There are two verses that come to mind concerning God’s people having to deal with foreign languages: Psalm 114:1 and Isaiah 28:11-12.
Psalm 114 begins: “When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion.”
As Israel remembered the time when God rescued them from slavery in Egypt, they remembered how good it was to get away from “a people of strange language.” Why were they so negative about living in Egypt and being forced to learn the Egyptian language of the time? Because they were oppressed by the Egyptians. Their negative experience of relationships with Egyptians made them so negative about the Egyptian language that they were glad to be able to get away “from a people of strange language”.
The second reference is Isaiah 28:11-12: “For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the LORD will speak to this people, to whom he has said, ‘This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose’; yet they would not hear.” These are words of judgment. Because God’s people have refused to listen to God’s Word spoken so clearly to them he will judge them by speaking to them “by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue.” In other words, God is going to put his people back into the same kind of situation they were in when they were slaves in Egypt. This time they will be taken into captivity by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Learning a foreign language will again be a negative experience because they will be forced to learn it in a context in which they are being treated badly by people of the dominant culture in Assyrian and Babylon.
My son, Simon, marries Lindsay in just three weeks time. Lindsay is Brazilian and while she is a fluent English speaker her heart language is Portuguese. So all around our house have been bits of paper stuck to walls and doors and mirrors and cupboards and shower panes and sinks, etc. On these bits of paper are words and phrases in Portuguese, which Simon has been learning. For example, on one fridge are the words Aquilo Estava Delicioso, meaning “That was delicious” – Simon preparing to complement his future wife on her cooking – a very wise man! Simon is highly motivated to learn Portuguese. I wonder why?
When people come to our church-based ESL centres it is so exciting and encouraging to see how keen they are to learn English. Why are they so motivated? Because our ESL centres are more than just avenues for learning English. When people come they find our ESL volunteers loving, caring people and it is precisely these positive relationships which positively motivate people to learn English.
Posted September 9, 2010
www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au
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