The last description in this series is Collaborator or Co-creator. These two descriptions capture mission as a joint work together between missionary and locals, as equals, where both parties play a role. Although technically not a picture, the overall sense of both of these is in the combining of two parties in partnership towards one goal. And while I’m not technically a linguist, it seems to me that the term collaborator gives the sense of labouring together.
A further aspect of these descriptions is the feature of both parties bringing expertise to the table in order to make something new. In this way, both parties are essential and neither is enough on their own. This resonates when I think about teaching theology; I’m trying to bring theological ideas through English to Khmer. My theological ideas are not enough on their own and neither is Khmer enough on its own. But in the combination, there is a synergy in the process of coming together. Co-creator builds on this coming-together aspect but also points to the creative aspects of partnerships, a creativity that mirrors the Creator. Something new is created as we wrestle with theology from English to Khmer.
I’m currently trying to write an article on missiology about the role of resources in mission. One of the things I’m toying with is the idea of a missionary as a resource. Money is clearly a resource, language too is a resource. Surely the missionary is a resource too. In this framework, I ask what the role of external resources is in relation to internal (local) resources.
This picture of a missionary as a resource echoes the coach picture, here, in terms of being a resourcer. However, characterising the missionary as a resource provides some passivity to the missionary role. That is, the resource is at the service of the local. They can use the resource in the way they think. Instead of it just being about what the missionary thinks is important, they allow themselves to be directed and used like a resource would be. They hand over power to someone else. This picture seems to empower the local while at the same time disempowering the missionary in a vulnerable way. Agency is located more with the local than the missionary.
Even though missionaries may know a thing or two, their expertise in this metaphor are placed subordinately to the locals and directed towards goals that the missionaries themselves may not have thought of or thought important prior to being involved in mission. As a resource the missionary is put in the service of another rather than servicing their own goals.
I like the picture, because my arms display my unreadiness. When you are the resource, change comes not from a position of control, but from outside and we are less ready for it than when as the agent we try to make the change happen ourselves.
The picture of a sniper resonates with my experience of being a missionary particularly as it relates to timeline and target. On numerous recountings, I have described a former missionary’s perspective on mission to me, as we chatted at CMS Summer School one year. He said to me in the first term, learn the language and don’t kill anyone (other versions are stay married or make a friend). Second term, you can make a list of all that needs addressing. Third term, you can address the first item on that list only. Over roughly 10 years, this is a rough sketch of the missionary timeline and target.
To me the above timeline and target matches the picture of a sniper as one part of the way an army wins a war. Snipers have a key expertise. They can take out a small target from a long way away. In terms of mission service, aiming for taking out a target in the third term of service echoes this ability. It echoes the waiting and watching, basically just the time involved in this task; mission work is time intensive. Patience is required; is demanded.
The sniper pic also echoes needing a good vantage point; it takes time to learn a new culture and be able to start to speak into it. Even though I know Khmer culture more now than when I first came, I’m less inclined to offer strong pronouncements about what Khmer Christians should do; my vantage point has shown me all the things that I don’t know about Khmer culture. A wise missionary said it was easiest to teach a book of the Bible, harder to teach doctrine and even harder to teach practical ministry subjects cross-culturally. Each step requires more and more cultural knowledge to do well.
Finally, the sniper metaphor highlights a sniper’s weakness. If the enemy gets in close they are at a disadvantage in hand to hand. While a sniper is specialised, their speciality is a liability when it comes to other activities. A weakness of mine at the moment is that I struggle to understand conversations between Khmer speakers that don’t involve me. This weakness reminds us that a sniper is only one part of an army. They won’t win the war, but they play an important part. Their specialist equipment speaks to the skills they bring that are ultra good at one thing and not great at others.
As I think about timeline and target in our context: First term learn Khmer (though, never finish learning). Second term begin teaching in Khmer and later give leadership a go. Third term becomes a culmination of the first two terms: improving teaching in Khmer as I lead in various capacities. This hopefully gives you a sense of my sniper technique in terms of target and timeline.
This is my earliest recorded language mistake, after a month on location, now immortalised. I was trying to say ‘I like to ride a bike’. I ended up saying the equivalent of ‘they like wide-ing bic-eze’.
One movie my family loves is The Terminal.Tom Hanks plays a guy stranded in an airport without any English. As he learns English he is able to interact with a love interest (Katherine Zeta-Jones). In a hilarious moment, his hours of practicing asking her out with the phrase, ‘Would you like a bite to eat?’, comes out ‘Eat to bite’. Learning a second language is hard. But our own languages are hard too. And Khmer is hard for Cambodians too.
