Advance the Gospel

  • About
    • Patrick and Leslie
    • Experience
    • Doctrinal Statement
    • Sending Church and Support Address Information
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
    • Contact Us
    • Sign Up for Email Updates

Language Learning: Part I

June 28, 2016 by Patrick 1 Comment

We have been in Argentina for three months now. In three months we set up and are are in language school. So what is life like for a missionary in language school? My life is in Spanish. Everything that is done is done in Spanish. Language school only lasts a few hours but language learning continues throughout every day. I have been told that learning the rules of the language is important, but it is more important to get out and “practice” Spanish. If you think about it, our children did not learn English by being in a formal classroom setting learning the rules of when to say this and how to say it. They learned by being around us, by listening and trying to say a word here or there themselves. Before long our children were speaking fluently! The most important thing about language school is not just the rules, but the practice! How can we practice Spanish? Practicing Spanish is two-fold, you listen, and you speak. It is best to converse with someone because in doing so you are listening and speaking. So how are some ways we practice Spanish. In Argentina it is easy. We listen. Any message, announcement, prayer request or anything else in the church is how we can listen to Spanish. Listen to the talk radio. If someone is talking on the radio, it is in Spanish, so we listen. Watch the news. All of the news is in Spanish. What about talking, how do we practice speaking in Spanish. Again this is very simple, if you see a human, that human speaks Spanish! Talk with people. Talk with people you know and talk with people you don’t know. Talk about the weather, shoes, food, customs, holidays, the community and city, the country, talk about Jesus and the Bible. Talk about anything and everything you can possibly think about. At first it is very slow. It may be a “Hello, how are you?” sort of thing. In time you will be able to say more and more. I think you get the idea. Just talk to people. Ask them to correct you (I am finding people are very kind, they want to talk to me and many of them don’t mind correcting me).

Our days are filled with Spanish. Some times it is overwhelming. Some times we speak and understand much better than other times. We continue on and we are loving it! The next few weeks I will address what it is like to be a new missionary learning the language in Argentina.

Filed Under: Blog

Comments

  1. dulce trujillo says

    August 19, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    Hi, I just want you to know that we are praying for you, we can understand what you are going through because we moved from Cuba to USA, for us it was more difficult because we did not know the Lord at that time and we were a lot older that you guys.
    I know that there is nothing impossible for God, and He will free your tongues, and you will be amazed in a couple of years when you start dreaming , singing and thinking in Spanish.
    I am now serving the Lord as the “perfect” help for my husband who is pastoring a Hispanic Church in Melbourne, Fl. and I work as a professional interpreter.
    One simple note: a few years ago I was going to have a conversation with a dear lady, and I started thinking of what I had to say to her, them I realized that she spoke Spanish and I was think of what to say in English.
    God is good.
    Next comment will be in Spanish.
    Love in Christ and in His service
    Dulce Trujillo

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search Advance the Gospel

Recent Posts

  • Quick Update: Training Men
  • Small Crumbs of Truth from my Daily Bible Reading
  • March 2023 Missions Letter
  • Quick Update: Starting an Evangelistic Campaign
  • Knowing You Are Exactly Where God Wants You
  • Quick Update: A Successful Camp and a Couples Fellowship
  • A Quick Thought from what I am Reading
  • February 2023 Missions Letter
  • My First Thoughts on our Return to Argentina
  • Quick Update: The Vision 2023

Copyright © 2023 · Modern Portfolio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in