Becoming Native to Win the Natives

Cross-Culturally Becoming All Things to All Men

Laughlin

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498290197
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

In the author's ten years living in China, Chinese friends and foreign friends alike have told him that in many ways he is more like a Chinese person than an American. He sees himself as an "egg," which is white on the outside and yellow (Chinese) inside. For cross-cultural ministry, we learn from the apostle Paul: "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" (1 Cor 9:22). Paul's purpose in becoming all things to all men is so that some may be saved. We can see this displayed in his preaching to the Athenians in Acts 17, how he becomes a local by relating to them through their culture. This book first looks at how we are to imitate Christ's love and humility to effectively love the locals to whom we are ministering. Then the book covers many specific aspects of life abroad and how we can better live like the locals in many areas that some may be saved. Though this book is particularly targeted for those readers who are ministering cross-culturally, it is also a very beneficial book for Christians aiming to be light in their home country.

Section II

Practically How to Become Native to Win the Natives

3

Diving into Language

The first section of this book was about principles in “becoming native to win the natives.” The second section of the book is specifically how to carry those principles out. So, we understand what the Bible says about what we should do, but what exactly does that look like in practice? And what should we strive to make important if we are to reach those we are ministering to cross-culturally? The first thing to look at in striving to become like the natives is the sometimes scary and intimidating—but also incredibly fulfilling and worthwhile—process of learning the local language.

Language Learning

Learning a foreign language is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to do. Since I first arrived in China ten years ago, people back home have always asked if I was “fluent” in the language. But I think fluency can be described in many different ways. I thought after my first year in China that I was relatively “fluent,” because I could pretty easily use Chinese to do most things I needed to do around town. But as each year passes, I realize that for my first years in China I still could not understand very much compared to how much I can now. And I’m sure that if I stayed here for another five years, I would probably look back at my Chinese level now and see how low it is, comparatively. So “fluency” is a very relative term.

In language learning, though, especially when living in the country where the language is spoken, it is important to be satisfied with making slow and steady improvement. Many foreigners come to China from all over the world to learn Chinese. They will study incredibly intensively for about two years until they pass their desired level of Chinese. After that, they may never really learn much more. But for those of us who are missionaries, we need to have a long-term view in sight.

We are not just learning the language to pass an exam. We are using the language to convey who God is. That is one noble task. The language is a means by which we can better connect with the local people for ministry purposes. Everything we do in learning the language should be very practical, as that is the way we can connect better with the locals. Through better connecting with the local people, we can better share with them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. So we must have these things in mind when we learn the language. We must be satisfied with slow and steady progress, which over a long time can amount to great language mastery.

For the missionary, we must have more of a marathon mindset when studying the local language, rather than a 100 meter race pace. Our purpose in studying the language is not simply to pass an exam. That does not mean that if we just stay in a foreign country for long enough we will just naturally become a language master. That is certainly not true. There are many missionaries who live in a country for decades, but never learn the language well. The only way to learn a language well is to expend much sweat and effort to learn it. There is no other way to do it. It will not just happen naturally. But especially for a missionary, the sweat shed for this cause is well worth it.

Intense language learning is certianly not for everyone. For older missionaries who are beyond a certain age, it is not wise for them to spend hours upon hours in learning the language. It can be a huge waste of time for them to do that, as with their old age it can be incredibly difficult or impossible for most to learn a new foreign language. Such older missionaries should not feel at all discouraged with that reality. Thankfully, in probably nearly every ministry context out there in any country, there will be locals who can speak English well. Thus, the older missionaries can minister to them, which is also of great importance. But for those young enough to learn the local language, it is well worth all of their efforts to learn the language as well as they can, and to continue indefinitely to improve their language.

For those of us from the United States, foreign language learning is not something that just comes naturally. In fact, though the United States’ education system is quite excellent in most regards, in regards to learning foreign languages it is behind much of the rest of the world. Most people from non-English speaking countries begin learning foreign languages like English and other languages from a very young age. And they put enough emphasis on language learning that they can actually learn it well. I know when I was in middle school and high school in the United States, I studied Spanish for several years, but despite having very good grades in the class, my Spanish level was still very low. I could not even have conversed with someone in Spanish then.

Standardized college entrance tests in the United States like the ACT or SAT do not require anything related to a foreign language. Even many majors in universities in the United States do not require any foreign language classes, or they accept credits from language classes taken in high school. The GRE also does not include a foreign language section. For those of us who are from the United States, we come from a culture that does not emphasize learning foreign languages. So when we first go to the mission field in a foreign land, we do not immediately know how we are to learn the language. It can be very intimidating in many ways, because we have never attained any level of fluency in a foreign language before. We do not know how we are to begin the language-learning process, nor do we know what steps to take beyond that in order to come to any mastery of the language.

