Crowds of Chinese people chant English phrases out, and in one stroke becomes the biggest English speaking nation of the world.
A bit of an introduction is in order for TED, the idea conference. I’ve come to think of TED as a kind of peer reviewed journal. It’s content controlled for quality, but unlike the journal, it spans many different fields and you don’t need a PHD in any of them to get a general idea of what they are talking about. So it’s accessible. Some of the articles (in this case talks) are just 5 minute introductions like the one I’m running today, while others are full on 20 minute excursions. You also get the odd musical intermission. In 2007, David, a friend of mine, summarized TED rather well by saying “TED is a place where crazy people give awesome talks”.
Today you’ll meet Jay Walker, who is talking about the mania/craze with people outside of North America and parts of Europe learning English. He focuses in on China but this can be applied to so many different countries that have gone through this adjustment period. More from me after the video.
Jay Walker speaking on English mania at TED 2009, running time 4m14s.
- youtube.com(streaming, hq)
- keephd.com(download, hq, mp4, flv)
- ted.com (steaming, cc)
For a 5 minute video there are a lot of talking points in there. I hope you’ll excuse me if I similarly jump all over the place.
- Manias as agents of change using mob mentality
- Educational system critique
- China as a superpower
- Language as culture
- Power of a common dialect
The first thing that affected me in this presentation is my stigma against mob mentality. The roaring crowds repeating chants, the crowd assuming a direction, repeating a message until they believe it. It’s extremely powerful and I can’t help but be both awed and frightened by it. Whether for good or evil, I have this idea that people in that situation aren’t thinking for themselves, and that is never good. It should be a willful choice.
Taking the talk from another perspective, you see a critique of the educational system in China. I’m more familiar with Japan, but they seem similar. I wouldn’t be surprised if many asian countries have adopted similar systems. Entrance exams into middle schools. Into high schools. Into univercity. Cram schools to get ready for all of them. Days, weeks, months and years spent trying to attain the next level. Everyone’s test scores posted on a board, ranked by result, identified by name. Everyone knows who you are, everyone knows where you stand, everyone knows who you’ll become. Is it a university and a job and a future? Or the farm and rice fields and pigs?
Of their system we could say they are robbed of childhood. Here in North America as we focus more on A for Effort they could say of us, grow up without the ability to survive. Show up, pay the fee, get the piece of paper. Participation marks. It’s obvious both systems are creating huge problems. You don’t have to look far in the working class of either to see symptoms of rot stemming from either of these philosophies. You can say why not chose a nice middle ground, but both systems are moving to increasingly embrase their ideal, not meet each other on common ground. You’re far more likely to see either or both collapse.
The media has slowly been moving us in a direction of rethinking how we view China. Nowadays I often hear “It’s good for China, but is it good for us?” for developments in China. Things that we used to not even think twice about, that don’t affect us. We are starting to realize that the bulk of the world’s population is there, that they are a superpower, and that we will not be able to keep up. Whatever happens in China, will affect the world. And as an outsider, you can’t help but be a little bit scared of what that might mean for you. Change is scary.
The concept of English as the second language I think is something all countries except those in North America will immediately grasp. In Canada for example, people tend to think of English as something that is pushed onto them, obliterating their culture. I don’t think this is the case for european countries. Is it just a case that in an English country, everyone else is a minority? So your language and your culture is a minority. Elsewhere, while the majority of people may speak English, your culture (and the language it developed with) is still primary, no matter what language you may speak now.
I think therein lies the key, and the point in the presentation, that you are who are you are, it is not how you say it, it is the message you deliver. If you can be understood, then half the problem is already solved.
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A couple of random things from my own experience.. in some ways it is advantageous to have English as a mother tongue. When travelling especially, if you don’t speak the native language, chances are that they speak yours or there is someone who can translate in the vicinity. (Having French as a second language isn’t bad either, considering how many French colonies there are.) However, it feels like because I have an English mother tongue, I don’t have my own long standing culture. I’ve built my own life, which I rather like (thank-you-very-much), but I don’t have a traditional dress or food or holidays or homeland etc etc. Even to me, English feels like a trade language.
