ジェイ・ウォーカーが語る世界の英語熱

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Jay Walker on the world's English mania

小さいことは気にすんなッ、主題と主張をつかもう！
２００９年のスピーチです。ゆっくりと平易な言葉で話しているので、分かり易いとと思います。それにしても中国のすごさを感じますね
関連トーク → パトリシア・ライアン「英語を強要しないで！」

【話題】 英語マニア

【時間】４分３２秒

【要約】

Ⅰ．マニアとは何か

　例えば：ビートルズ・マニア、スポーツ・マニア、宗教マニア

　マニアは良くもあり、危険でもあり、命にかかわるもの

Ⅱ．新しいマニア＝英語マニア

　中国人は小学３年生から英語を勉強する

　英語はよりよい生活を得るために必要なもの

　8000万人の高校生が受験する「高考」は配点の25％は英語の試験

Ⅲ．英語マニアは良いことか？

　英語はあくまでも第２の言語

　他の言語がなくなるといことはない

　英語によって世界が広がる

　気候変動、貧困、飢餓、病気といった世界共通の話題に参加することができる

Ⅳ．英語マニアの登場はより良い世界への希望

　数学や音楽が世界共通の言葉であるのと同じように

　英語が世界の問題を解決する共通言語となる

　アメリカが強制しているのではなく、世界が自然と必要としている

　英語マニアの登場は、世界中の人々に共通の問題を話し合い、解決するための共通の言語となるターニング・ポイントである

【語彙】

pandemonium ：大混乱

rapture ：歓喜

gaokao ：高考（中国の大学入試）、「華鐘通信No.173」によると、国語・数学・英語・総合の各150点の合計600点ということなので、英語の配点が４分の１ということになりますね

grueling ：厳しい

harness ：活用する

【transcripts】

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 English by 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 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. 25 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.

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 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.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

ジェイ・ウォーカー「英語マニア」