What do you think of when you think of learning a new language? What words come to mind? Probably not shame, huh? But, in serving language learners for the past 25 years, I’m starting to think that shame is a key emotion when it comes to language learning. Shame for giving up. Shame for not trying. Shame for failing. Shame for not being as good as someone else.
Shame.
And, it’s not a kind of shame that propels us to do better, either. Rather, it’s shame that freezes us in place, makes us feel like language learning is hopeless, compels us to hide our lack of language, even leads us to discourage those who are still trying.
We hide behind busyness, hide behind the missionary community, hide behind English language ministry when that’s not what we came to do, hide behind other languages that we do speak well. That we can be adults in. Be respected in.
So, today, let’s stop hiding. Let’s name our struggles with language, get help, and move forward.
Because when we shine the light on shame, it loses its power over us and can be turned into something beautiful.
I’ll start. I didn’t learn Mbelime, even though I tried pretty hard. I got off on the wrong track, and didn’t have anyone to help me. That failure, though, turned me into a coach. I get to give people now what I needed then. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s beautiful, actually.
If you would like to tell me your story, I would be honored to listen. Click here to connect.