It’s all Greek (or Hebrew!) to me…

I’ve recently started to learn biblical Hebrew. Oh my goodness, it’s difficult! Learning the names of the letters, the vowel symbols, word endings, and so on. So much to absorb. Even once I’ve grasped the consonant and vowel sounds, every word I (attempt to) read needs to be painstakingly sounded out, letter by letter. And then, once I’ve worked out how to pronounce it, I still need to work out what it means – is it masculine or feminine, singular or plural, present or past…? But it’s fascinating, and I’m hoping that, at some stage, probably way in the distant future, I might be able to read portions of Scripture in the language it was written in.

Grammar has always fascinated me – the way language works, the rules, the exceptions. My children think I’m weird (and I probably am, but that’s a whole other issue…), but I guess that’s one of the reasons I love the job I do – writing, editing, speaking; making words work for me; communicating a message in such a way as to be sure it’s understood in the way I want it to be.

Learning a new language – and such a completely different language – does make me realise, though, how much we take reading and writing for granted. We’re reading things all the time – road signs, food packets, phone and email messages, and, of course, books. If we travel abroad, as soon as we step foot in a non-English-speaking country, we realise how difficult communication is going to be. We recently stayed with some friends in Bratislava, Slovakia, and were so grateful for our dear Slovak friend who managed everything for us!

Communicating well is crucial. But there’s more to communication than simply putting a message out there. We need to make sure we’re understood correctly too. It’s so easy for me, as I’m learning Hebrew, to mistake the vowel sound, or to forget one of the rules, and the word takes on a completely different meaning. Clearly, the fault on these occasions lies with me. But when we’re communicating in our own language, particularly in written form, we have a responsibility to ensure that our message is received correctly. In writing, we don’t have the benefit of tone of voice, facial expression or body language to help communicate our message – we’re reliant on words alone (although emojis can help sometimes, of course 😊).

Words are such a wonderful gift. Let’s enjoy them, and all that they bring to our relationships, our edification and our entertainment.

Nicki Copeland is a freelance writer, speaker, copy editor and proofreader – and loves anything to do with words. She is the author of Losing the Fig Leaf and Less than Ordinary? She is also responsible for the day-to-day running of Instant Apostle publishers. When she has the luxury of some free time, she can invariably be found with a book in one hand and some chocolate in the other.