Utter Wisdom by Daniel Whetham, Rachel Thake, Jonathan Norgate and Steph Williams 

An ESL conversational English teaching resource based around 60 world proverbs, to encourage conversational English,  stimulate deep thinking, and connect with Jesus

Utter Wisdom
By Daniel Whetham, Rachel Thake, Jonathan Norgate (coordinating writer) and Steph Williams (graphics, along with others) 
TwoNineteen
Reviewed by Terry Young

The recent feature, A warm embrace, promoted ways in which we can welcome internationals into our churches. It described the work of 2:19 in supporting churches that wish to do so. Utter Wisdom is a resource book aimed at those hosting spoken English get-togethers or TESOL classes who want to find ways to share their faith without being pushy.

First, a declaration of interest: Maura Baldwin who conceived of this book and championed it through to production, is my sister, so I’m biased. Also, a lot of the evangelistic thinking comes from a book I reviewed (see: Making Faith Magnetic by Daniel Strange) and Dan wrote the foreword, so I am further lacking in independence.

But still I like it, which is why I am taking a flyer and sending it, unsolicited, to the editor. I’ve reviewed several ‘big picture’ resources for Christians recently (see Creative ways to tell a Bible story by Martyn Payne and The Gospel – what is it? by Alistair Hornal,) and am so heartened by the high quality thinking on offer today, along with and the smart packaging.

So, what got me so excited about Utter Wisdom? First, the core idea is that while people arriving in the UK want to know about life here, they often bring with them a wealth of culture and knowledge from elsewhere – which is where Daniel Whetham and his colleagues start. The heart of the book is 60 proverbs from around the world each with a drawing or painting as illustration, an explanation, the flag of the country from which it originated, a version in the original script and a brief explanation. Each also has a short list of suggestions and questions about how you might use it in an English learning context.

These proverbs are grouped under seven headings:

• Time
• Success and failure
• Truth and lies
• Work
• Friendship
• Animals
• Pain and suffering
• The body

This is not an evangelist tool masquerading as a language learning aid: it promotes effective learning at every stage, with sensible suggestions for higher and lower-level learners, alerts as to where extra sensitivity might be required, and notes about verb forms and vocabulary that will help your learners develop systematically.

Next, I like the art. Steph has given it a clean look with a variety of styles that complement one another instead of clashing with each other (another declaration of interest: I see one of the artworks is by a niece). In its A4 portrait format, with speech bubbles and a palette matched to the 2:19 logo, there is some really fun thinking in there.

I read it cover-to-cover, which is probably the worst way, because it so highly cross connected. After the 60 proverbs comes a section on five magnets that attract everyone to some extent. These come from Dan Strange’s book, above, which in turn is based on the work of Bavinck, a late 19th/early 20th Century Dutch Bible teacher.

This introduces five themes (Totality, Norm, Deliverance Destiny, and Higher Power), which are then cross-referenced back to the proverbs (and when you flick back, you see the links vertically up the left-hand margins) and forward to five of Jesus’ I AM statements.

What emerges is a flexible resource that can be used in many ways. You can simply enjoy pearls of wisdom from around the world and use them to fuel discussion, occasionally throwing in the odd Christian example as your contribution. 

Or, if you or your linguistic charges are up for it, you might merge your worlds of words and worship and walk your study along the border. Many of your students may well be much more comfortable with this than you might be.

Finally, for a few, or at the right time, there is material here for top class Bible study.

But what if you are not interested in internationals or helping them find their feet here with support in English? Stepping past the obvious question, this is still a book worth reading if only for its elegant structure and approach to learning which helps us focus on wisdom and the gospel.

Because it’s a resource for group study, at £25 a pop it may strike some as a pricey luxury for the lone reader. But if you find 10 mates, I’ll gladly negotiate a much better price for your group!

Enjoy!
 

Terry Young is a missionary kid who read science and engineering. After a PhD in lasers, he worked in R&D before becoming a professor, when he taught project management, information systems and e-business, while leading research in healthcare.

He set up Datchet Consulting to have fun with both faith and work and worshipped at Baptist churches in Slough for 19 years before moving to the New Forest.