I was trying to use a Khmer word in class. I had written it up on the board so that it wasn’t just my pronunciation that they were stumbling over. My Khmer students didn’t understand. The word had been translated by another lecturer, so I wasn’t 100% sure why this word had been used. I knew another word that conveyed the meaning of my English word, so I used that instead.
There were a few things happening in this situation. The first is that this shows where I am starting to get up to in my Khmer language (following on from my recent language update). As I teach, we are wrestling together (the students and myself and other lecturers) about the best Khmer words to use. There is a normal and not-normal aspect to this situation. Because Khmer is their language not mine, my immediate reaction is to question whether I’ve got it right. This is a good reaction, but not a normal reaction. If I was working in English, I wouldn’t have that same questioning (though maybe I should). So the first thing that happens is I question whether the word I’ve used is right or not.
Second, this situation illustrates an important part of the Christian journey for every Christian regardless of language. In English and Khmer, growing in our faith means growing in our Christian vocabulary, understanding new words that help us learn about God and ourselves. So becoming and growing as a Christian has a learning-a-new-language component to it too. Just like if we were a doctor we would need to learn all the technical terms for sickness and such. In my head I wonder whether this situation is one of these moments, a chance for the students to learn some new vocab for their faith.
Third, this situation also illustrates an aspect of the Khmer language. There are two language modes, royal language and street language. Royal language are terms that you would use in relation to the king or divinity or a monk, but you wouldn’t use them in relation to an average person. They tend to be more academic and used seldomly in regular life. The second mode is general language used more in common conversation and even academic situations outside of those specific examples above. The particular wrestle is when to use royal language for Jesus and when not to. It can help to highlight his divinity. But it can also distance his humanity from ours when different words are used to describe him and for us. This is an interesting discussion that I have with my students. At present I just go for the both/and approach. Both terms have their importance. So sometimes when my students don’t understand it’s because the language is tricky and unfamiliar, even for them.
My favourite Intro to the Bible overview that I was taught by Dr Bill Salier.
I recently made a trip to a provincial town, Battambang. I think it’s the second or third largest city in Cambodia. There, representing PPBS, I was teaching Education by Extension (EE), a way to bring theological education to places in Cambodia that have less resources and opportunities to receive training in theology.
My teaching program content was very similar to a one hour lesson that I did four years ago to residents from a province not far from Battambang, Koh Kong as they visited with a good friend of mine, Dr Jeff Hogue. See here for that post. The differences are shocking! That first time I taught for one hour. This time I taught for 18 hours in 3 days. That time I spoke in Khmer maybe 20-40% of the time. This time basically 100% Khmer. Then I had a missionary friend use the main concepts that I was trying to communicate and use his Khmer to get the points across. This time I had a Khmer lecturer give me tips (like that I should not say that the Israelites wanted to have sex with a king). Last time I had little interaction with individual students. This time we laughed when I said map instead of promised land, or when I couldn’t get my mouth around a fairly standard word. That time I couldn’t explain beyond the basics. This time I could talk about the nature of covenants, use the word for ‘important themes’ to show literary devices particularly in the Old Testament and convey the abstract ideas like the benefit of understanding context using the illustration of sight and touch as two ways to learn things.
I found out just recently that one of the things my missionary friend back then was impressed by was how little Khmer I had and yet I was giving it a go. Now I see the fruit of years of language learning. For those who are currently language learning (of which I still am), keep at it. It gets easier. And it’s so encouraging looking back.
This post follows on from the previous post about where I’m up to in my language learning with a wider reflection on the things that assist us as we learn a new language.
One of the things that has struck me as I continue to develop my Khmer language skills is the number of supports it takes to learn a language. It takes a whole village, or a village of institutions, for me to be where I am now in Khmer language ability.
Firstly, a vital institution for language learning is the CMS fellowship, with both its priority on long term mission and the importance it places in learning the local language in order to be able to stay long term. Added to this is all those churches and individuals who support us through CMS to enable us to devote good time to language learning.
Secondly, there is the language school that I attended, G2K (Gateway to Khmer). This second institution gave me the foundation I needed to begin learning Khmer and continue learning Khmer in years to come. This school provided me with all the basics for speaking, listening, reading and writing Khmer as well as setting me up to continue learning Khmer once I had finished their program. It is the most well rounded language learning institution in Cambodia at present. It’s classroom model is invaluable.
The third institution that has helped me develop my Khmer has been the Bible School where I teach, Phnom Penh Bible School (PPBS). The opportunity to begin teaching in Khmer with the help of a translator has meant that all those skills that I picked up when I was full time language learning I was able to continue to hone as I taught. Beginning with teaching the Old Testament I was able to pick up a whole lot of new Christian Khmer vocabulary that would serve as a wonderful foundation for now as I teach theology. The school relationships that I have built have also provided a rich help in my Khmer both with time to practice and assistance with learning new words and concepts in Khmer.
