Kom ons praat oor manie. Kom ons begin met Beatlemanie. (Opname van skreeuende gehoor) Histeriese tieners, huilend, gillend, pandemonium. (Opname van skreeuende gehoor) Sportmanie: oorverdowende skares. Alles vir een idee -- kry die bal in die net. (Opname) Doel! Goed, geloofsmanie: daar's verrukking, trane word gestort, daar's die sien van gesigte. ’n Manie kan goed wees. ’n Manie kan kommerwekkend wees. Of ’n manie kan dodelik wees. (Opname van juigende gehoor)
Let's talk about manias. Let's start with Beatlemania. (Recording of crowd roaring) Hysterical teenagers, crying, screaming, pandemonium. (Recording of crowd roaring) Sports mania: deafening crowds, all for one idea -- get the ball in the net. (Recording) Goal! 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. (Recording of crowd cheering)
Die wêreld het ’n nuwe manie. ’n Manie om Engels te leer. Luister hoe Sjinese studente hulle Engels oefen deur dit uit te skree.
The world has a new mania. A mania for learning English. Listen as Chinese students practice their English, by screaming it:
Onderwyser: ... change my life!
Teacher: ... change my life!
Studente: Ek wil my lewe verander!
Students: I want to change my life!
O: I don't want to let my parents down!
T: I don't want to let my parents down!
S: Ek wil nie my ouers in die steek laat nie!
S: I don't want to let my parents down!
O: I don't ever want to let my country down!
T: I don't ever want to let my country down!
S: Ek wil nooit my land in die steek laat nie!
S: I don't ever want to let my country down!
O: Most importantly ... S: Belangrikste van als ...
T: Most importantly... S: Most importantly...
O: I don't want to let myself down!
T: I don't want to let myself down!
S: Ek wil nie myself in die steek laat nie!
S: I don't want to let myself down!
JW: Hoeveel mense wêreldwyd probeer tans Engels leer? Twee miljard van hulle.
How many people are trying to learn English worldwide? Two billion of them.
Studente: A T-shirt. A dress.
Students: A t-shirt. A dress.
JW: In Latyns-Amerika, in Indië, in Suidoos-Asië en, meeste van almal, in Sjina. As jy ’n Sjinese leerder is begin jy Engels in graad drie leer, volgens wet. Dis hoekom Sjina hierdie jaar die wêreld se grootste Engelssprekende land sal word. (Gelag) Hoekom Engels? In een woord: geleenthede. Die geleentheid op ’n beter lewe, ’n beroep, om vir skool te kan betaal, om beter kos op die tafel te kan sit. Dink julle in: ’n student wat ’n reuse toets skryf vir drie volle dae. Haar uitslag op hierdie een toets bepaal letterlik haar toekoms. Sy swot 12 ure ’n dag vir drie jaar om voor te berei. Vyf-en-twintig persent van haar finale punt is op Engels gebaseer. Dit word gaokao genoem en 80 miljoen Sjinese hoërskool leerders het reeds dié veeleisende toets afgelê. Die intensiteit om Engels te leer is amper ondenkbaar, tensy jy dit aanskou.
Jay Walker: In Latin America, in India, in Southeast Asia, and most of all, in China. If you're 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. Twenty-five 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.
Onderwyser: Perfect! Studente: Perfek!
Teacher: Perfect! Students: Perfect!
O: Perfect! S: Perfek!
T: Perfect! S: Perfect!
O: I want to speak perfect English!
T: I want to speak perfect English!
S: Ek wil perfekte Engels praat!
S: I want to speak perfect English!
O: I want to speak ... S: Ek wil ...
T: I want to speak ... S: I want to speak ...
O: ... perfect English. S: ... perfekte Engels praat.
T: ... perfect English! S: ... perfect English!
O (gil harder): I want to change my life!
T (yelling more loudly): I want to change my life!
S (gil harder): Ek wil my lewe verander!
S (yelling more loudly): I want to change my life!
JW: So is Engelsmanie goed of sleg? Is Engels ’n tsunami wat ander tale wegspoel? Onwaarskynlik. Engels is die wêreld se tweede taal. Jou moedertaal is jou lewe. Maar met Engels kan jy deel word van ’n wyer gesprek -- ’n globale gesprek oor globale probleme, soos klimaatsverandering of armoede, of hongersnood of siekte. Die wêreld het ander universele tale. Wiskunde is die taal van wetenskap. Musiek is die taal van emosies. En Engels word nou die taal van probleemoplossing. Nie omdat Amerika dit stoot nie, maar omdat die wêreld dit trek. So Engelsmanie is ’n keerpunt. Soos die inspan van elektrisiteit in ons stede, of die val van die Berlynse muur, verteenwoordig Engels hoop op ’n beter toekoms -- ’n toekoms waar die wêreld ’n gemene taal het om ons gemene probleme op te los.
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.
Baie dankie. (Applous)
Thank you very much. (Applause)