Learning a New Language.

Learning a new language is not easy. At all. I don’t know what I was thinking three months ago when I decided it is a good idea to learn a dead language. Yes, I’m learning a dead language. Koine greek. My precise reason was ‘to learn to translate the New Testament of the Bible’, by which it was originally written in.
It is hard and grueling work. Each word contains so much details to unpack. I had to relearn my hated part of learning the English language when I was younger. Noun, pronouns and verbs are okay. Digging deeper with adverbs, adjectives, subject, predicate, conjunction, prepositions, and my head goes whirling. Then learn them in another language, I thought I shot myself in the head.
HOWEVER, with any new undertakings comes the benefit. So far, I have learned the basics and can actually recognize words and translate in the most basic “wooden” forms. I have learned the beauty in the mess of translating. The language itself, though dead and nobody really speaks of it except Bible scholars, other scholars, and ordinary people like me wanting to study it, but there’s so much depth in the importance and the “why” behind doing it.
Sure, I think it is too early to say this and tomorrow while studying it I will be almost cursing the language because it is hard. It is a love and hate relationship I find. But it is truly rewarding to be able to know more than the face value of what I read from the simple text.
When we start digging deeper, with anything really, it is hard work- physical and emotional, and in this case also spiritual. We would always find some treasure too. Along the way through the process, or at the end of it.
For now, I am far away from the end, ha! However, I am truly enjoying it, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll share some of my “own work” and research and study in this blog someday. Who knows?
xoxo

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