Tonight was fantastic.
I'd been beating around the bush in regard to taking a Czech class outside of the CISP community. The reason for the switch was because I needed to have the class twice a week, and I really needed to talk from off the top of my head more. My grammar skills are fine, but my speaking skills need to catch-up. (Ah, theory before praxis--Czech is just one microcosmic example of how this plays out in my life story). So I visited this class just a few tram stops away from my house. It's cheap, it's low-key, and the people in it are interesting. I'm the single American in the bunch--Finnish, Israeli, Scottish, German, Japanese (and maybe a French guy?) make up the rest of the class.
You don't need to experience it to know it, but English is language of the empire. We went out after Czech class to a place nearby, and it was so interesting to hear all of them speak English. If we didn't have English as a common base, no Czech learning would get done. Nor any other discussion. In a situation like that, it is weird to have the privilege of being a native English speaker. For most of the group, English is their second language. Yet, that is the language you must have to function in a foreign setting in a good portion of the world. So as a native, I'm set, even when I travel to distant lands. But in many cases, I think it's a real pity that there is so little emphasis given to learning another language in English speaking countries. It feeds the egocentric mindset that most Americans are already so prone to. And, missionaries don't have such a good wrap when it comes to going abroad, because they can sometimes take with them an imperialistic mindset. So those are two strikes I see myself potentially coming up against.
Tonight I caught my peers off guard when I told them I was American. They thought that I must be German or French from looking at me. When I shared that I worked at a Christian International school, they didn't get weird. They thought it was interesting that I taught Bible. And the Finnish guy asked me to "speak Bible" to him. I didn't really get what he was asking. So I threw in some favorite Evangelical lingo -- "Accept Jesus into your heart!" But apparently that wasn't what he was looking for, so I quoted some scripture -- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." I guess that wasn't quite what he was looking for either, but I think the Israeli was cool with it.
And that was it. The conversation flowed naturally on, through politics, economics, language, living in foreign places, asking questions about the many different lands represented at the table.
So now we have a basis to continue to have discussion and conversation from, Lord willing. Who knows what He will do with you when you make yourself available to something as simple as a Czech class outside your usual bubble.
I'd been beating around the bush in regard to taking a Czech class outside of the CISP community. The reason for the switch was because I needed to have the class twice a week, and I really needed to talk from off the top of my head more. My grammar skills are fine, but my speaking skills need to catch-up. (Ah, theory before praxis--Czech is just one microcosmic example of how this plays out in my life story). So I visited this class just a few tram stops away from my house. It's cheap, it's low-key, and the people in it are interesting. I'm the single American in the bunch--Finnish, Israeli, Scottish, German, Japanese (and maybe a French guy?) make up the rest of the class.
You don't need to experience it to know it, but English is language of the empire. We went out after Czech class to a place nearby, and it was so interesting to hear all of them speak English. If we didn't have English as a common base, no Czech learning would get done. Nor any other discussion. In a situation like that, it is weird to have the privilege of being a native English speaker. For most of the group, English is their second language. Yet, that is the language you must have to function in a foreign setting in a good portion of the world. So as a native, I'm set, even when I travel to distant lands. But in many cases, I think it's a real pity that there is so little emphasis given to learning another language in English speaking countries. It feeds the egocentric mindset that most Americans are already so prone to. And, missionaries don't have such a good wrap when it comes to going abroad, because they can sometimes take with them an imperialistic mindset. So those are two strikes I see myself potentially coming up against.
Tonight I caught my peers off guard when I told them I was American. They thought that I must be German or French from looking at me. When I shared that I worked at a Christian International school, they didn't get weird. They thought it was interesting that I taught Bible. And the Finnish guy asked me to "speak Bible" to him. I didn't really get what he was asking. So I threw in some favorite Evangelical lingo -- "Accept Jesus into your heart!" But apparently that wasn't what he was looking for, so I quoted some scripture -- "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." I guess that wasn't quite what he was looking for either, but I think the Israeli was cool with it.
And that was it. The conversation flowed naturally on, through politics, economics, language, living in foreign places, asking questions about the many different lands represented at the table.
So now we have a basis to continue to have discussion and conversation from, Lord willing. Who knows what He will do with you when you make yourself available to something as simple as a Czech class outside your usual bubble.
No comments:
Post a Comment