Pep Talk Time
We’ve hit the language learning wall.
And it hurts.
A lot.
Five hours a day and four weeks in we feel like we’ve had just about enough. The novelty has faded. Our brains have reached their capacity for vocabulary and grammar. Stuff keeps getting poured in but there’s no more room. Worse, what was there seems to be spilling out as well.
To keep going we’ve needed a few pep talks. Here’s how they go:
1. I’M NOT AS SLOW AND, FOR A LACK OF A BETTER WORD, RETARD AS I SOUND. Really, I’m not. It’s easy to forget that when you speak like a two year old for most of the day.
2. EVERYONE LEARNS AT A DIFFERENT PACE. In this case we’re the slower ones, could you guess? That’s the consequence of learning alongside linguists. Darn linguists!
3. KEEP GOING AND KNOW THAT YOU’LL COME BACK TO IT. We tend to want to learn everything to its full extent at that moment. I don’t get it now but I’m going to come back to it. Again…again…and again. I’ll get it eventually. See number 1).
And last but not least…
4. I’M KNOWN, LOVED AND ACCEPTED BECAUSE OF THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS CHRIST AND WHAT HE DID ON THE CROSS, NOT WHAT GOOD I MAY OR MAY NOT DO HERE IN TANZANIA. It’s seems silly I know, but I am always tempted to distort the Gospel with my sense and need to perform, succeed and win approval. Success in learning Swahili is just the first temptation.
May we instead learn and study to the glory and fame of His name. Amen.
On a lighter note, Judah got a hair cut and again, at least for a short time, won’t be mistaken for a girl ;)
