Sun Myung Moon
February 5, 1984
Language is one of the most challenging problems. When Koreans are here, those who do not know Korean have a difficult time. They look pitiful. How great it would be if language were unified! When I first came to America, I only knew "Yes" and "No," although I had studied English through books. Can you imagine how stifled I felt! You need to know how necessary the unification of language is. Do you wish to listen to my speeches through an interpreter or directly from me? Of course, you want to listen to them in Korean. Why? Because Korean is the original language. Therefore, in studying the Principle, if you do not know the original language, you will not understand the meaning of the words. Furthermore, when you go to the spirit world in the future, will you be proud if you can say, "I understood Father's speeches directly, without translation" or if you have to say, "I listened to his words through an interpreter?" Which? Moreover, they are words that express the ideal world of love.
Does it mean anything to whisper words of love through an interpreter? The fifth paragraph of our former pledge says, "We are proud of the one culture." The question is how that one culture can come about. You should know that in the world of heart you have no choice but to become one. The one who truly desires one world of heart cannot go without knowing this. Now, when you reach out to someone because you love them so much, your feet move first before any thoughts about love. Your feet move first, and not the loving thought. How foolish this is! If you think about eating in the same way, it is as though you enjoyed eating leftovers. Without the tradition and spirit of the ideal family the ideal world cannot appear.
Even in the spirit world everyone uses the language that true parents and true grandfathers use. Would it work to say, "Oh dear, I don't know that language!" You will realize, then, how difficult it is for Orientals to learn English. I myself learned English after the age of sixty. Do you think it was easy? You cannot make excuses. As you young people are coming into the Unification Church, you have to do it. You have to learn, even repeating words again and again while walking on the street. Learn Korean by repeating words and phrases while going back and forth to the bathroom. You have no escape. The reason I am telling you to learn Korean is because I have become the True Parent; there is no way out. No matter what nationality you are or what situations you are in, you have no alternative. When everything is unified, people will say, "This is the glory of True Parents! They have swiftly unified the world's languages!" If they give me an award, what kind of award should they give me?
You should respect Korean more than the language of any other nation in the world. It is because of their language that Koreans are smart. There is no sound that cannot be pronounced in the Korean language. Japanese does not come anywhere close. Japanese cannot pronounce "McDonalds" properly and end up saying "Makudonarudo." Can you understand what I mean? This is why things must work through the new culture. I am not saying this because I am a Korean, but because it is the Principle. If I told you to learn Korean without that being rooted in the Principle, I would be chased away. It is because I am talking about basic principles that you listen quietly and say, "As it fits the theory, what choice do I have but to accept?" In the future, the original language for scholars will be Korean. The Korean language will be the original language.