French, Urdu, Arabic, Kiswahili, Portuguese. Have you learned one of these languages? As global workers, language learning is often a given for us. For some, it’s a welcome challenge; for others, it’s a frustrating endeavor. 

I happen to be one of those people who love language learning! In middle school and high school, I took French. In college, I studied French, English, and linguistics. I found learning a new vocabulary word, verb tense, or sentence structure fascinating. I merrily skipped to the top of the I-can-speak-French mountain. All was well—until I tried talking with a native French speaker.  

During a study-abroad in Paris, my mountain crumbled. As I chatted comfortably with a new friend, I yammered on and on in my best French. She listened respectfully, then, when she could no longer stand it, she laughed and said, “Why do you say it like that?” 

I was embarrassed, completely confused, and decided to stop yammering. 

“It’s tu not tout,” she said.  

After nearly 10 years of studying French, how had I missed this distinction? My friend kindly showed me how to change the shape of my mouth so I could make the sounds correctly. She began saying words that contrasted the sounds and invited me to repeat them after her. I felt humiliated but tried to say the words with the different u vowel sounds. 

After a few more failed attempts, my friend simply carried on with the conversation we were in the middle of. She didn’t seem to care that I still couldn’t correctly pronounce the sounds. But she did care that I had tried, that I had a teachable spirit, that I was willing to humbly learn from her.  

It mattered to my friend. It mattered that I tried. 

I began to look at language learning in a new way. Rather than a mountain to climb and conquer, I began to see it as a doorway. When we step through the doorway, we find people! We’re not simply learning a language; we’re learning someone’s language. Thankfully, perfect French isn’t the goal. Instead, we’re given an opportunity to show Christ-like love for the people whose language we’re learning.