The other thing I wanted to mention was my cousin-in-law relatives in Norway. They all speak perfect English, better than many immigrants in Canada. Why? Because the great majority of their entertainment is in English (besides the fact that they learn it in school). Movies, books, the internet, especially including online gaming in the case of my cousin’s husband. This is a factor that China doesn’t have. Their population is big enough that they have reason to dub if they import movies, their internet is locked down so they have more reason to use internal sites, and they have native authors who write enough content to keep everyone thoroughly entertained. Besides, they’re all studying anyway
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China does scare me. I don’t like how they run their country, though I can see why they might think it’s the smart way to go. They also do have a crazy population that is constantly emitgrating. I don’t know exactly how their power base will grow, but I think it will. They’re doing the right things, and they have control over their population. *shudder*
Haya! The mob chanting is pretty creepy. I wouldn’t want to learn a language that way, and I definitely wouldn’t want to teach that way!
I don’t understand why people are so worried about China’s emerging status as an economic superpower. So what if the U.S. ends up only being the world’s second or third largest economy. Is being first really so important? We might have reason to fear China if they showed signs of colonial expansion, or if we got into a shooting war with it. But both of those seem like very unlikely scenarios. China has caused some trouble with that pesky veto power it has as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council – but it’d have that power regardless of its wealth or population. The only really worrying thing about China is how it treats its own citizens. That’s hardly a threat to us in the outside world, although it should be a concern. But on that score, a lot of the change is going to have to come from within the country.
I wouldn’t want to see all the other languages die out, so I hope he’s right about English becoming the world’s "second language". It’s just too bad it had to be English, and couldn’t be another language that made… slightly more sense.
Teya: "However, it feels like because I have an English mother tongue, I don’t have my own long standing culture. … Even to me, English feels like a trade language."
Really? Can you read and appreciate Shakespeare? English comes with a rich cultural heritage. There’s a big difference between being able to use the language functionally and being able to appreciate that heritage. That difference separates those of us who speak it as a first (or well-studied second) language and those who learn it solely for its communicative value.
Teya: "I don’t have a traditional dress or food or holidays or homeland etc etc."
Neither do I. It’s called being Canadian, dude.
I’m not sure whether I prefer China or the US to be the world’s superpower. I don’t approve of either of their politics. It’s not completely ridiculous to worry about it. US has a history of bullying other countries to sway to their way of doing things. They don’t always succeed, but it happens. You’re very right, though, any political change will have to come from within China.
Good point about Shakespeare, and for that matter all the books I read. I guess you’re right, it has more to do with being Canadian. I get the impression it’s similar to being American or even Australian. My thought that it’s a trade language might come from the fact that I spend most of my time with a group of people from all over the world, and most of them have English as a second language or even third or fourth.
I should go back and study the history of the English language again sometime. My favourite memory is of grade 11 (I think?) when we learned things like where expressions came from. "Raining cats and dogs" etc.
There’s an important distinction to be made between the recognition of power and the belief that that power will be used against oneself. I lack the latter, and thus I am not afraid. Maybe I’m just not as pessimistic, paranoid, or jealous. Maybe I just don’t care. But historically, as well as through more recent exposure (mostly through in-laws, family vacations, and crap like the Olympics), I have come to appreciate elements of Chinese culture – elements that don’t get any play. As always, human attention is helplessly drawn toward the negative while we let the positive slide. Fortunately, it’s a survival instinct that was more important for our ancestors, but old habits die hard. If I was to fear anything in the video, it’s not that there are all these Chinese students gathered around learning English - screaming it even. What disturbs me is the content of what they are screaming.
I want to change my life. I don’t want to let my parents down. I don’t ever want to let my country down. Most importantly, I don’t want to let myself down. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. I want to speak PERFECT English. I WANT TO CHANGE MY LIFE!
That’s a lot of pressure. What’s more… it’s maniacal, it’s fanatical, and it’s over the top. Why are they trying so hard? Perhaps it just appears as such because of China’s high population and density, which requires a sort of collective cohesion that is alien to us individualistic North Americans. I think people underestimate the effect that having such a high population makes on so many Chinese systems, and the amount of effort that it takes to prevent the forces of entropy from leading to social degeneration.