Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!

Translator: Samra Cebiric Reviewer: Sandra Gojic

I know what you're thinking.

Znam šta mislite.

You think I've lost my way,

Mislite da sam se izgubila,

and somebody's going to come on the stage in a minute

i da će neko uskoro doći na binu

and guide me gently back to my seat.

i otpratiti me nazad do sjedišta.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

I get that all the time in Dubai.

To mi se stalno dešava u Dubajiu.

"Here on holiday are you, dear?"

"Jeste li ovdje na odmoru?"

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

"Come to visit the children?

"Došli ste posjetiti djecu?

How long are you staying?"

Koliko dugo ostajete?"

Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet.

Zapravo, nadam se da ću još biti tu.

I have been living and teaching in the Gulf

U Zaljevu živim i podučavam

for over 30 years.

preko 30 godina.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

And in that time, I have seen a lot of changes.

I za to vrijeme sam vidjela mnoge promjene.

Now that statistic

Statistički podaci tih promjena

is quite shocking.

su prilično šokantni.

And I want to talk to you today

Danas vam želim pričati

about language loss

o gubitku jezika

and the globalization of English.

i globalizaciji engleskog jezika.

I want to tell you about my friend

Ispričati ću vam o mom prijatelju

who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi.

koji je u Abu Dhabiju podučavao engleski odraslim osobama.

And one fine day,

Jednog lijepog dana

she decided to take them into the garden

je odlučila da ih izvede u baštu

to teach them some nature vocabulary.

da ih nauči nešto vokabulara iz prirodnog svijeta.

But it was she who ended up learning

Ali je na kraju ona naučila

all the Arabic words for the local plants,

sve arapske riječi za domaće biljke,

as well as their uses --

kao i upotrebu --

medicinal uses, cosmetics,

u medicini, kozmetici,

cooking, herbal.

kuhanju, uzgoju.

How did those students get all that knowledge?

Kako su ti studenti znali toliko o biljkama?

Of course, from their grandparents

Od djedova i baka, naravno

and even their great-grandparents.

čak i od pra-djedova i pra-baka.

It's not necessary to tell you how important it is

Nema potrebe da vam govorim koliko je važna

to be able to communicate

komunikacija

across generations.

kroz generacije.

But sadly, today,

Ali nažalost, danas,

languages are dying

jezici izumiru brzo

at an unprecedented rate.

kao nikad prije.

A language dies every 14 days.

Jedan jezik nestaje svakih 14 dana.

Now, at the same time,

U isto vrijeme

English is the undisputed global language.

engleski je svjetski jezik bez osporavanja.

Could there be a connection?

Postoji li neka povezanost?

Well I don't know.

Ne znam.

But I do know that I've seen a lot of changes.

Ali znam da sam svjedočila mnogim promjenama.

When I first came out to the Gulf, I came to Kuwait

Kada sam prvi put došla u Zaljev, posjetila sam Kuwajt.

in the days when it was still a hardship post.

u vremenu kada je još uvijek bilo mjesto mnogih tegoba.

Actually, not that long ago.

Zapravo, to nije bilo tako davno.

That is a little bit too early.

To je prerano.

But nevertheless,

Međutim,

I was recruited by the British Council,

Britanski Savjet me je zaposlio

along with about 25 other teachers.

zajedno sa još 25 učitelja.

And we were the first non-Muslims

Mi smo bili prvi ne-muslimani

to teach in the state schools there in Kuwait.

koji su podučavali u državnim školama u Kuwajtu.

We were brought to teach English

Došli smo tamo da podučavamo engleski

because the government wanted to modernize the country

jer je vlada htjela da modernizira zemlju

and to empower the citizens through education.

i da osnaži građane kroz obrazovanje.

And of course, the U.K. benefited

Naravno da je Ujedinjeno Kraljevstvo imalo korist

from some of that lovely oil wealth.

od tog divnog naftnog bogastva.

Okay.

U redu.

