Climbing the Language Hill + a resource
It was during these ten weeks of more structured learning when I realized my notes were really hindering my studies. I always scribbled words down on my paper as I heard them, in no particular order. Nouns were mixed up with the verbs and adjectives, and my homework was always written in some obscure margin of whichever page had room for it. By the time I was finished, I never wanted to look at those pages again.
This is a snippet of an article we wrote for Global Trellis. Life on the field is stressful and too often cross-cultural workers are under-resourced for the realities they face. Global Trellis helps cross-cultural workers flourish through ongoing equipping and development. Go check it out! The site is full of helpful resources.
“Turn to page three,” my language teacher instructed me.
It was my first, official day of language studies, and I had all the enthusiasm and nervousness of a typical freshman expat. I moved my highlighters, note cards, and sharpened pencil to the side so I could open up my crisp, new language book.
“Do you see the quote,” she asked me.
Did I see it? Yes. Did I have a clue what it said? Not even a little bit.
“Little by little, it becomes a hill,” the teacher translated for me.
Personally, the word “mountain” would have sounded a bit more profound, in my humble opinion. However, I’ve since seen (and walked up) hills in Southeast Asia and have allowed those hills to be a reasonable alternative. But I digress…
This was the perfect quote to begin my language learning journey. I wasn’t going to have this language all figured out in a few months and, eight years later, I can confidently say I still don’t have it all figured out. But when I stop on the path and catch my breath, I can see how far I’ve come.
Last year, I reluctantly returned to formal language learning for ten weeks. Suffice it to say, I’m not the enthusiastic learner I once was. Back then, if I made a mistake, locals would say, “It’s fine! You’re doing great. You’ve only been here a few months. No problem!’
Now, when I don’t know a word, locals are like, “you’ve been here eight years, and you don’t know the word for earring?”
Nevertheless, it was during these ten weeks of more structured learning when I realized my notes were really hindering my studies. I always scribbled words down on my paper as I heard them, in no particular order. Nouns were mixed up with the verbs and adjectives, and my homework was always written in some obscure margin of whichever page had room for it. By the time I was finished, I never wanted to look at those pages again. It was just too overwhelming.
“There has to be a better way,” I said to myself, like one of those frustrated actors on an infomercial.
To read the full article and discover more about the “better way,” click here.
(We also did an interview with Amy over on Global Trellis. You can read it here.)
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Image via Unsplash by Jason Goodman.