even if you cannot move abroad, you can still help in many of these ways. You can also help the brothers and sisters to feel themselves members of a large community by descriptions of the meetings and activities you attend, notes of addresses, thoughts on the Bible Readings, or answering their many questions.

And one small point in passing: much of the work in foreign lands is inevitably correspondence work. If you prepare yourself for this beforehand by taking a short course in touch-typing, you will save yourself hours later and make yourself doubly useful. Even the clearest Eng­lish handwriting is as difficult for foreigners to read as theirs is for us.

Too busy to learn a language?

After learning one language the easy way — eight years at school followed by three years of concentrated learning and something more than six months spent in the land itself — and then teaching it for a number of years, I decided in my late thirties to learn Dutch in order to help with the work that was then beginning here. My position now had become very different — two young children and occasional part-time work left little free time, and there were no adequate classes available.

The quickest and easiest method to learn a language, especially when you are teaching yourself, is the so-called direct method; that is, learning it as you learned your mother tongue by constant hearing and imitation. It is also most important to learn the correct pronunciation from the very beginning. We therefore bought a Linguaphone Course, and within a week or two played all the records over on to a tape so that I could listen while I was doing the many household chores in the kitchen. I would read through lists of new words and points of grammar on bus journeys and at other odd moments, and then listen by the hour to old and new lessons, concentrating as best I could on pronunciation, spelling or grammar points, as I listened. (Our ‘Plymouth Sister’ neighbour was rather surprised that I should suddenly have become such a radio fan !)

As soon as I had the hang of the language, I decided to start reading. And what better than the Gospels? — simple narrative, that one knows almost by heart, so that there is no need to consult a dictionary to discover the meaning. So for a time I concentrated on reading the Gospels in Dutch, instead of other Bible readings — and it was an experience I can recommend. One re-lives the story in all its vividness when it is read in an unfamiliar language„ and many points stand out clearly that for years have been obscured by reading too glibly. There are, nowadays, modern translations of the New Testament in French, German, Spanish and Dutch (Les Bonnes Nouvelles; Die Cute Nachricht; Dios Llega Al Hom­bre; Goed Nieaws voor U), which should make the reading still easier and more useful.

Other suggestions for easy learning

It is most important that you should think in the language from the beginning. In the early stages never try translating into English ! I am reminded here of an interesting point that I noticed while reading. Being too lazy to consult a dictionary, I would often guess at the meaning of a word and find my guess confirmed when I met the word again a page or two later. And words learned in that way stuck better than those I painstakingly looked up in a dictionary. (As soon as we could, we went over to a ‘Dutch-Dutch’ dictionary, which is an invaluable exercise.)

Of course you have to use a dictionary sometimes — but when you do, write the word down, with associated words and expressions perhaps, in order to imprint it on your memory. Sometimes you need do no more than this to learn a new word, especially if you meet it again in your reading. Concentrate on groups of words, rather than on vocabulary lists; and always make a note of points of idiom — for example, that in one land you walk in the street, and in another on it; in one tea is poured out and in another it is pored in, etc. So, be both alert and lazy—take note of that strange word in your reading; don’t look it up immediately, but wait until it turns up again.

There are several obvious advantages in learning a language with a group, where this is possible. A good class will provide encouragement to persevere, practice in speaking the language, and help with your difficulties and mistakes.

The verb is the all-important part of a sentence, and this is therefore a part of the grammar that you should learn thoroughly from the start. But those irregular verbs need present little difficulty if you learn them as jingles from the list usually printed at the back of grammar books—comparable to: write, wrote, written; ride, rode, ridden; etc. You will then greet them as old friends in the course of your reading, and soon know what ‘sounds right.’

Getting it to sink in

I found that words and phrases at the end of Linguaphone lessons, where they had all the time to sink in, stuck more quickly than the others. If it is convenient, therefore, do your learning in small doses —the total number of hours spent in learning will then be less. The language will fix itself more readily in your memory while you are doing other things, or even while you sleep.

You will also learn more quickly if the words can make their impression through more than one of your senses. Read and listen to the words if possible at the same time, then try repeating them, writing them from dictation, and so on. So much is possible with the tape recorders that are available today.

What about the children?

Some parents may hesitate to emigrate to another country for fear of jeopardizing their children’s career. Each married couple must make their own decision in prayer, honestly looking at eternal values and the need for simple faith in all that they do.

Our own children were at the critical ages of 12 and 10 when we moved to Holland, and we naturally had misgivings. We put them, without preparation, into a Dutch school (not without a few pangs), but within four months they were following the lessons and went on as normal Dutch children to the equivalent of a Grammar school. Neither regretted the move later. On the contrary ! The bilingualism acquired in this way is a decided advantage even in this life; and what is lost in ecclesial contacts in the Truth is compensated for by a greater feeling of responsibility for the furtherance of the Lord’s work.

Counting the cost

Learning a new language is too demanding a task to be taken on light-heart­edly, and the Lord’s time is too valuable to be used to indulge a hobby. It is therefore a matter of ‘counting the cost’ before you begin. Are you satisfied with your present service for the Lord, or with the opportunities for service open to you in your ecclesia ? If not, and if you think you could make it your task to learn a language and minister to those in need in foreign lands (even if you can’t go to live abroad) why not get in touch with somebody already involved in the work that interests you? And if, with God’s blessing, you do succeed in mastering another language, do please find time to use your acquired skill regularly. We have more than once witnessed the joy of a brother or sister saying, before we have even taken our coats off, “I’ve had a letter from . . . “. Furthermore, the widespread use of cassette recorders today has opened up a wonderful way of helping brothers and sisters in distant places.

And don’t be deterred by the thought that you will never write or speak the language perfectly. Brothers and sisters overlook your mistakes, and experience has shown that others appreciate the effort you have made to learn their language. When you have the best arguments, an occasional slip or hesitation helps prevent the other person from feeling too inferior!

Veel success!