Now this is the major change that I've seen --

Ovo je najveća promjena kojoj sam svjedočila --

how teaching English

kako je podučavanje engleskog

has morphed

prešlo

from being a mutually beneficial practice

iz obostrano korisne prakse

to becoming a massive international business that it is today.

u veliki međunarnodni posao što je i danas.

No longer just a foreign language on the school curriculum,

Više nije strani jezik u nastavnom planu i programu.

and no longer the sole domain

I više nije jedini domen

of mother England,

majke Engleske.

it has become a bandwagon

Postao je cilj

for every English-speaking nation on earth.

svake države iz engleskog govornog područja na zemlji.

And why not?

Zašto ne?

After all, the best education --

Na koncu, najbolje obrazovanje --

according to the latest World University Rankings --

prema najnovijem rankiranju svjetskih univerziteta --

is to be found in the universities

se nudi na univerzitetima

of the U.K. and the U.S.

u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu i Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama.

So everybody wants to have an English education, naturally.

Stoga je prirodno da svako želi da ima takvo obrazovanje.

But if you're not a native speaker,

Ali ako vam engleski nije maternji jezik,

you have to pass a test.

morate da položite test.

Now can it be right

Ali da li je pravilno

to reject a student

da se odbije student

on linguistic ability alone?

samo prema lingvističkim sposobnostima?

Perhaps you have a computer scientist

Možda je pred vama kompjuterski inženjer

who's a genius.

koji je genije.

Would he need the same language as a lawyer, for example?

Da li će njemu trebati isti jezik kao i advokatu, naprimjer?

Well, I don't think so.

Mislim da neće.

We English teachers reject them all the time.

Mi profesori engleskog jezika ih odbijamo konstantno.

We put a stop sign,

Stavimo stop znak,

and we stop them in their tracks.

i zaustavimo ih na njihovom cilju.

They can't pursue their dream any longer,

Više ne mogu ostvariti svoje snove,

'til they get English.

dok ne nauče engleski.

Now let me put it this way:

Recimo ovako,

if I met a monolingual Dutch speaker

ako ja upoznam nekoga ko zna samo nizozemski

who had the cure for cancer,

ko ima lijek za rak,

would I stop him from entering my British University?

hoću li ga spriječiti da pohađa moj Britanski Univerzitet?

I don't think so.

Naravno da neću.

But indeed, that is exactly what we do.

Doduše, to mi upravo radimo.

We English teachers are the gatekeepers.

Mi profesori engleskog jezika smo čuvari kapije.

And you have to satisfy us first

Mi moramo biti zadovoljni

that your English is good enough.

sa vašim poznavanjem engleskog jezika.

Now it can be dangerous

Može biti opasno

to give too much power

dati veliku ovlast

to a narrow segment of society.

ograničenom segmentu društva.

Maybe the barrier would be too universal.

Možda bi barijera bila preuniverzalna.

Okay.

Uredu.

"But," I hear you say,

"Ali," vi se pitate,

"what about the research?

"šta je sa istraživanjem?

It's all in English."

Sve je na engleskom."

So the books are in English,

Knjige su na engleskom,

the journals are done in English,

časopisi su na engleskom,

but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

ali to je samoispunjujuće proročanstvo.

It feeds the English requirement.

Tako potvrđuje potrebu za poznavanjem engleskog jezika.

And so it goes on.

I tako redom.

I ask you, what happened to translation?

Šta se desilo za prevođenjem?

If you think about the Islamic Golden Age,

Za vrijeme Islamskog Zlatnog doba

there was lots of translation then.

mnogo se prevodilo.

They translated from Latin and Greek

Prevodili su sa latinskog i grčkog

into Arabic, into Persian,

na arapski i perzijski,

and then it was translated on

a onda se prevodilo dalje

into the Germanic languages of Europe

na germanske i

and the Romance languages.

romanske jezike Evrope.

And so light shone upon the Dark Ages of Europe.

I tako je Evropa izašla iz mračnog doba.

Now don't get me wrong;

Nemojte me pogrešno shvatiti;

I am not against teaching English,

ja nisam protiv podučavanja engleskog jezika,

all you English teachers out there.

svi vi profesori engleskog jezika.

I love it that we have a global language.

