It's that time again to pray for Jackson who is taking yet another test in yet another language that he will yet again forget in a depressingly short amount of time. If you are joining us late, the language is German and the test is tomorrow morning at 9:45. The text we are translating is an historical text about an early church father consisting of about 25-30 lines. We will have a dictionary and we are allotted an hour and a half to complete it. If I pass this test, I will have successfully completed the language requirements of my program, which was (to me) the most daunting aspect of the PhD program.
Heading into this month, I was extremely intimidated by German. The only thing that I had ever heard about it is that it is completely foreign to any language (including English) with which one might have some experience. French, as an example, is part of the family of romance languages and as such is very similar to Spanish and more similar to English. In other words, one could conceivably pass a French test without a good grasp of the grammar. German is not the same. I knew a guy in seminary who dropped out of German even after he had paid for it because it was so hard. (Lee Harper, you are still my hero and not just because your name is opposite of one of the greatest American writers to have lived.)
The first few weeks of the class were overwhelming as they always are. Just when you think that you understand something, another point or exception comes along that fouls the whole thing up. We were learning 30 vocabulary words a day so one day off and you were incredibly behind. And most of the words look not a thing like English words. Eventually, though, you get into a rhythm. You realize that not every vocabulary word has to be memorized to succeed. You start to apply your knowledge of other languages. For instance, my deep studies of the Greek language helped a lot in understanding some of the peculiar aspects of the German sentence, crazy word order in particular.
Thankfully my supportive wife has again walked with me through it, has absorbed my inordinate amount of complaints and times of self doubt (which is par for the course). She has been a constant source of encouragement and I want to publicly thank her. Julie I love you.
Please be praying. I will report tomorrow or the next day with, hopefully, good results.
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4 comments:
You the man, Jackson. If you get stumped, just throw in the old stand by: Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto. It ain't German, but you should get points for creativity. I made it through Hebrew with that phrase.
Jackson: I am praying for you as we speak. Just think how great it is going to feel to have all of your language requirements out of the way. The biggest hurdle going into your doctoral program can be but a memory.
I am proud of you for studying so hard and preparing yourself so well for this final exam. And bless Julie's heart for being your biggest supporter through all of this! I love you too Julie!
Jack/Dad
hope all went well jackson! keep us posted.
jacksonius: if it helps i randomly know the german words to the song "this is the day that the Lord has made"
Hope the test went well! If all else fails, there's always Admissions.
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