Language Adventures

Language intrigues me. I think if I were young again, I would like to be a linguist. I have studied a few languages over the years. Spanish for two years in high school was my opener to languages other than English. Then when we moved to the Philippines, I started on Northern Kankanay, the tribal language of the Igorot people. But then we moved closer to Manila where everyone spoke Tagalog, the Philippines national language also known as Filipino. So, I started studying Tagalog. So much grammar! There are lots of suffixes and prefixes and different focus. I had to be careful to say, “I ate the mango.” and not, “the mango ate me”! I like to say I learned enough to be polite and know what was going on around me. Bob was better with language than me but then he was always out talking to someone (or trying to!)

The biggest challenge came with Vietnamese. First off, we moved into a small city in northern Vietnam where only two people spoke English. It was a sink or swim situation! Secondly, Vietnamese is a monosyllabic (only one syllable words) but tonal. It has six tones each of which is represented by a different diacritical mark. The grammar was pretty straightforward and similar to Spanish, but the tones were the challenge. Plus, the fact that one little three letter word could have six different entirely unrelated meanings according to whether your voice went up or down really got me! I was a little slow to pick up on tones! So, I complained to God about tones and learning new languages. (Just being honest!)

Then along came sign language – no tones! I was excited to learn it! I never would have thought of learning it without the blessing of my two grandchildren, Bobby and Grace. They opened up a whole new people group and language to me. Incredibly special people who are everywhere all over the world. In fact, there are about 70 million worldwide! I learned enough initially to introduce it to a group of young deaf adults in Vietnam who had no sign language at the time. They loved coming to our house for classes and we would arrange activities for them. Also, we helped them start a few businesses for their livelihood – sewing, making cards, cooking, and motorbike washing. (No one had cars there.) Two hearing Vietnamese believers wanted to learn sign language and help me and one Japanese friend also. It was a fun time and eventually I could show the original Jesus film in sign language to the deaf. Bible study groups developed out of this class. I felt like I threw my one little pebble in a pond, and it rippled out in amazing, unforeseen ways!

I still do refresher courses in Sign Language. All language changes and grows and we must try to stay current and engaged. One thing about all languages is the same – you use it or lose it. There are so many good programs out there online for learning languages. Oklahoma School for the Deaf has a really good free course in sign language. Check it out!

I encourage you to express yourself – learn a new language or pick up one you studied in years gone by. I heard it said, “every action that you do is a vote for the person you want to be.”   So, keep learning and growing. Everything you learn comes in handy somewhere along the line. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.”  Psalm 19:1-4