But if you plan to minister in a foreign land, it is very likely that English will not be the main language where you are serving. If English is not the first language there, then you still can probably find some people around you who speak English well enough to become your friends. You may even study the Bible with them in English and minister to them in English. Certainly there is great need in many unreached areas around the world for people to minister in only English to the locals. That said, if you plan to spend more than a couple years in that country, and you are young enough to somewhat efficiently learn a foreign language, it would greatly help you to learn the language as well as you can.

Even in more educated countries, only a small percentage of the general public will be able to communicate fluently with you in English. So that means that if you never learn the local language, you’ll only be able to communicate with a small portion of the population. This will greatly limit the scope of your ministry. But if you can be diligent in studying and learn the language well, oh how many doors will open for building deep relationships with locals and for sharing the gospel with them! They will also greatly respect you for caring about their culture by working hard to learn the language. If you do not make any effort to learn their language, they may think you really do not like their culture and their country. Like I said, it is possible to do cross-cultural ministry in only English, but even with the good English speakers there will be limitations so long as you cannot speak to them in their heart language.

Not only is the best way to communicate with people in their mother tongue, but the language is also a great way to learn more about the culture. There are just so many things that are learned about a culture through the language itself that cannot necessarily be learned by being translated into another language. One fun thing also is to try to learn some of the local dialect in the town particular to where you are serving. The dialect there may be very different from other parts of the country. So a fun way to relate to the locals there is by learning some of the more common local phrases and using them with those around you who are from there.

In language learning, it is important not to be terrified of making mistakes. You must be brave to go out and talk to shop owners or restaurant workers or to buy veggies in the market. It’s completely fine if you mispronounce a word terribly or say the wrong thing. The most important thing is that you are willing to open your mouth to try to communicate with those around you. If you are too afraid to speak and make mistakes, you will find it very hard to make progress in the language. The mispronouncing will happen less often if you have ten people correct you and remind you how to say a word correctly than if you never open your mouth to be corrected.

I remember how funny it was—at least to us at the time—when my college friend Eric, who initially moved with me to China, told me about how he had made such a stupid mistake when trying to ask for a napkin at a local rice restaurant. He meant to ask for a canjinzhi (napkin). But instead he asked for a sanmingzhi (sandwich). He felt quite silly when he realized his mistake, especially since the restaurant had nothing on the menu resembling a sandwich. He was good-humored about his mistake, and we had a good laugh about it later. Though he was certainly embarrassed for his error, it didn’t stop him from getting out and continuing to practice his Chinese with anyone he would see.

It seems that for the Chinese language in particular—because of the ambiguity intrinsic to a tonal language—it is quite normal for the locals to sometimes be very confused about what the foreigners are trying to say to them, even if the foreigner has been living there for a long time. Is the foreigner saying “Mom,” “horse,” “numb,” or just cursing you? These are four of the possible meanings for the simple word ma, all with a different tone. And even beyond that, there may be fifty common characters with completely different meanings just for the word shi (pronounced close to “sure”) with a falling tone.

So it’s understandable in learning any language to have some miscommunications or mistakes. The key for the language learner is not to be afraid of making such mistakes, but to persevere in trying to speak as much as possible with the locals. That’s the only way to improve in the spoken language. If someone has learned a language to some extent, but cannot or will not actually speak it to have a conversation with a local, what is the point of learning the language? The whole purpose for a missionary to learn a language is to converse with the locals so as to be able to befriend them and as a means of sharing the good news with them. The only way to practice conversing in a foreign language is to open one’s mouth to talk with locals.

Language Learning Tips

As for my own language-learning experience, many folks study the language full-time for a couple years before doing anything else. I was never a full-time language student, but rather a full-time English teacher. But after I had arrived in China, I immediately had a great interest in studying the language. At first I tried to memorize simple conversational words, and my vocabulary slowly broadened. My second semester in China I began studying Chinese characters. I enjoyed this even more and started to spend about fifteen to twenty hours per week just writing and reading characters. I did that for another two years. During that time, even when I was on holiday in the United States, I’d still continue to try to study Chinese characters for at least twenty hours per week. This helped give me a great foundation in the language, though I was not a full-time Chinese student.

Around the same time, I began listening to the Chinese radio and writing down all of the words I did not understand and trying to look them up. Also, during my third year in China for a whole year every morning I would wake up early and read aloud for an hour from the Chinese Bible. This really helped not only my speaking, but also my Chinese character recognition and my spiritual language vocabulary. In my third year in China I started making good friends who did not speak any English. All of our correspondence together was in Chinese, and we would talk about relatively deep topic...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Section I: Principles for Becoming Native to Win the Natives
• Section II: Practically How to Become Native to Win the Natives
• Section III: What to Take Away from All This?
• Bibliography