Language: The Bridge Between Cultures | Grant Cho | TEDxYouth@Conejo

Summary

Grant Chavez shares his belief that language is not a barrier but a bridge to understanding and connection. Through two personal experiences in South Korea, he illustrates how knowing Chinese and Korean enabled him to help others and immerse in their culture. Chavez emphasizes the importance of language in preserving cultural heritage and encourages learning new languages to foster unity and insight into diverse perspectives.

Takeaways

• 🌐 Language is a bridge, not a barrier, that enables understanding and communication across cultures.
• 🛫 The speaker's experience on a flight to South Korea highlighted the importance of language in providing assistance to those in need.
• 👵 An elderly Chinese woman's struggle on a plane demonstrated the practical challenges of language barriers in daily life.
• 💪 The speaker's rudimentary Chinese helped to bridge the gap between the woman and the flight crew, showing the power of even basic language skills.
• 🇰🇷 Growing up as a Korean-American, the speaker's limited Korean initially hindered deeper cultural engagement.
• 👥 Joining a local program in Korea allowed the speaker to immerse in the language and culture, leading to personal growth and connection.
• 🤔 The confusion over the use of 'Sam' in Korea underscored the importance of understanding cultural nuances in language use.
• 🌍 Learning languages like Chinese and Korean provided the speaker with new lenses to view the world and participate in different cultures.
• 🏞️ Language loss is a significant issue, with a language dying every 14 days, leading to the loss of cultural perspectives.
• 🗣️ The speaker encourages overcoming the fear of language learning to preserve and appreciate cultural diversity.
• 🇺🇸 The script concludes with a call to action for Americans to embrace language learning to better understand and connect with diverse cultures within their own country.

Q & A

What does the speaker believe language should be instead of a barrier?

The speaker believes that language should be a lens that helps us understand one another, communicate, and learn about different cultures.

What was the first experience the speaker had that solidified their belief about language?

The first experience was on a flight to South Korea where the speaker noticed an elderly Chinese woman struggling to move around due to a blocked pathway by a baby bed, and the language barrier preventing her from getting help.

How did the speaker assist the elderly woman on the flight?

The speaker used their rudimentary knowledge of Chinese to communicate with the woman and convey her issues to the flight attendants, who then adjusted her seat and helped her.

Outlines

00:00

🌏 Overcoming Language Barriers to Connect Cultures

The speaker, Grant Chavez, introduces the concept that language is not a barrier but a tool for understanding and communication. He shares two personal experiences that solidified his belief. The first was assisting an elderly Chinese woman on a flight to South Korea who was struggling due to a language barrier. Despite limited Chinese, Grant was able to communicate with her and help resolve her issue with the flight crew. The second experience occurred during his visit to Korea, where he immersed himself in the local culture and language, leading to a deeper understanding and connection with the people. These anecdotes illustrate the power of language in bridging gaps between cultures.

05:01

🗣️ The Importance of Language in Cultural Preservation

Keywords

💡Language

Language is a system of communication using words, sounds, gestures, and symbols. In the video's context, language is portrayed as a bridge for understanding and connecting with different cultures, rather than a barrier. The speaker's experiences illustrate how knowing Chinese and Korean allowed them to interact positively with others and preserve their heritage.

💡Cultural Lens

A 'cultural lens' refers to the perspective through which one views and understands another culture. The video emphasizes that learning a language provides a new lens to see and appreciate the world from a different cultural viewpoint, as demonstrated by the speaker's immersion in Korean society.

💡Communication

Communication is the act of conveying meaning through a shared system of symbols, signs, or behavior. The script discusses how language facilitates communication and how the lack of a common language can lead to misunderstandings, as seen in the airplane incident with the elderly Chinese woman.

💡Barrier

A barrier is something that makes it difficult to do or achieve something. The video challenges the notion that language is a barrier by showing that it can instead be a tool for connection and understanding, as opposed to division.

💡Heritage

Heritage refers to the traditions, language, and culture passed down through generations. The speaker's journey in learning Korean not only allowed them to connect with their roots but also to preserve a part of their heritage that they were in danger of losing.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable person guides a less experienced one. In the video, the speaker's mentorship experience with Korean college students provided a platform for language learning and cultural understanding, highlighting the importance of guidance in language acquisition.

