And I Wasn't Even Pregnant -- Keeping Your Dignity When Learning a New Language...

... Well, actually, I don't think you really can (keep your dignity).

A couple of days ago, I was visiting with a friend who is recouping from a long illness. He was watching golf on TV. So, we were talking about our experiences playing golf. Me? I think in the 2-3 years that I dabbled with golf, my best score was 117 -- a great I.Q score, but not a threat to Tiger Woods, even on his worst day. Still, I've never lost a golf ball -- not in the rough; not in the water. On the other hand, the reason I've never lost a golf ball or never scored better than 117 is almost certainly because I never risked enough.

Language learning is the same -- if you haven't made some really funny, dignity-destroying goofs, you probably haven't risked enough. Years ago, I had gone to visit a pastor/friend in Nairobi. He wasn't in so I was talking to his secretary. Though Kenyan, she said that her Swahili was atrocious, so we talked in English. That was early enough in my M career that I couldn't readily switch back and forth between the 2 languages. After talking to her for a while, I left. The compound guard wasn't in sight, so I opened the gate and headed back toward the car. About that time, the guard came around the corner. To assure him that he didn't need to hurry, I told him, in Swahili, "Thanks, but I opened it for myself." At least, that's what I intended to say. As I drove out the gate, I was laughing at myself because I had used the wrong verb form and ended up using an idiom that meant "I have given birth." (... and I wasn't even pregnant!) I'm sure he later regaled his friends with the story of the mzungu man who said he had given birth.

I think the only way you can keep your dignity while learning a new language is to be sure that you maintain your sense of humour and that you don't take yourself too seriously (be dead serious about the work, though). I read a New Tribes blog a couple of weeks ago and thought about all of the missionaries, national and expatriate who are struggling to learn language. I wanted to give you a bit of encouragement and some advice from an old-timer -- put yourself on the edge with language learning, take risks, make the mistakes, laugh with your African friends at your mistakes -- you will learn the language that way. Here's the blog I read:

When the Deer Buzz, Run!

• What funny and embarrassing mistakes have you made in learning language?

For the Kingdom,
Bob A