A Christian Worldview to Learning Language

This article was first published in French at TPSG.

The Bible teaches that whether we eat or drink, whatever we do, we are to do it all for the glory of God (1 Co 10:31). My lifelong passion for learning languages has taught me that this holds just as true in this area of life. Allow me to give you a survey of that my journey and some important lessons I’ve learned along the way.

My journey in language learning

Spanish

As a child of Colombian immigrants to the U.S., I learned Spanish even before I learned English. I even went to a bilingual English-Spanish kindergarten. But once I started grade school, my education switched to almost exclusively in English.

French

My first venture into the formal study of a foreign language was at age 13 when I began high school and started learning French. I was instantly enamoured with it and wanted to practice it any chance I got. On the rare occasion that I did come across a French speaker, I would accost them, begging them to allow me to practice my favourite new language with them.

I studied French for my four years of high school. I was even the president of the school’s French Club for half that time! After graduation, I took a year off to do a mission trip in France and Senegal. The school was bilingual, English and French, but I quickly developed close friendships with French students who hardly spoke English. This motivated me to further improve my French. Living with the same group of friends for six months made it so important to me to be able to communicate in their native language.

Italian

Let me jump ahead a couple of years, when I spent a couple of months in Rome studying Italian at a language school called “Torre de Babele.” Once again, I was immersed in the language and culture and highly motivated to learn, especially to deepen relationships with my new friends at the Chiesa di fratelli (Brethren Church) I began attending. 

Portuguese

A year later, I took one year of Portuguese for Spanish speakers, and while I was not immersed in the culture as I had been with the other experiences studying abroad, I learned quickly and took great interest in the language. 

Swahili

While working on my master’s degree in African Studies at UCLA, I took two years of Swahili, culminating in a six-week language school in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Again, the advantages of living with a host family, immersed in the local culture, were a huge bonus.

Koiné Greek & Biblical Hebrew

In seminary, I took two years of Koiné Greek and the equivalent of one year of Biblical Hebrew. But instead of learning Hebrew in the classroom like the rest of my classmates, I had the privilege of attending a language school in Israel where they taught “Living Biblical Hebrew.” Through skits, songs, dances, and lots of field trips and active listening, Hebrew came alive to me in a way I never imagined a “dead” language could! It was far more interesting than the dry Greek classes where we memorized and regurgitated verb tenses and noun declensions outside of any meaningful connection to everyday life with real people.  

Wolof

My final venture into language learning came when my husband and I moved to Senegal and began learning Wolof. Again, being immersed in the local culture was a boon to making progress in the language. But one event several years into our time in Senegal finally helped me understand the importance of having a Christian worldview of language learning. Along with some colleagues in our mission, I attended a two-week immersive language learning course that used a method called “Growing Redemptive Participator Approach.” 

The Growing Redemptive Participator Approach

The creators of the GRPA method are Greg and Angela Thomson, missionary veterans from Canada. The premise of their method is that relationships are at the center of language learning. So, the purpose of learning a language should be to know and grow with others. This is in contrast to the approach in which we memorize and regurgitate as much vocabulary as possible, all while confining ourselves to our sterile office rather than spending time developing relationships in our host culture. 

The Thomsons use the image of the iceberg to describe the way language works in our brains. The words at the very tip of the iceberg are the proportionately few words we know how to use well while speaking. But underneath the surface of the water is far, far more vocabulary that we know the meaning of when we hear it, or that we can guess the meaning of if we hear it in context. 

The goals, therefore, is not to commit countless hours to memorizing lists of words that we can place at the top of the iceburg. Instead, they recommend devoting ourselves to active listening, so that we can add far more words to our lexicon just below the surface. The former usually involves spending time alone in our offices, going over notecards, whereas the latter tends to involve spending time with others, engaging in our host culture, practicing our listening skills. 

The Purpose of Language Learning

The Thomsons argue that the purpose of language learning is to enter into another’s world and better understand them. Greg Thomson says this:

“It’s not a language to be learned but a life to be lived.”