Finally, most importantly, the institution of my family has provided me with the stability to live in Cambodia and learn Khmer in different ways. It is these relationships (including my extended family and how they formed me as a person and language learner) that continue to play a part in my language development.
God has been at work through this village of institutions to help me to learn and grow in my ability to communicate in Khmer.
See the books near my drink bottle? They are the Khmer and English versions of key textbooks
Since my last language update, a lot has changed, a lot of time under the bridge. I get the question now, more than I used to: Are you fluent? My answer: Enough. Maybe you could call it functional fluency. When I speak to new Khmer people and they comment on my Khmer, my answer is usually ‘some days enough, some days not enough’. I can enter a conversation with a Khmer person now and most days I can understand what they are trying to communicate with varying degrees of clarity concerning details. I don’t feel nervous talking in Khmer anymore. Five years of language investment and I’m reaching the stage where I am generally comfortable communicating in Khmer. Do I still get lost when two Khmer people are speaking to each other? Absolutely. Are there times when I need to use English because I don’t understand? Yup. But these times are becoming less and less.
In the classroom my need for a translator is diminishing. Since January I’ve started to teach without a translator present. I say to people that the quality of my content that I can deliver would go from an 80% with a translator to a 70% without one. I would be missing some insights and descriptive clarity, but I can get the most important points across now.
One thing I have noticed. When I began teaching I couldn’t really read technical Khmer language so I used to write my own notes in Khmer and get them checked and then use that. Since returning I have moved to a situation where I write my notes in English then get a translator to translate it into Khmer for me. My reading ability means that I can use their translation in a way that I couldn’t in the beginning. As a result my reading of Khmer has improved while my typing of Khmer has slowed and become more tricky.
The way I look at my learning of Khmer up till now is that my language learning has been an investment that I now get to reap the rewards. I can go deeper relationally. I can go deeper in my ability to communicate and I don’t get a headache from using Khmer too much like I used to. I still get tired after using Khmer. I still get lost when using Khmer. But I’m content with my ability while all the while still seeking to improve. Improvement at present is particularly around listening to Khmer sermons to flood myself with input language times where I’m just getting more and more used to local phrases and ways of expressing things.
As we come to the end of our first term, here are some more big picture reflections on language learning in Cambodia for us. I say for us, because this is different for everyone.
A big part of learning a language is having goals (like I want to be fluent or I want to do this with a language). These goals help shape what you’re learning. And we were prepared for this in our mission training. What I wasn’t as ready for was how much a persons context plays into their language learning. While most people have goals in language learning, I’ve been seeing how context plays a big part in how we pick up a language. Three contexts that influence our language learning are the country we reside in, the ministry we are a part of (or hope to be) and our personality that we bring to learning a new language.
Pre-arriving in Cambodia, I was hoping for fluency in the long run and in the medium term the ability to teach in Khmer. I was also hoping that my kids would be fluent too. Now I see how much context plays into our language learning and affects our goals. The short answer is that I’m much more flexible on language goals seeing how much contexts affects us.
It’s been interesting to see how the country that we are serving in plays into our ability to learn language. Below are some observations that I’ve made on how Cambodia, our ministry and my personality context affects our language learning.
Country context:
Khmer is an Asian language, so there seems to be a longer acquisition time in comparison with learning a European language. This is important to keep in mind for myself so that I don’t make unhelpful comparisons about rates of language acquisition with missionary friends in other countries.
Cambodia seems to have more of a culture of foreigners who don’t learn the local language. Now there good reasons for not learning Khmer and not so good reasons as well (of which I won’t go into). One of those reasons is that you can manage to live in Cambodia with English and only a little Khmer. I’d also like to say I’m no expert, so it may be that other countries have just as many missionaries or expats who don’t know the local language. The main affect of this seems to be that locals are always expecting me to speak in English when we first come into contact.
Ministry context:
While my educated guess is that while living in the province it is easier to learn language, we have chosen to learn Khmer in the city (see point below). I think my speaking and listening would have been better if I had learnt Khmer in the province, but I wonder if I could have been reading and writing as well as I can now if I had learned those skills in the country.
Our goal has been for me to teach the Bible in Khmer. In order to teach well, while having good Khmer is sought after, what’s more important is that the students understand the Bible better than before the class.
Part of our ministry context is also family context. Our kids don’t have the exposure to the Khmer language in the same way that we had expected before we came. This changes our family’s ability to function in different Khmer settings (weddings, holidays, outings and other things). More on this below.
