I served my mission among Russians in the Baltic mission, where I learned a new culture that was indeed foreign to me, in some ways.
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| Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Belarus were all part of my mission http://sarahleigh-corner.blogspot.com/ |
I was one day visiting with a sister from Riga, Latvia who had recently joined the church. Her name is Юлия(Julia) and she is a dear friend that I really look up to.
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| Julia and I shortly after we had this conversation |
I had to think about it for a minute, but as I came to realize what she was saying was true, I have never been able to use that word in such a context. I am so grateful to her for being brave enough to bring it up with me. I invite all of you to think about it too, because it really is a game changer.
I can totally relate! I served in Korea, and whenever I would talk to members, investigators, or just people on the street, they would tell me not to use a certain word or phrase in a certain context. The members especially would help with language correction, and would persuade me to use other words/phrases. I think not wanting to mess up while speaking another language is persuasion enough..
ReplyDeleteThis immediately makes me think of the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:37). If you are being honest, then why do you have to add the disclaimer that you are? You (not really you, *rhetorically* speaking) should let all your words be truth. Is dishonesty such an integral part of human communication that we need to indicate that we are being honest?
ReplyDeleteChinese speakers use ending particles such as "la", "lo", ga", and "wo". Although the words themselves don't have any meaning, basically they are there to establish the tone of your sentence (to imply happiness, anger, etc.) Many missionaries don't understand how to use these properly and as a result, unfortunately, many Chinese people have a hard time understanding what they are trying to say.
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