💡Slang

Slang refers to informal words and expressions that are typically restricted to a particular context or group. The script mentions 'Sam' as a slang term for 'teacher' in Korean, illustrating how language nuances can affect understanding and integration into a culture.

💡Fear

Fear is an emotional response to perceived threats or danger. The video addresses the fear of language learning, suggesting that the fear of making mistakes should not deter people from attempting to learn new languages and connect with different cultures.

💡Vanishing

Vanishing refers to the process of disappearing or becoming extinct. The script discusses the alarming rate at which languages are vanishing, emphasizing the cultural loss that occurs when a language dies and the importance of language preservation.

💡Diversity

Diversity refers to the range of differences in a group or community, often relating to culture, ethnicity, or language. The video mentions the diversity of the United States, with over 350 languages spoken, to underscore the potential for cultural understanding and connection through language learning.

💡Empowering

Empowering means giving people the authority or ability to do something. The speaker argues that language learning is empowering because it enables individuals to actively participate in and understand different cultures, thus broadening their perspectives and experiences.

Highlights

Language is not a barrier but a tool for understanding and communication.

The speaker's belief that language provides lenses to understand and learn about other cultures.

Personal experience on a flight to South Korea highlighting the importance of language in assisting others.

Using rudimentary Chinese to help an elderly woman on a plane.

The impact of learning Chinese on the speaker's ability to help someone in need.

The speaker's realization of the importance of language during a trip to Korea.

The experience of being in a Korean community and the encouragement to practice the language.

Understanding signs, jokes, and slang in Korean as a result of immersion.

The confusion caused by the use of 'Sam' as a term for teachers in Korea.

Learning the local slang 'Sam' to better understand and communicate with Korean peers.

The transformative effect of language on the speaker's cultural immersion and participation.

The importance of language for fully understanding a culture.

The alarming rate at which languages are disappearing and the cultural loss that accompanies it.

The potential loss of cultural perspectives as languages die out.

The speaker's personal journey of learning languages to preserve cultural heritage.

The diversity of languages spoken in the United States and the low percentage of bilingual adults.

The call to action for understanding and embracing the diverse languages within local communities.

The empowerment and enlightenment that come with learning new languages.

The final message emphasizing the importance of learning languages to connect with others.

