Audio: http://download.ted.com/talks/JayWalker_2009.mp3 Let’s talk about manias. Let’s
start with Beatle mania: hysterical teenagers, crying, screaming, pandemonium.
Sports mania: deafening crowds, all for one idea -- get the ball in the net.
Okay, religious mania: there’s rapture, there’s weeping, there’s visions.
Manias can be good. Manias can be alarming. Or manias can be deadly. The world has a new mania. A
mania for learning English. Listen as Chinese students practice their English
by screaming it. Teacher: ... change my life! Students: I will change my life. T: I don’t want to let my parents
down. S: I don’t want to let my parents
down. T: I don’t ever want to let my
country down. S: I don’t ever want to let my
country down. T: Most importantly ... S: Most
importantly ... T: I don’t want to let myself
down. S: I don’t want to let myself
down. Jay Walker: How many people are
trying to learn English worldwide? Two billion of them. Students: A t-shirt. A dress. JW: In Latin America, in India,
in Southeast Asia, and most of all in China. If you are a Chinese student you
start learning English in the third grade, by law. That’s why this year China
will become the world’s largest English-speaking country. (Laughter) Why
English? In a single word: Opportunity. Opportunity for a better life, a job,
to be able to pay for school, or put better food on the table. Imagine a
student taking a giant test for three full days. Her score on this one test
literally determines her future. She studies 12 hours a day for three years to
prepare. 25 percent of her grade is based on English. It’s called the Gaokao,
and 80 million high school Chinese students have already taken this grueling
test. The intensity to learn English is almost unimaginable, unless you witness
it. Teacher: Perfect! Students:
Perfect! T: Perfect! S: Perfect! T: I want to speak perfect
English. S: I want to speak perfect
English. T: I want to speak -- S: I want
to speak -- T: perfect English. S: perfect
English. T: I want to change my life! S: I want to change my life! JW: So is English mania good or
bad? Is English a tsunami, washing away other languages? Not likely. English is
the world’s second language. Your native language is your life. But with
English you can become part of a wider conversation: a global conversation
about global problems, like climate change or poverty, or hunger or disease.
The world has other universal languages. Mathematics is the language of
science. Music is the language of emotions. And now English is becoming the
language of problem-solving. Not because America is pushing it, but because the
world is pulling it. So English mania is a turning point. Like the harnessing
of electricity in our cities or the fall of the Berlin Wall, English represents
hope for a better future -- a future where the world has a common language to
solve its common problems. Thank you very much. (Applause) |
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