A Purpose for Learning English

I was touched by what Jay Walker said in his four-and-a-half-minute TED speech "The world's English mania":
"English represents hope for a better future--a future where the world has a common language to solve its common problems."



In the last classes of my substitue teaching last week, I presented to students this video, in the hope that they could appreciate a value of learning English and that they would get into the habit of speaking English aloud, just like the Chinese students in the video did.

The following is the transcript:

 

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 Englishby 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 studentyou start learning English in the third grade, by law.That's why this yearChina 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 testliterally determines her future.She studies 12 hours a dayfor three years to prepare.25 percent of her gradeis based on English.It's called the Gaokao, and 80 million high school Chinese studentshave already taken this grueling test.The intensity to learn Englishis 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 awayother 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 citiesor the fall of the Berlin Wall,English represents hopefor a better future --a future where the world has a common languageto solve its common problems.

 

Thank you very much.(Applause)