What we lose when we let languages and cultures die | Bruno Beidacki | TEDxKentState
Summary
TLDRThe speaker recounts his experience of being mistaken for not being Brazilian due to his skin color, highlighting the issue of identity and cultural preservation. He shares a story from his time in Macau, where language loss due to colonization and digitization errors has left individuals unable to trace their heritage. The talk emphasizes the importance of preserving cultural diversity and languages to maintain historical knowledge and personal identity. The speaker suggests investing in language learning, promoting cultural events, embracing diversity, and fostering empathy to combat cultural loss and encourage a world of diverse traditions and beliefs.
Takeaways
- 🌐 The speaker moved to the U.S. in 2014 and experienced a culture shock when someone doubted his Brazilian identity due to his skin color.
- 💔 An encounter with a girl who questioned his Brazilian identity sparked a realization about the potential identity crisis faced by those unaware of their roots.
- 🌏 In 2017, the speaker's research in Macau on cultural preservation led to meeting Zhang, whose story highlighted the importance of language in understanding one's heritage.
- 📜 The loss of language, such as the Portuguese documents in Macau, can lead to a loss of historical knowledge and personal identity.
- 🏺 Over half of the world's 7,000 languages are endangered, which poses a significant risk to cultural and historical preservation.
- 🌱 Investing in cultural preservation efforts, such as affordable language learning classes, can help combat the loss of languages and cultural diversity.
- 🎭 Promoting artistic and cultural events can raise awareness about the importance of language and cultural preservation.
- 🌈 Embracing diversity and avoiding forced assimilation allows for a richer cultural tapestry in society.
- 🤝 Being empathetic and curious about others' cultures can lead to a better understanding and appreciation of the world's diversity.
- 🌟 The speaker's personal growth is evident as he no longer feels the need to exaggerate his accent, reflecting a broader acceptance of cultural diversity.
- 🌍 A globalized world should celebrate cultural diversity and free expression of traditions and beliefs, rather than striving for a uniformity of opinions and behaviors.
Q & A
What was the speaker's initial impression of American girls when he moved to the U.S.?
-The speaker initially thought that American girls were cute and he was excited about the prospect of having a great time in college because of this.
Why did the speaker exaggerate his accent when he first met the girl?
-He exaggerated his accent to appear more foreign and charming, hoping it would make a good impression on the girl.
What was the girl's reaction that led to the end of the speaker's infatuation?
-The girl's reaction was one of disbelief and stereotype when she said, 'No way, you're too white to be Brazilian,' which felt like a dagger to the speaker's heart.
How did the speaker's perspective change after the encounter with the girl?
-The speaker's perspective changed as he realized the importance of cultural identity and the potential for identity crises when people are judged based on stereotypes.
What was the main topic of the speaker's research in Macau?
-The main topic of the speaker's research in Macau was cultural preservation and the importance of not letting languages die.
Why was Kyung Zhang unable to learn about his past after discovering his biological family?
-Kyung Zhang was unable to learn about his past because the documents related to his adoption were originally in Portuguese and were thrown away due to a lack of qualified employees to translate and preserve them when they were being digitized.
What is the significance of preserving languages according to the speaker?
-Preserving languages is significant because it prevents cultural and historical loss, and helps individuals understand their identity by knowing where they come from.
What is one of the ways the speaker suggests to help solve the problem of cultural loss?
-One way to help solve the problem of cultural loss is to invest more in cultural preservation efforts, such as offering more affordable language learning classes.
Why did the speaker feel proud at the polyglot conference in New York City?
-The speaker felt proud because he could speak three and a half languages, but this feeling was challenged when he saw others who could converse in as many as 15 or 16 languages.
What is the speaker's view on assimilation and cultural diversity?
-The speaker believes that we should stop forcing people to assimilate and embrace their own beliefs and traditions. He argues for a world of cultural diversity and free expression of traditions and beliefs, rather than striving for a singularity of opinions and behaviors.
