I am almost mono-lingual. Besides English and some Chinese, I cannot speak nor understand any other language, despite the fact that I am rather intrigued by Bahasa, Japanese, Korean, and the European languages of French, German and Italian.
Reading wise, it is still okay as after all, if the letters are in English, or more precisely, the Latin alphabet, it is not too hard to read or make out the pronunciation. Which is why I am able to sing in Italian or German or French without much of a difficulty, even if I have absolutely no idea what I am singing or reading!
Although I had absolutely no idea what was going on, I still went to a German church service last Sunday. He has taken some German back in school, so he can read and understand German, even though he seldom speaks. And he has always wanted to experience the German service, so I went along.
It was just a normal traditional service. There are procedures of course, since it is of a different denomination altogether, but other than that, the structure of the service is pretty similar to a Catholic or some other traditional church services. There is still the opening hymn, preaching by the Pastor, the Apostle's Creed, prayers, more hymns and closing prayer.
Even though I have absolutely no idea what the sermon was about, I was able to fit in as I just followed the rest of the congregation when to sing and when to pray. The song list and hymn book were given to us beforehand, so we were able to follow the songs to a certain extent too.
Of course, it helps that I have a translator next to me. At least with his help, I was able to have an idea what the song(s) and prayers were about. Later he gave me an idea of what the sermon was about as well.
A pretty interesting experience, I should say. This is quite a good way to learn a new language. He mentioned that he may want to go for the German service again, which I concur, as sometimes it is good to explore something new instead of always sticking with the same routine. It is a good way to expand one's horizons too.
Reading wise, it is still okay as after all, if the letters are in English, or more precisely, the Latin alphabet, it is not too hard to read or make out the pronunciation. Which is why I am able to sing in Italian or German or French without much of a difficulty, even if I have absolutely no idea what I am singing or reading!
Although I had absolutely no idea what was going on, I still went to a German church service last Sunday. He has taken some German back in school, so he can read and understand German, even though he seldom speaks. And he has always wanted to experience the German service, so I went along.
It was just a normal traditional service. There are procedures of course, since it is of a different denomination altogether, but other than that, the structure of the service is pretty similar to a Catholic or some other traditional church services. There is still the opening hymn, preaching by the Pastor, the Apostle's Creed, prayers, more hymns and closing prayer.
Even though I have absolutely no idea what the sermon was about, I was able to fit in as I just followed the rest of the congregation when to sing and when to pray. The song list and hymn book were given to us beforehand, so we were able to follow the songs to a certain extent too.
Of course, it helps that I have a translator next to me. At least with his help, I was able to have an idea what the song(s) and prayers were about. Later he gave me an idea of what the sermon was about as well.
A pretty interesting experience, I should say. This is quite a good way to learn a new language. He mentioned that he may want to go for the German service again, which I concur, as sometimes it is good to explore something new instead of always sticking with the same routine. It is a good way to expand one's horizons too.
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