How books can open your mind | Lisa Bu

3,151,147 views ・ 2013-05-31

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Dubbelklik asseblief op die Engelse onderskrifte hieronder om die video te speel.

00:00
Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast
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Translator: Jacques du Plessis Reviewer: Ingrid Lezar
00:12
So I was trained to become a gymnast
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Ek's opgelei om 'n gimnas te word
00:15
for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s.
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vir twee jaar in Hunan, Sjina in die 1970's.
00:18
When I was in the first grade, the government
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In graad 1, wou die regering
00:21
wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes,
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my na 'n skool vir atlete oorplaas --
00:24
all expenses paid.
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alle kostes betaal.
00:26
But my tiger mother said, "No."
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Maar my tier-ma het gesê: "Nee."
00:28
My parents wanted me to become
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My ouers wou hê ek moes
00:30
an engineer like them.
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'n ingenieur soos hulle word.
00:33
After surviving the Cultural Revolution,
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Hulle't die Kulturele Rewolusie oorleef
00:35
they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness:
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en dus vas geglo aan één weg tot geluk:
00:38
a safe and well-paid job.
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'n veilige en goed-betaalde werk.
00:41
It is not important if I like the job or not.
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Dis nie belangrik of ek daarvan hou nie.
00:44
But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer.
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Maar my droom was om 'n Sjinese operasangeres te word.
00:49
That is me playing my imaginary piano.
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Hier speel ek my denkbeeldige klavier.
00:53
An opera singer must start training young
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'n Operasangeres moet van jongs af
00:55
to learn acrobatics,
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akrobatiek begin leer,
00:57
so I tried everything I could to go to opera school.
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so ek't als probeer om operaskool toe te gaan.
01:00
I even wrote to the school principal
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Ek't selfs aan die skoolhoof geskryf
01:02
and the host of a radio show.
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en aan die aanbieder van 'n radioprogram.
01:05
But no adults liked the idea.
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Maar geen volwassenes het van die idee gehou nie.
01:09
No adults believed I was serious.
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Geen volwassenes het geglo ek was ernstig nie.
01:11
Only my friends supported me, but they were kids,
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Net my vriende het my ondersteun, maar hulle was kinders,
01:15
just as powerless as I was.
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net so magteloos soos ek.
01:17
So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained.
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Op 15 het ek geweet dat ek te oud is om opgelei te word.
01:23
My dream would never come true.
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My droom sou nooit waar word nie.
01:26
I was afraid that for the rest of my life
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Ek was bevrees dat vir die res van my lewe
01:29
some second-class happiness
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'n tweedeklas geluk die beste was
01:31
would be the best I could hope for.
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waarop ek kon hoop.
01:34
But that's so unfair.
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Maar dis so onregverdig.
01:36
So I was determined to find another calling.
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So was ek vasbeslote om nog 'n roeping te vind.
01:40
Nobody around to teach me? Fine.
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Niemand om my te leer nie? Wel, gaaf.
01:43
I turned to books.
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Dan keer ek my tot boeke.
01:45
I satisfied my hunger for parental advice
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Ek't my honger vir ouerlike advies gestil
01:49
from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]
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met 'n boek deur 'n familie van skrywers en musikante. ["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]
01:54
I found my role model of an independent woman
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Ek't my rolmodel van 'n onafhanklike vrou gevind,
01:57
when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]
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al verlang Konfusiaanse tradisie gehoorsaamheid. ["Jane Eyre"]
02:01
And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]
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En ek't uit dié boek geleer om effektief te wees. ["Cheaper by the Dozen"]
02:04
And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.
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En ek wou oorsee gaan studeer nadat ek dié gelees het.
02:08
["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]
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["Complete Works of Sanmao" (al. Echo Chan)] ["Lessons from History" Nan Huaijin]
02:10
I came to the U.S. in 1995,
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Ek't in 1995 Amerika toe gekom,
02:14
so which books did I read here first?
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so watter boeke het ek eerste hier gelees?
02:16
Books banned in China, of course.
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Boeke verban in Sjina, natuurlik.
02:20
"The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life.
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"The Good Earth" is oor Sjinese landelike lewe.
02:24
That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it.
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Dis net nie gerieflik vir propaganda nie. Ek snap dit.
02:28
The Bible is interesting, but strange.
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Die Bybel is interestant, maar aardig.
02:31
(Laughter)
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(Gelag)
02:34
That's a topic for a different day.
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Dis 'n onderwerp vir 'n ander dag.
02:37
But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany:
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Maar die vyfde gebod was 'n openbaring:
02:41
"You shall honor your father and mother."
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"Jy moet jou vader en jou moeder eer."
02:44
"Honor," I said. "That's so different,
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"Eerbiedig," het ek gesê,
"Dis so anders, en beter, as om te gehoorsaam."
02:47
and better, than obey."
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02:48
So it becomes my tool to climb out
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Dis toe my werktuig
om uit Confucius se skuldgevoelstrik te klim
02:51
of this Confucian guilt trap
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02:53
and to restart my relationship with my parents.
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en my verhouding met my ouers te hervat.
02:57
Encountering a new culture also started my habit
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Blootstelling aan 'n nuwe kultuur het ook my gewoonte begin
03:00
of comparative reading.
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om vergelykend te lees.
03:02
It offers many insights.
