Language Learning

In order to qualify myself for admission into a few key doctoral programs I am required to take Greek and Hebrew. I have taken foreign languages in the past. English...check! German...check! Spanish...check! Greek...check! Hebrew...NOPE! So here I am in this bonus year of Seminary trying to take Greek and Hebrew at the same time with the option of taking German in the Spring. It is great to tell fellow seminarians that I am taking both Greek and Hebrew at the same time because most of them about keel over. I, on the other hand, have found it quite interesting. The best part about taking them at the same time is that they are taught completely different. My Greek teacher is old school and beats us over the head with drilling paradigms and mastering flashcards. "Know it COLD!" he says. Dr. Vogt, on the other hand, is loose and fun. He has adopted the conversational method of teaching Hebrew and has a ball with it. I look forward to going to Hebrew because it is like participating in an improv drama game that is full of laughter, confusion, and self discovery. Instead of making flashcards with foreign characters on them we are looking at goofy pictures and listening to audio. It is a mini exercise in hermeneutics. The best part is that I am learning. I am learning not only words, but phrases and full sentences. Learning a language can be fun! When I begin to discouraged I have to step back and think to myself, "Self...you are in the same place your kids were and are." This is not something that I have been doing for twenty-nine years of my life. This is BRAND NEW! Last year at this time I was trying to learn new English words in order to rock on the GRE. I spent hours a day drilling words that normal people have never heard and will never use in their life, but I needed to know them for some ridiculous standardized test that has become the measuring stick for graduate studies. Learning new languages and new words is something that makes my brain hurt, but invigorates my soul. I listen to my daughter attempt to form Spanish words on a regular basis. She has extremely limited exposure to the Spanish language, but she tries. That is all we can do, try. We try, try, and try again! The key to anything new in our lives is about the determination that it takes to maintain the journey when it becomes difficult. I do not think that anyone needs to rush out and study Hebrew or Greek, in particular, but I think that we would all do well to learn a new word or phrase each and every day of our lives. Our world is becoming more global by the minute and we should not assume the egotistical position that, "all must learn English." You can have fun and make the lives of others better by simply trying to learn even a few words and phrases of another language. Trust me, you will not regret the decision to step out and try something new. Remember though, you did not enter this world speaking full English sentences. Shoot, some people at forty years of age still struggle to formulate sentences in English that make sense. Go for it!