Elijah and Moira Hall TRIBAL MISSIONS - Reaching the unreached _img.jpg)
A child learns to speak…first come the sparks of understanding as you look into their eyes and realize they are processing the information. Then comes the babbling, when you can tell that they are exactly sure what is is they’re saying, but it isn’t quite communicating right. Before you know it, their vocabulary expands exponentially and their pronounciation is nearly perfect.
So what does this have to do with the method of language learning New Tribes Mission is teaching us?
Do they REALLY want us to learn language like a kid does?
Welcome to the CLA Practicum.
This week at the Missionary Training Center was full of teaching on the best ways to learn another language and culture (CLA stands for Culture/Language Acquisition).
“It’s like this,” said the instructor. “How many of you who took two years of a foreign language in high school remember any of it? That’s because you ‘learned’ it. Now think about the word ‘rhinoceros’ for a minute. When was the last time anyone said ‘rhinoceros’ to you? But you have no trouble picturing the animal and remembering the word – because you acquired it.”
The method we will be using is a combination of techniques developed by leading researchers in the field of language learning. Comprehension and communication are major focal points, and developing relationships is both a means and a goal of the program. Some time is spent in the office recording and processing information, but a majority of our hours will be spent out with the people. To reach a level of proficiency in speaking a tribal language, we were told to expect to log a minimum of 3,000 hours in the village!
It seems overwhelming to think of learning two totally different languages within the next six years or so (the national language of whatever country we work in plus a tribal language).
Time to start thinking like a little child!
