A Conversation With My Hero, Stephen | How my deaf friend learned English

Hello, everyone.

My name is Robin Shaw.

And I am here today with a very special guest.

My dear friend, Stephen.

He’s also my personal hero.

Hello, Stephen.

Hey, Robin.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am 33.

I am deaf.

I can communicate with you right now through lip-reading and listening through my hearing aids.

Alright so, yes, he is deaf.

And he can understand me because he can hear a little bit through his hearing aids and

he has to read my lips.

Yes.

Where did we meet?

We met in North Korea 5 years ago.

That’s right.

I was traveling in North Korea for a few weeks, and we had to stay in the same room for about

a week or two.

And we met each other.

And I was very surprised because he was traveling alone in North Korea.

And, well, you know, just to be in North Korea, Yes,

… is such an adventure.

But he was there alone.

He didn’t need anybody’s help.

Yeah.

And he’s quite an independent person.

There are a lot of misconceptions about deaf people.

A lot of people believe that deaf people cannot do much.

But I’m a good example of why that is so wrong.

Why don’t you tell us about your childhood, like, how did you learn English?

It started with a deaf school.

So I’m with other children who are also deaf.

We learned English through the hands, so it’s not sign language.

But a representation of English with the hands.

So through that medium, we learn the structure of English.

And also…

My family are all hearing.

So I was isolated from the conversation.

So I spent a lot of time reading.

So I learned more English through books.

Through books, yes…

That is amazing.

You must’ve read a lot of books.

A lot, yes.

A lot of books.

As I said, or he said, we met in North Korea.

He loves to travel.

I do.

So, how many countries and territories have you been to?

I have been to, now, over 90.

Over 90, yes.

I have not traveled that much.

And I don’t think many of you have traveled that much,

so he is amazing.

He can travel the world alone.

You know…

No problem.

There’s no problem.

Can you tell us what kind of problems you may have when traveling?

I have been to a lot of poor countries.

And in poor countries, a lot of people cannot read and write.

So, a lot of the time, when I communicate, I have to use pen and paper.

So when I go up to someone in a poor country to ask for something,

I write it down.

But they cannot read it.

So, I’ve had to adapt to that by miming for example, or drawing a picture.

So that’s a good example.

Okay, and what country are planning to travel in the near future?

There’s so much more of the world that I want to see.

I’m thinking of going to Mongolia.

It’s very beautiful.

Yes.

Yes, alright.

You have been.

I’ve been to Mongolia.

It’s very beautiful.

And, yes, we have traveled...

after we met in North Korea.

We have traveled to other countries.

We've traveled to Sri Lanka and Maldives together.

Yes.

And in the future we will travel to more countries.

Alright, thank you very much, Stephen.

You’re welcome.

I’m very happy you did this.

And you shared a part of your life with our viewers.

And your struggles traveling around the world.

And learning and speaking English.

So thank you very much.

Yeah.

Alright, thank you everyone for watching.

And I’ll see you next time.