Language

Story: I Don’t Understand My Teacher

Lila grew up in a small village nestled in the mountains. It was her first day of class, and her father took her to school in the next town.

Lila: I don’t understand what the teacher is saying.

Classmate: She is using our national language. My parents speak it at home, so it’s easy for me.

Lila: But my parents never use it at home. I don’t know any other language except the one we use at home.

Teacher: Class, can anyone tell me what 2 + 2 equals?

Classmate: Four!

Lila (embarrassed and crying): I miss home. This is too difficult.

But despite the difficulties, Lila studied hard and adapted to the national language. The teacher was also very patient with her.

Lila: I’m starting to understand more after the first few weeks. It’s not so difficult anymore.

Classmate: That’s great, Lila! I am happy for you.

One day Lila asked her teacher.

Lila: Why don’t we use our own language in school?

Teacher: Because the textbooks are in the national language and when you graduate and must find a good job in the city, you must master our national language.

Examples from the Bible

• People had one language, became proud, and wanted to build a tower to heaven. God saw it and confused their languages so they would not understand each other anymore, causing them to spread throughout the world in their language groups (Genesis 11:1-9).
• Joesph immediately knew his brothers when they came to him to Egypt to buy grain. Still, Joseph did not reveal himself at first and used an interpreter. His brothers spoke among each other in their own language, assuming Joseph did not understand them (Genesis 42:6-7+23, 45:12).
• The Ephraimites were defeated and desired to return home, crossing the Jordan, but hoped to be identified as Gileadites. However, they were detected due to their failure to pronounce the word shibboleth in a Gileadite manner. Because of that, they took the impostor and slew him at the passages of Jordan (Judges 12).
• King Hezekiah, during the Assyrian invasion, faced the threat from the Assyrian king’s representative, Rabshakeh, who addressed the people of Judah in their own language and tried to instill fear (2 Kings 18:17-37).
• Those Jews living in other countries outside Jerusalem were surprised to hear the disciples of Jesus speaking their own language. They acknowledge those distinct languages that identify each country where they live, such as Parthia, Media, and Elam. Others are from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and parts of Libya near Cyrene, Rome, Crete, and Arabia. According to verse 11, some of them were born Jews, and others have chosen to become Jews. Yet they all hear them using their own languages to tell the beautiful things God has done (Acts 2).

Real-life examples

• East Timor Language, Tetum, was just an oral language before being proclaimed an independent nation in 1999. It became a written language developed by the University of Sydney. Those who are exposed to LOR methods, such as new government officials who studied abroad or students who have followed the Indonesian system of education, would prefer to use their new Tetum, that has much influenced by LOR Portuguese language and the Bahasa Indonesia, which is already influenced (and mixed) with Dutch and Arabic languages. Most HOR people would use the original oral language without referring to the more constructed grammar and alphabet, which is LOR.

• The Like👍🏽 button on social media made the thumbs-up sign almost globally mutually understandable. However, for some people groups, it meant something different before globalization unified its meaning.
• Indonesians in Jakarta (and increasingly those in the capital of each province of Java) would prefer to mix the English language with their national language Indonesians in some instances like social gatherings, church services, educational system, marketing, etc. These LOR methods are preferred in their daily conversation, whereas HOR methods are still much of the rural areas.