What is the speaker's final message about the importance of cultural diversity?
-The speaker's final message is that a globalized world should mean a world of cultural diversity and free expression of traditions and beliefs, and that the real world needs all cultures to coexist and be valued.
Outlines
🌐 Cultural Identity and Language Preservation
The speaker shares a personal anecdote about moving to the U.S. in 2014 and meeting a girl who made a prejudiced comment about his ethnicity. This experience led to a broader discussion on the importance of cultural identity and the preservation of languages. The speaker emphasizes the significance of understanding one's roots and how language plays a critical role in maintaining cultural heritage. He recounts his time in Macau, where he met Kyung Zhang, whose story highlights the consequences of language loss due to the lack of preservation efforts. Zhang's inability to trace his biological roots underscores the broader issue of thousands of languages facing extinction, which not only leads to a cultural loss but also a historical one, as written records are key to understanding our past.
🌟 Promoting Cultural Diversity and Empathy
In the second paragraph, the speaker discusses potential solutions to the problem of cultural and language loss. He suggests investing in cultural preservation efforts, offering affordable language learning classes, and promoting artistic and cultural events to raise awareness and inspire individuals to help save languages. The speaker also advocates for an end to forced assimilation and encourages embracing diverse cultures. He stresses the importance of empathy and compassion, urging people to engage with those who are different from them to foster understanding and learning. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that a globalized world should celebrate cultural diversity and free expression of traditions and beliefs, rather than striving for a uniformity of opinions and behaviors.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Cultural Preservation
💡Identity Crisis
💡Language Extinction
💡Assimilation
💡Empathy
💡Cultural Diversity
💡Stereotyping
💡Globalization
💡Language Learning
💡Cultural Events
💡Colonialism
Highlights
Narrator moved to the U.S. in 2014 and met a girl, using charm and accent to impress her.
The girl's comment about his appearance not matching his Brazilian origin led to a realization about identity.
The importance of knowing one's roots and how it shapes identity was emphasized.
In 2017, the narrator went to Macau to research cultural preservation and the importance of language.
Met Kyung Zhang, a man unable to trace his biological family due to lost Portuguese documents.
The loss of language can lead to a cultural and historical loss, affecting identity.
Over half of the world's 7,000 languages are in danger of extinction.
The narrator suggests investing in cultural preservation efforts to combat language loss.
Affordable language learning classes can help preserve languages.
The idea that everyone could speak at least two languages was presented.
Promoting artistic and cultural events can raise awareness and help preserve languages.
The narrator argues against forced assimilation and for embracing diverse cultures.
Being empathetic and compassionate can educate people about different cultures.
The narrator shares a personal story of changing his accent to impress others.
A globalized world should celebrate cultural diversity, not strive for uniformity.
The narrator concludes by emphasizing the importance of preserving one's culture.