Transcripts

annyeonghaseyo Chonan Jo Seungyeon Amida

pan gaffes NIDA hello everyone my name

is grant Chavez nice to meet you all

today in the world today language is

often seen as a barrier that divides

groups and keeps us all up I believe

however that language is not a barrier

and it doesn't have to be rather

language provides us with the lenses

that we need in order to understand one

another and to communicate and learn

about other cultures two recent

experiences on the same trip has

solidified my beliefs

the first experience was on my flight to

South Korea this past summer there was

an elderly Chinese woman sitting to my

right just a few rows ahead of me and

naturally wouldn't have thought any less

about I think on a plane packed with

passengers but the reason why this woman

stood out to me in particular is because

I noticed that every time she left her

seat to use a restroom she had to

literally climb over her armrest and

with great difficulty because her

pathway had been blocked by a baby bed

attached to the pathway in front of her

now the woman was becoming incredibly

distressed at her inability to have easy

access to the restroom and she wasn't

able to get any help from the crew

members because they could only speak

English and Korean neither of which this

woman could understand much less speak

herself and so I sat and they watched

her come and go several times and of

course I felt really bad because I

couldn't help her and then I realized

hey wait a minute I listen with my

rudimentary knowledge from four

semesters of Chinese in the tones over

and over and over in my mind and finally

I mustered up the courage to walk up

gently tap on the shoulder and ask

jinglun excuse me meow touloool Shama

would you like to sit down okay Ching

ego confusion bunk Junie I can call over

a flight attendant to come and help you

and upon hearing this she looked at me

and she smiled and she kindly declined

explaining that she

had a bad leg and would prefer to stand

in the aisle until she had to go to the

restroom again and a flight attendant

who noticed we were both out of our

seats came over to ask us to sit down

and so I took the opportunity to convey

her issues and luckily the crew members

were able to adjust her seat and help

her out although I wasn't able to solve

a problem in his entirety I was at least

able to provide a connection or at least

some comfort by using my facility in the

Chinese language I was able to provide a

link between her and the crew and more

importantly I was able to aid someone

who needed help yet couldn't ask for it

learning Chinese allowed me to

positively impact and interact in

someone else's life that I wouldn't have

been able to if I did not know any

Chinese whatsoever

my second experience of languages

insight came during that same trip to

Korea now growing up as korean-american

born and raised in the States

besides the customary annyeong haseyo

and the bow that accompanies that when

greeting adults that was the basic

extent of my knowledge of Korean

language and culture I had visited Korea

several times as a young boy but I never

really interacted with a local community

besides my grandmother and maybe a few

extended family members but during this

fourth visit something changed I had the

opportunity to join a program and hang

out with a group of kids my own age and

being in a scenario where nobody spoke

English you might say I was highly

encouraged to begin practicing learning

and speaking and all of a sudden it was

like a switch in my mind had been turned

on and suddenly things made sense I was

actually reading and understanding signs

on the streets making jokes with my new

friends and even catching on to popular

slang words and phrases in Korean now I

met most of my friends in a sub program

headed by a group of college students at

home ich university and for the most

part they served as mentors and all of

us younger kids were mentees and it was

all fine and all until I kind of noticed

something a little bit strange and it

was that every time a student needed

something they would call the teacher by

Sam in fact to me utter horror every

mentoring the program was named Sam I

mean that guy over there Sam dock girl

over there Sam how do I know which time

I want to talk to if they all have the

same name

I mean it's crazy okay

luckily my friends finally cleared it up

for me the word that I was used to

hearing all the time from my short

little studies in Korean school was a

son saying name which word for teacher

again but most Koreans didn't use the

word stem which is a slang word for

short by communicating to my new friends

in their own language and their own

words I was really able to get a better

grasp and understanding about their

daily life and culture in Korea

speaking Korean not only allowed me to

become closer with them but also I was

no longer a foreigner looking from the

outside in I was able to change myself

from being an observer who could only

guess at what is going around him into

becoming an active participant in his

surroundings and immerse myself in their

society in order to fully understand a

culture you have to know its language

because language is the written and

verbal manifestation and reflection of

any group of people this task becomes

increasingly more difficult however as

we begin to encounter different

languages and cultures that are less and

less related to or similar to our own

but the key to overcoming these

differences is through language language

is not a barrier but rather it is a

bridge a bridge between our differences

between different cultures and customs

so if language is so empowering and

eye-opening why don't more people

attempt to make these linguistic

connections with others then mystic and

called Lenz's I strongly believe we why

people are still hesitant to learn new

language is due to fear the fear that

they might mess up speak fumble over

pronunciation and tones or just aren't

good with language so why even try if

you want something real to fear I think

that it should be this every 14 days a

language dies yes

dies this means that there is no longer

a single living person on this planet to

speak that language and even more

disturbing is that according to national

Geographics vanishing sis by the next

century nearly half of the roughly 7,000

tongues

spoken on this earth

will likely disappear as communities

abandon Native Tongues in favor for

English Mandarin or Spanish so then this

does post is this poses a question what

happens when a language goes silent what

is lost when a language dies an entire

culture dies with it and when that

happens we lose the opportunity to see

the world from another perspective and

thus we lose another cultural lens I

think that my message is best

encapsulated by Marcel Proust a French

novelist who observed that the true

voyage of discovery is not by seeing new

lands but rather through seeing with new

eyes learning the Chinese and Korean

languages gave me two lenses that

changed myself from being an observer

into an active participant in another

culture and by having knowledge in

multiple languages not only was I able

to become closer to those around me but

especially with learning more Korean I

was able to gain and preserve a piece of

my heritage that I almost lost

completely as American citizens I am

sure that we are all well aware of the

fact that America as a nation celebrated

with an incredibly diverse and

multi-ethnic population in fact

according to the US Census Bureau there

are over 350 languages spoken in this

country alone however only 18% of adults

are reported to be bilingual I strongly

believe that in order to begin

understanding other entire cultures and

other entire peoples we must begin with

understanding the diverse people around

us in our local communities and perhaps

even revisiting our own cultures and

heritage language isn't is empowering

language is enlightening and language is

uniting and now all we have to do is

learn it thank you

you