Learning Hebrew in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea September 10, 2012 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Tim Scott and Phil King ‘”I said to myself, can you really do it? But I was really amazed – I couldn’t believe what I had learned by the end of the first two weeks.” So said Tom Puaria, one of 13 participants on the Introduction to Biblical Hebrew course at Ukarumpa (Eastern Highlands Province), half way through his six week long training. Learning any new language can be daunting, with the mix of new sounds and different grammatical structures, but Biblical Hebrew is even more challenging for those used to an English writing system, since the Hebrew letters are completely different and written from right to left. Further, since Biblical Hebrew has no native speakers, so most teaching approaches rely heavily on grammatical textbooks. By contrast, the course at Ukarumpa uses an innovative teaching style, designed for Melanesian language learning styles. As staff member Pastor Tande Tumbo explains, “in Melanesian culture we learn from hearing, and seeing, and then we practice”. In the course, recordings, pictures, songs and dramas recreate the experience of a Biblical Hebrew environment, so that participants learn by listening, watching, and responding to Hebrew as a living language. According to course leader, Dr. Phil King, the aim is to build enough confidence in Papua New Guinean Bible translators and pastors that they can begin to access the Christian Old Testament in its original language, and so deepen the capacity of the church to understand the Bible and apply it to today’s contexts. The course has been taught five times over the past eight years, and a sustainable staff team is beginning to emerge. By inviting gifted students back to the course as teaching assistants, Papua New Guineans are being trained to pass on what they have learned to others. Francis Kauma highlights the importance of this: “I’m learning to teach Hebrew because one day the expatriates are going to go home – and then what will happen to us?” The next Hebrew training course is scheduled for October 29th through November 23rd at the Ukarumpa Training Centre. SIL-PNG is known as “Summer Institute of Linguistics” in Papua New Guinea and is a faith-based non-profit organization committed to serving language communities throughout Papua New Guinea as they build capacity for sustainable language development .
For more information on this release, contact SIL-PNG, PO BOX 413, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-4431 or Email: DO-CCO@sil.org.pg “Tok Save” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for announcement or “For your information”