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Dis baie insigryk.
03:04
For example, I found this map out of place at first
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Ek't byvoorbeeld hierdie kaart eers uit plek gevind
03:09
because this is what Chinese students grew up with.
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omdat dít is waarmee Sjinese studente groot word.
03:14
It had never occurred to me,
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Ek't nooit besef
03:15
China doesn't have to be at the center of the world.
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dat Sjina nie die middelpunt van die wêreld hoef te wees nie.
03:18
A map actually carries somebody's view.
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'n Kaart dra waarlik iemand se sienswyse.
03:22
Comparative reading actually is nothing new.
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Vergelykende nalees is niks nuut nie.
03:25
It's a standard practice in the academic world.
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Dis standaard in die akademiese wêreld.
03:28
There are even research fields
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Daar's selfs navorsingsgebiede
03:30
such as comparative religion and comparative literature.
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soos vergelykende godsdienswetenskap en vergelykende letterkunde.
03:34
Compare and contrast gives scholars
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Vergelyking en kontras gee geleerdes
03:36
a more complete understanding of a topic.
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'n meer volledige begrip van 'n onderwerp.
03:39
So I thought, well, if comparative reading
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So, as vergelykende nalees werk vir navorsing,
03:41
works for research, why not do it in daily life too?
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waarom nie ook vir alledaagse lewe nie?
03:44
So I started reading books in pairs.
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So't ek begin om boeke in pare te lees.
03:48
So they can be about people --
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Hulle kan oor mense wees --
03:49
["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] --
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03:50
who are involved in the same event,
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["Benjamin Franklin" Walter Isaacson] ["John Adams" David McCullough] --
betrokke in dieselfde gebeurtenis,
03:52
or friends with shared experiences.
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of vriende met gemeenskaplike ervaringe.
03:55
["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder]
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03:56
I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter)
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["Personal History" Katharine Graham] ["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life" Alice Schroeder]
Ek vergelyk ook dieselfde stories in verskillende genres -- (Gelag)
04:01
[Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] --
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[Holy BIble: King James Version] ["Lamb" Chrisopher Moore] --
04:03
or similar stories from different cultures,
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of soortgelyke stories van verskillende kulture,
04:06
as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell]
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soos Joseph Campbell gedoen het in sy wonderlike boek. ["The Power of Myth" Joseph Campbell]
04:09
For example, both the Christ and the Buddha
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Byvoorbeeld, beide Christus en die Boeddha
04:12
went through three temptations.
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het drie versoekings weerstaan.
04:15
For the Christ, the temptations
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Vir Christus was die versoekings
04:17
are economic, political and spiritual.
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ekonomies, polities en geestelik.
04:21
For the Buddha, they are all psychological:
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Vir die Boeddha was alles psigies:
04:25
lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.
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wellus, vrees en sosiale plig -- interessant.
04:32
So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun
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As jy 'n vreemde taal ken,
04:35
to read your favorite books in two languages.
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is dit ook pret om jou gunsteling boeke in twee tale te lees.
04:37
["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]
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04:38
Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain.
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["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton] ["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]
In plaas van verlore in vertaling, vind ek daar is baie om by te baat.
04:42
For example, it's through translation that I realized
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Ek't deur vertaling besef dat
04:46
"happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh!
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"geluk" in Sjinees letterlik "vinnige plesier" beteken. Nou toe.
04:52
"Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh.
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"Bruid" beteken letterlik "nuwe ma." Ô-ô.
04:57
(Laughter)
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(Gelag)
05:01
Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people
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Boeke het my 'n magiese poort gegee om met mense in verbinding te tree,
05:06
of the past and the present.
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uit die verlede en die hede.
05:09
I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again.
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Ek sal nooit weer alleen of magteloos voel nie.
05:13
Having a dream shattered really is nothing
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Om 'n droom verbrysel te hê is niks
05:16
compared to what many others have suffered.
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in vergelyking met baie ander se lyding nie.
05:19
I have come to believe that coming true
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Ek glo dat die verwerkliking
05:21
is not the only purpose of a dream.
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nie die enigste doel van 'n droom is nie.
05:25
Its most important purpose is to get us in touch
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Sy belangrikste doel is om ons in voeling te bring
05:29
with where dreams come from,
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met waar drome vandaan kom,
05:31
where passion comes from, where happiness comes from.
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waar passie vandaan kom, waar geluk vandaan kom.
05:34
Even a shattered dream can do that for you.
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Selfs 'n verpletterde droom kan dit vir jou doen.
05:38
So because of books, I'm here today,
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As gevolg van boeke is ek vandag hier,
05:40
happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity,
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gelukkig, lewend met 'n doel en klaarheid,
05:44
most of the time.
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meeste van die tyd.
05:45
So may books be always with you.
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So mag boeke altyd met julle wees.
05:49
Thank you.
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05:50
(Applause)
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Dankie.
(Applous)
05:52
Thank you. (Applause)
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Dankie. (Applous)
05:56
Thank you. (Applause)
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Dankie. (Applous)
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