Category: Language Learning

by DaveWe have been in France now for 11 months and I feel like that is long enough to begin to dispense some advice for our American friends. We are certainly not French culture experts, but here are 7 things that might be helpful if you decide to visit (or move to) France:— 1. Prepare Yourself to Feel Like a Giant We are pretty used to it by now, but when we first moved to France it was shocking how much smaller everything was. The people are smaller, the cars are smaller, the food portions are smaller, the refrigerators are…

By Stacey Do you have any friends that are going through language school for missions? Let me give you some insight into what is going on in their heads. (reading) “How are they to hear without someone preaching?…How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15).(thinking) How in the world am I ever going to preach in this language?! And how beautiful are my feet if my mouth is incapable of communicating the Gospel?! We (missionaries) used to flip to Romans 10 to inspire ourselves during the long season of support-raising. These days we eye…

by Stacey There are hundreds of unspoken social rules for every society and when these cultural rules are broken, awkwardness ensues. Here are some examples of cultural rules that might be easy to violate: -> Crossing your legs in Cameroon communicates that you feel superior to those in your presence.-> Our son Kaden came home from school the other day sticking up his middle finger. Although I could not tell him the “why” behind the social rule, we explained to him that it was very rude to make that gesture in American culture. -> In some languages (like French) it is important to…

by Stacey8 months ago we arrived in France exhausted yet praising God that we successfully arrived in country with all our luggage and all our children. Lord willing, 8 months from now, we will arrive in Cameroon with all of our luggage and all our children. As we are at the half-way mark, we thought we would reflect on our last 8 months here in France:Turns out Language Learning is Hard On our flight to France, I was explaining to a girl I was sitting next to that French would be easy to learn since it has a lot of similarities to English. She…

Please be praying as we begin our A2 exams this week. Perhaps you could set aside 5 minutes on each day we have a test? We long to succeed in French so that our ministry is not hampered in Cameroon. Here is the schedule for our exams: Thursday, December 12: Written Comprehension and Biblical Vocabulary.Friday, December 13: Grammar and Written Production.Monday, December 16: Oral Production (two sessions).Tuesday, December 17: Oral Comprehension, Dictation, Oral Reading. If we pass these exams it will signify that we: Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very…

by Stacey I remember the first time someone I had just met tried to give me a kiss on the cheek here in France. Quite honestly I wanted to run away. Apparently “the kisses” (one small kiss on each cheek) is the French equivalent to the American hug. Each time it happens my former missions professor pops into my head and says, “Remember, it’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just different.” I have since gotten used to kissing people on the cheeks instead of a hug, but there are still plenty of other things to get used to.  For example, in my…

Well, we have been in the program here in Albertville for 2 months and it is time for our first round of testing. Our school lists the following goals for us: Our Goals allow you to acquire strong practical competence in: Oral Comprehension Oral Expression Written Comprehension Written Expression According to the European Language Reference Guide (ELRG), we train students from the level A0/A1 (beginner) to the level C2 (advanced) *see chart below. Please be praying that we pass our first test (A1) this week so that we can move forward into the A2 class in September. The test will span…

By Stacey Well the new theme to our lives right now is…humility. Not vey exotic or exciting being that we are living in France and all, but there is nothing more humbling then opening your mouth and not having any words come out.  Unless perhaps it is more humbling to have a child stare at you mouth agape when all you said was ‘Bonjour’ (I mean, I didn’t think my pronunciation was thatbad).  Or maybe it’s more humbling when you open your mouth and words do come out….but based on the expression of the person you are talking to, you…