Posts tagged ‘languages’
Should foreign immigrants be expected to learn English? – Part 2
When we’re thinking about the people that makeup our church we also have to keep in mind which generations of people are coming to your worship service or do we? In a recent conversation with the children of a good friend of mine, Jou Lee, they explained how they don’t really speak the Hmong language at their home. They primarily speak English in the home. Jou Lee is the same person who does song translations for me and she immigrated to America years ago. So, is it important to try and use the Hmong language in this situation whether it is spoken or written, especially at church?
In my opinion, I feel it’s still important to learn and use the language of your ethnic group regardless of which generation you are from. I never really tried to learn Korean when I was growing up. It wasn’t until I started getting more serious with my relationship with my wife, when we first started dating, that I wanted to learn more about Korean culture. She had lots of questions and I had very little answers. As you move onto the next life stage you want to embrace more of how God made you unique, at least that’s how I felt. Jou Lee’s kids may not think it’s important right now to learn the Hmong language but someday they may want to explore their Hmong culture.
It is important to teach your kid’s how to read and speak the language of your culture?
Share your story and your life…
Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284
© 2009 – 2010, Peter Park. All rights reserved.
Should foreign immigrants be expected to learn English? – Part 1
Should foreign immigrants be expected to learn English? That’s a tough question. In a recent conversation with a pastor, who came from Mexico, he felt the answer was a resounding “yes.” It makes sense to learn the language of the country that you plan to move to, even if it is a short term mission trip. When I visited China nine year years ago I didn’t expect people to speak English to me and it worked the other way around too. There were many times when people started to speak Chinese to me. And, yes, the college students there did know how to speak English. They probably could read and write English better than they could speak it, but they wanted to try.
When I think about the multicultural church and wonder whether English should be the primary language I opinion is…it depends. There are so many factors that go into that. If you have found a multicultural church in the United States English should be the primary language, but it should includes other languages within the worship service. If you’ve found a multicultural church in France, then you should be learning French. We can’t expect people to always be accommodating our preferences and our language. There are many people to be reached for Christ and we need to learn their heart language and their heart music.
Share your story and your life…
Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284
© 2009 – 2010, Peter Park. All rights reserved.
Communication and Raising Biracial/Bicultural kids
Something I’ve been thinking about lately is what kind of challenges are my son, Gabe, who is half Korean and half Caucasian, have when he’s growing up. I’m speaking in particular about whether or not he will be accepted by both cultures with language being a major factor. I know for me being born in American the primary language I spoke, even at home, was English. My parents did send me to a school on Saturdays, which was held on Saturdays, to learn Korean for a few hours. But I really didn’t want to learn it at the time. Mostly because I didn’t want to go to school another day of the week…five days is enough. As I was growing up it seemed really important to my relatives that I know how to speak Korean and communicate with them. Over time I was seen as the quiet kid by my relatives. This has molded my personality to a great degree.
On the other side of things I’ve had communication challenges with people of other cultures, particularly with Caucasian people. There are rare moments where I feel like I have gotten my point. I’m not saying that’s true of every Caucasian person I talk to and it might just be the circle of friends that I have around me. And let me know that I have many solid relationships with many Caucasians where we really care for one another.
The lesson I’ve learned and am still learning is the importance of being able to communicate through someone’s heart language. This might mean speaking in another language like Korean or Spanish or French. But it’s also being able communicate with other people who speak the same language as you. Business owners sometimes speak differently than employees. Pastors speak differently than worship leaders. People are using different terms to describe things. That’s why it’s so important for me continue to learn different languages and my own language.
Share your story and your life…
Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284
© 2009 – 2010, Peter Park. All rights reserved.