Monks and Students Meet the Monks - St. John's Abbey

Missionaries must learn to
speak the local language not
only to announce the Good
News but also to listen and learn from
people. Mastering the language is a
real challenge for missionaries in Japan.
Even the pioneer of Christianity in that
country, St. Francis Xavier, referred to
Japanese as “the devil’s tongue.”
How long does it take to learn Japanese?
Because of the lack of commonality
in grammatical structure and
vocabulary, a Westerner needs two full
years to begin to maneuver in Japanese.
After fi ve years one begins to “get the
gist.” After ten one fi nally “feels at
home” with it. But it is really a lifetime
process.
A fundamental challenge is the writing
system, based on the ancient set of Chinese
characters called kanji in Japanese.
The language of the East is built upon
ideographical representations of the
most basic things in life. By combining
representations like sun, earth and moon,
the most complex scientifi c theories are
encoded. Those who think visually learn
much faster.
For example, the word for “meaning,”
as in the meaning of a word, is , pronounced
imi. It combines two symbols
Edward studies a Japanese Bible atlas.
photo by Nicholas Thelen, OSB
The Challenge of the
Japanese Language
The fi rst steps are the hardest!
by Edward Vebelun, OSB
What does it mean?
(mind) and (taste). Therefore,
one can induce that “meaning” is “the
taste left in the mind.”
One can break down those two symbols
even further and arrive at the earthy
core of these characters. is a combination
of three basic “radicals.” The fi rst
two are (to stand/rise) and (the
sun). When combined in ancient Chinese
logic one can imagine the “sound”
is from the bell heard at sunrise.
The third is (the heart or emotion).
Thus, pictorially one induces that
means “the sound of the heart.”
The second character, , is a simpler
combination of (not yet) and
(mouth) for an ideographical representation
of taste as something that has not yet
passed beyond the mouth. Once students
understand the roots of a given symbol
they can recognize it when reading, and
even with a great deal of practice can
write it accurately.
To grasp the beauty of this writing
system is like solving a puzzle. But even
the most diligent learner will run into
moments of despair. There are theoretically
limitless and in actuality tens of
thousands of characters to learn. But
Japanese students take hope. In practice
one thousand characters make up about
ABBEY MISSIONS
95 percent of those used in an average
piece of writing. An offi cial
two thousand are set as a mark by
the department of education. One
can begin by simply mastering
their multiple uses and pronunciations.
It is safe to say that a student
of Japanese learns more than language.
A good lesson in perseverance
is also acquired.
Edward Vebelun, OSB, a monk of Saint
John’s Abbey and member of Holy
Trinity Benedictine Monastery, Fujimi,
Japan, is completing his third year of
theology at a Franciscan seminary in
Tokyo.
The Glory Be . . .
by Toshihiro Takamura
eiko-wa, chichi-to, ko-to, seirei-ni.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
Hajime-no-you-ni, ima-mo,
itsu-mo-yoyo-ni.
As it was in the beginning,
and is now, and will be forever.
Ámen.
Amen.
The Abbey Banner Fall 2003 page 23