More than language acquisition, it’s about living people’s stories with them. After all, that’s exactly what Jesus did in the incarnation. He became like us in every way, yet without sin. Philippians 2:1-11 calls us to follow the example of Christ in his humility, and one area in which we can do just that is in the manner in which we learn a new language, especially for the purpose of ministry. This applies not only to missionaries but also to believers who relocate to a new country for work and need to integrate into their host culture in order to be salt and light in the world. 

For anyone that hasn’t lived in a culture other than their own, you should know that the words of Philippians 2 are a needed reminder. Because it’s so easy to be proud, to be impatient, to judge our host culture when it doesn’t make sense to us. To lack compassion, tenderness, and joy. To conclude that their language doesn’t make any sense, that it’s stupid, that the world would simply be a better place if everyone spoke my language and I didn’t have to bother with all this language learning business. It can feel like such a waste of time! I’m speaking honestly because most people who have spent much time cross-culturally struggle with all of these reactions and negative emotions. Rather than giving in to the negativity that can tempt any language learner, I propose six qualities to cultivate to be more like Christ.

6 Qualities of a Christlike Language Learner

1. Humility

The Bible has so so much to say about humility. When it comes to language learning, we have to be humble enough to look stupid, to make mistakes, to be laughed at, to fall on our faces. Because if we can’t, we’ll never learn and grow.

James 4:6 says, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

2. Childlikeness

This characteristic goes along with humility. Do you want to know one reason why children learn languages (and lots of other things) so well? Because they are more willing to try new things and are not as concerned with their status and saving face. Certainly, social media is affecting our children more and more, so that from an earlier and earlier age they are growing more concerned about their image and persona. But in general, what is true of the kingdom of God could also be said of a successful language learner:

 “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

3. Teachability

This quality trait is similar to the first two. Do I come as a learner, or as an expert? Do my degrees and my intellectual acumen make me less willing to learn from those who aren’t like me? Missionaries and businesspeople who move across borders are often some of the most educated people in the Church. That can create a kind of elitism. If I am going to learn from my new friends in my new world, I need to have the posture of a learner. They are the experts. They know their world. And I am completely dependent on my new friends in general and to my language helper, in particular, to help open doors of understanding for me into that world by being my ally, my advocate, my special friend. 

James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

Isn’t it often the case that God answers those prayers by sending us men and women with the understanding we lack? Praise God for that! 

4. Perseverance

In missionary training, they often speak of the honeymoon phase when everything is rainbows and unicorns. But phase two is characterized by hostility! Frustration arises when results don’t come as quickly as we’d like, and we start comparing everything to the “better” way things are done at home. The next phases are gradual adjustment, followed by adaptation. Through all of these stages, we need to cry out to the LORD to help us persevere. Tenacity in the face of trials related to cultural adaptation is essential to learning a new language. In our times of discouragement, we need to remember the purpose of our study: to love Jesus more by making disciples. We can’t do that without learning the language of the people we live among, whether we are immigrants or missionaries. 

Galatians 6:9, “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.”

5. Quick to listen

Language learning requires a tremendous amount of listening. That doesn’t mean that I should just flip on the radio and hope that I’ll understand what they’re saying. It means, rather, that my attention should be focused more on learning to understand what others are saying more than on figuring out what to say how to say what I want to say. Because if we’re honest, often we listen to respond, not to understand. Or, put differently, when we speak, we serve ourselves; when we listen, we serve others.

James 1:19, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

6. Slow to judge 

It’s so easy to misunderstand what we see when we don’t understand what is being said. We come from a different culture, where gestures, body language, facial expressions, traditions, and norms are different. But if we don’t realize that we are wearing lenses through which we view the world, it will be so easy for us to see something that is said or done differently and conclude, “That’s wrong,” rather than “That’s different.” 

Proverbs 18:17, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”

A Final Word to Those Who Receive Language Learners

If your church or city hosts language learners from around the world, you have an opportunity to reflect Christ by displaying patience as these newcomers make progress as language learners. It can be a challenge to listen to someone with a heavy accent, to try to understand what they are saying when their vocabulary is so limited. But demonstrating Christ-like kindness and hospitality to these language learners can be an occasion to bless fellow brothers or sisters or to reach the lost with the love of Jesus.