We are now officially enrolled in language school. On Thursday, Jake, Abby and I headed down town to locate a language school we had heard and read a lot about. We found it easily and went inside to take our placement exam. I must admit I went in feeling pretty confident. However, after the first page of questions I was jolted into reality. I was sure that the year of German I had taken at UCO plus some tutoring from a rather well trained teacher would at least land me in the 2nd or 3rd class. Nope, they put me right in with the beginners. Grrrr..... How humbling. I suppose it didn't help that we had a three year old with us. Trying to keep her quiet and sitting down so other people could also take their exam was a, errrhh...challenge. So, on 3 September, I start at the beginning, again.
I will say the importance of learning and being very comfortable with the language is becoming clear. I never had any intention of not learning to speak German, hence the above mentioned prep work, but being here has really emphasized this point. I think one of the times this hit home for me the most was a couple of Sundays ago. Jake and I had remembered that Preston Crest church in Dallas streamed their worship services. Jake got online and got everything set up for us to watch and participate. When the voices started coming through the computer and we could hear the singing it was amazing. I mean to hear words and melodies that were familiar made my heart sing. Since arriving here we have visited with the congregations that are here. Everyone has been very welcoming and gracious. The lessons, the ones that were translated anyway, were good and the singing beautiful. There is just something about hearing the Word, and singing praises in the language of your home that can't be duplicated. I suppose my feelings on the subject could change as I learn German. However, the idea of sharing the Gospel in the language of those who will be hearing it is of the utmost importance.
Please be praying that as we start language training we will have effective teachers, willing minds and an extra measure of strength and energy.
3 comments:
You are in our prayers, always.
Good luck with classes. We definitely understand your feelings and frustrations. Hang in there, there will be down times, but there will also be a lot of up times too! :)
cool
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