Transcripts
the day I moved to the u.s. to attend
college back in 2014 I met a girl she
was cute in being the young single guy I
was at the time I used my charm
I even exaggerated my accent a little
bit so she wouldn't notice that was
foreign but don't judge me though I was
excited I thought if every American girl
is like this I'm gonna have a blast in
college however things didn't go as
planned because my perspective changed
quickly after she asked me where I was
from I'm from Brazil I said excited to
overshare about my country like I always
do
but then she replied with the words that
would feel like a dagger to my heart the
end of my 15 minute infatuation what no
way you're too wide to be Brazilian you
see the reason I tell this anecdote is
not to shed light on the ignorant of
certain people because trust me there
are plenty of those out there but rather
to explain how that situation could have
affected me I told her my family is
originally from Europe they're polish
and Belgium immigrants and that's why
I'm white but what if I didn't know
where my family was from what if I
didn't have this much information about
my own roots I'll probably have an
identity crisis I'll probably start
questioning myself even though there's
no such thing as being too white or too
black to be from a certain region of the
world it made me think how would she
react if I told her that her skin was
too orange for her tan not to be fake
but jokes jokes aside imagine being in a
situation in which are part of a
minority and you have that
characteristic challenge in question how
would that make you feel so fast-forward
to 2017 when I flew to Macau in Asia to
spend the summer as a future center
reporting fellow where the topic of my
research was cultural preservation and
the importance of not letting languages
die one day I was just doing some
sightseeing and I went to a local
cemetery and I ended up meeting Kyung
Zhang the man who'd become the center
character of my whole project
Zhang was born in Macau but he was
adopted by mainland Chinese parents at
the age of 2 he never cared much about
learning about his biological family
though but once he finally did he went
to the local agency only to find out
that there were no more records of his
adoption and the reason for that is that
the documents were originally in
Portuguese because Portugal colonized
Macau at the time of his birth in the
late 90s though when this documents were
being digitized the agency lacked
qualified employees who could translate
and preserve those documents so they
ended up just being thrown away
in other words due to insufficient
efforts to preserve a language there was
once of extreme importance in that area
zhang and many other mekinese citizens
are now unable to learn about their past
and maybe even reconnect with traditions
they're once a major part of their lives
and that's only one region in our entire
pale blue dot oops the numbers are
shocking more than half of the world's
7,000 languages are in danger of
extinction and we most likely disappear
in this century what this means is not
only a cultural loss but a historical
one as well written records are one of
the only reasons we've been able to
learn so much about what has happened in
the last few thousand years so by
letting a language die we are risking
the potential loss of significant
historical knowledge
the identity issues will also only get
worse
understanding where you come from is a
major part of understanding who you are
so when I tell Americans that I'm
Brazilian
I'm not trying to impress the cute girl
who sits by me in my investigative
journalism class I'm trying to tell
people a little bit more about the
lenses that shape my perspective not
everything is lost though there are
several ways that we can help this
problem be solved or at least prevent
prevent it from getting it worse and the
main thing that we should do is invest
more in cultural preservation efforts to
start off we need to offer more
affordable language learning classes
back in 2015 when I was in New York City
for the polyglot conference I walked in
so proud of the three three and a half
languages I could speak but then I
started looking around at other people's
badges and some people listed 15 16
languages that they could converse in
and that got me thinking if a human
being even though an extraordinary one
can learn 16 languages fluently is it
that naive for me to think that we could
have a society in which virtually every
person can speak at least two I don't
think so secondly we should promote more
artistic and cultural events music
festivals film exhibitions and theatre
performances will not only help us raise
awareness to the potential cultural loss
of letting a language die but they might
also respire an individual to dedicate
their lives to helping save that
language we also need to stop forcing
people to assimilate and stop judging
those who choose to maintain their own
beliefs and traditions immigration has
become an intrinsic part of our society
so instead of expecting the people who
come to our countries to fully
transition into consumers of our culture
we should embrace theirs as well as
individuals finally we should all be a
little more empathetic and compassionate
so the next time you see someone wearing
something that seems strange or eating a
food that you think it's weird just walk
up to them and ask
why what's the context behind this
behavior you might learn something after
all
exposure to diversity is the main way
that we can educate people into the
different cultures that exist in our
world maybe through a little more
exposure the girl from my freshman year
wouldn't have made such an insensitive
and uneducated comment and while I'm not
a hundred percent sure what she's up to
right now I'm pretty confident she's not
a geography major as for me I actually
met a girl who even knew a couple words
in Portuguese she made me change my mind
about American girls and now I don't
even need to exaggerate my accent
anymore to finish it I want you to know
one thing a globalized world means a
world of cultural diversity and free
expression of traditions and beliefs not
a world that strives to reach a
singularity of opinions and behaviors
we've all seen those societies in
dystopian movies and novels and clearly
they don't work so let's just keep them
there the real world
needs my culture just as much as it
needs yours thank you
[Applause]
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