3 TED Talks About English
As I mentioned in a post last week, TED is a website that’s good for listening practice because the videos have subtitles and there are a lot of topics to choose from. In this post I’ll list three TED Talks about English including a summary about each talk from the website.
- 3 ways to speak English by Jamila Lyiscott
Jamila Lyiscott is a “tri-tongued orator;” in her powerful spoken-word essay “Broken English,” she celebrates — and challenges — the three distinct flavors of English she speaks with her friends, in the classroom and with her parents. As she explores the complicated history and present-day identity that each language represents, she unpacks what it means to be “articulate.”
- The world’s English mania by Jay Walker
Jay Walker explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English — “the world’s second language” — by the thousands.
- Don’t insist on English! by Patricia Ryan
Patricia Ryan is a longtime English teacher who asks a provocative question: Is the world’s focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? In other words: What if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL? It’s a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas.