Sharper Ears, Looser Tongue

These were a couple of the goals of my recent two-week language acquisition training at Mission Training International. While this training was of a completely different nature than the three-week SPLICE training which preceded it, it certainly was equally worthwhile. Most significantly for me, it gave me a lot of hope, as well as a load of helpful tools, for taking charge of the language learning process I have ahead of me. I'm convinced of the importance of language learning for effective long-term cross cultural ministry, yet the thought of learning a new language, particularly one as unfamiliar as the Khmer language, was a daunting prospect at my age. The PILAT program encourages us to recognize that we are capable of learning a new language just as we so naturally learned our first one, the key is for the learner to take ownership of "pulling the language in." Our instructors intentionally had us practice their techniques on a language that was not our target language. So guess what language I got to practice on..... Mandarin Chinese! This video is of our Mandarin language helper preparing us for learning how to buy noodles in Mandarin. Well, if I could get even a small jump on Mandarin in just a few sessions, I have great expectations for what God can do for His glory in helping me learn Khmer!! That being said, PLEASE PRAY for me in this because, while I know it is doable, I also know it is going to take a lot of hard work and being willing to make "a million mistakes."