Personality context:
I have high expectations. While helpful in some ways, I also need to be aware of pushing too hard. The outcome is that any time I have a chance to lower my workload, this is probably the right move for us given the context of just settling into a new country in this first term.
These are just some of the ways our context has affected our language learning. So where are our goals currently as we finish one term and prepare for another?
Currently: We want our kids to love Cambodia whether or not they learn the language. This is more important to us. They can function in Cambodia without a lot of Khmer, so if they come away from our time here loving Cambodia and the people, but not knowing a whole lot of Khmer, that’s a win for us. In terms of Sam’s language, we want to be mindful of the gap between Sam’s Khmer and mine. However, what’s more important is not so much the gap between us, but that Sam’s language continues to improve at the pace she is able to go at.
Being on location has shown us how, while language goals are important, context also plays an important part in learning language.
The kids bible (aimed at roughly 10yr olds) is easier reading for me whereas reading a simple Khmer version of the Bible (the Message standard) takes more effort.
So where am I up to in learning Khmer as I edge towards the end of our first 3 year term here in Cambodia?
From my point of view, I feel like I speak like a 6 year old with a slightly larger vocabulary (although, my vocab is heavily weighted towards theological words). I have just finished the academic year teaching at Phnom Penh Bible School in Khmer. Teaching Old Testament subjects this last year has greatly assisted my language skills, not only with vocabulary, but with lots of practice in speaking and listening. I feel like my reading is still ahead of my speaking. I feel like I’m able to read literature that an average 9 year old could read.
What my current language abilities means for straight forward conversations is that I go in fairly confident of decent success. Success for me in language at the moment is not so much about getting perfect pronunciation or understanding every detail (although, this is good if I can). Success for me is about outcome. Is there successful communication? If I have understood what is being communicated or they have understood what I am communicating that is more important than the specific language skills like pronunciation. Communication is how I measure language success at the moment.
A focus on language outcome (communication) over language skills is like team sports for me. You can have an all star team and still bomb out, because no one can work together. Conversely, you can have a team full of average players that absolutely kills it because they all work together well. This is what I’m going for. While I’d love to have a few all stars in my language abilities, I’m much more concerned about how everything is working together and the result. If I come out with a win (comprehension or communication) that’s what matters to me.
So I’m certainly more able at Khmer than I was 2 1/2 years ago. However, my expectations have also grown. Although I can do some things in Khmer, I still desire to go deeper. I still get to conversations and places in conversations where I want the ability to say more or understand more but can’t because I don’t have the vocab or ability to use that vocab or the cultural understanding that comes with years of living in a place. So my expectations for myself have moved on from where they used to be and as always they are ahead of my actual abilities.
BUT I am trying to take the big picture stance, which is that I’m very content with where my Khmer is up to for my first term; I’m thankful for where I am as I look forward to more growth and improvement in the years to come.
Visited my old language school stomping ground, G2K.
Thought it was about time for a language update given its been nearly 8 months since my last update. I have now given 2 lectures on Old Testament at Phnom Penh Bible School, in Khmer. My Khmer reading and writing have improved dramatically having now prepared 4 lectures. When working from my English draft I can translate it to Khmer in about 6hrs (that’s about 6-8 pages of written Khmer). My speaking (more of a lecture form of speaking) is improving slowly with each new week of teaching. My speaking in conversations and with questions is still where I find it the hardest. There are many conversations where I can get the main point and answer well. But below are three scenarios that still happen with regular frequency. I’ll be listening to a conversation and the speaker will be talking and I’ll hear:
I’m worried… don’t dare… addicted… [unspecified time] so I don’t want coffee 3 cups… [unspecified time] 3 pigs not in there but there is either pork or chicken… the fish blah blah blah which means blah blah blah and then… it’s cooked.
In some conversations, this is what I get out of the Khmer that I hear. Most of the time I understand a good majority of the words. But because my grammar understanding is still growing and my processing time is also slow, the conversation is onto the next sentence before I’ve processed and understood the last. What this means is that I use the words and other clues and try and guess the meaning and can usually get close. This is at my best.
I didn’t catch any of what was being said, but I have enough energy, time or motivation to try and find out what was said.
Then there are times like this:
Person speaking: Khmer Khmer Khmer Khmer Khmer Khmer Khmer (either a question or statement, I’m not sure)
Me: Yes Yes Okay Yes
Me (to myself): I have no idea. What did I just agree to?
Unfortunately, there are also these days. Where I have no idea what is being said, but I just nod yes either because I don’t have the time or energy to figure it out — the bobbing dog head syndrome.
This next year at the Bible School will provide opportunities for exponential gains in my language abilities. Stay tuned!
corksincambodia.com 