WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES - World Evangelical Alliance

140 WHEN YOU CROSS CULTURES
and trying to practise them. I remember joining a group of missionaries in a
LAMP (Language Acquisition Made Practical) programme. We learned a few
sentences each day with the help of a tutor. Then, we would go out and practise
speaking these sentences with strangers.
Only with continuous practice, and making mistakes in sounds and
vocabulary, can one learn a language well. Some language learners suffer a
mental block when practising speaking something they don’t really know well.
Some are university graduates with doctoral degrees who find it more difficult
to learn language than others with only a secondary school education. The
language learner needs to become like a little child in attitude in order to make
progress. Some refuse to attempt to speak until they have practised sufficiently.
In their minds, they continually think of what they want to say in English, and
then translate it into the new language. Using this process, they will miss out
on whole portions of the new language. A vicious cycle is the result. They are
unable to make further progress in language learning. They are also unable to
communicate without further learning.
Language and culture are intertwined. Learning a language well
contributes to learning a culture well. Much of cultural stress disappears when
a person learns to speak the language. The new worker learns through mistakes,
develops a sense of humour, and laughs at himself. When he is able to do this,
tensions ease. Communication does not seem as difficult as it once was. Learning
cultural cues becomes easier too and more meaningful relationships can develop.
Because language learning is absolutely essential, workers need to be
motivated to devote as much time as is needed to complete their language
studies. After their formal period of learning, they should persevere to improve
their language skills. They should treat language learning as an adventure.
Workers learn about themselves through the whole process and become better
servants of Christ. Language study is never a wasted pursuit.
Some Asians will face greater stresses than others in language learning.
Many Asian workers who do not speak English face a double problem: they
have to study both English and the language of their host people. They study
English because orientation and language programmes require that they first
learn English. Japanese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Indonesians and others have to
struggle first with the English language. Many have indeed succeeded in learning
English, and speak it well. But when they minister in Asian countries, they are
expected to learn the language of their host culture, and to speak it well too.
There are situations where people in a country speak more than one
language. For example, Indonesian is widely spoken in Indonesia, but a
particular people may have a different mother tongue, like Javanese or
Sundanese. People in Central Asia speak Russian and their mother tongue.