Volim što imamo globalni jezik.

We need one today more than ever.

Danas nam jedan takav treba više nego ikada.

But I am against using it

Ali ja sam protiv njegovog korištenja

as a barrier.

kao barijere.

Do we really want to end up with 600 languages

Zar stvarno želimo da na kraju imamo 600 jezika

and the main one being English, or Chinese?

a da glavni bude engleski, ili kineski?

We need more than that. Where do we draw the line?

Treba nam više od toga. Gdje ćemo povući granicu?

This system

Ovakav sistem

equates intelligence

izjednačava inteligenciju

with a knowledge of English,

sa poznavanjem engleskog jezika

which is quite arbitrary.

a takvo izjednačavanje nema osnove.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

And I want to remind you

Želim vas podsjetiti

that the giants upon whose shoulders

na to da velikani na čijim ramenima

today's intelligentsia stand

stoji današnja inteligencija

did not have to have English,

nisu morali znati engleski jezik,

they didn't have to pass an English test.

nisu morali položiti test.

Case in point, Einstein.

Uzmimo za primjer, Einsteina.

He, by the way, was considered remedial at school

On je pohađao dopunsku nastavu u školi

because he was, in fact, dyslexic.

jer je zapravo bio disleksičan.

But fortunately for the world,

Ali na sreću

he did not have to pass an English test.

nije morao polagati test o poznavanju engleskog jezika.

Because they didn't start until 1964

Tek nakon 1964 su počeli sa

with TOEFL,

TOEFL-om (test o poznavanju engleskog kao stranog jezika),

the American test of English.

američkim testom engleskog jezika.

Now it's exploded.

Danas su se testovi proširili.

There are lots and lots of tests of English.

Postoji mnogo testova engleskog jezika.

And millions and millions of students

I milioni studenata

take these tests every year.

polažu ove testove svake godine.

Now you might think, you and me,

Mi možda smatramo

"Those fees aren't bad, they're okay,"

da cijene testova nisu loše, razumne su,

but they are prohibitive

ali sprečavaju

to so many millions of poor people.

milione siromašnih ljudi.

So immediately, we're rejecting them.

Mi ih smjesta odbacujemo.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

It brings to mind a headline I saw recently:

To me podsjeti na novinski naslov koji sam vidjela nedavno:

"Education: The Great Divide."

"Obrazovanje: Velika granica."

Now I get it,

Sada shvatam

I understand why people would want to focus on English.

zašto ljudi se fokusiraju na engleski jezik.

They want to give their children the best chance in life.

Oni žele svojoj djeci pružiti najbolje u životu.

And to do that, they need a Western education.

A za to im je potrebno zapadno obrazovanje.

Because, of course, the best jobs

Jer najbolja radna mjesta

go to people out of the Western Universities,

se daju ljudima koja su pohađali univerzitete na zapadu,

that I put on earlier.

koje sam spomenula ranije.

It's a circular thing.

To je začarani krug.

Okay.

Uredu.

Let me tell you a story about two scientists,

Ispričati ću vam priču o dva naučnika,

two English scientists.

dva engleska naučnika.

They were doing an experiment

Vršili su eksperiment

to do with genetics

iz genetike

and the forelimbs and the hind limbs of animals.

o prednjim i stražnjim udovima životinja.

But they couldn't get the results they wanted.

Ali nisu dobili željeni rezultat.

They really didn't know what to do,

Zaista nisu znali šta da rade,

until along came a German scientist

dok nije došao njemački naučnik

who realized that they were using two words

koji je shvatio da su koristili dvije riječi

for forelimb and hind limb,

za prednje i stražnje udove,

whereas genetics does not differentiate

međutim u genetici nema razlike

and neither does German.

kao ni u njemačkom jeziku.

So bingo,

I eto ga,

problem solved.

problem je riješen.

If you can't think a thought,

Ako ne možete doći do ideje,

you are stuck.

nema izlaza.

But if another language can think that thought,

Ali ako drugi jezik može doći do ideje,

then, by cooperating,

onda, uz pomoć suradnje,

we can achieve and learn so much more.

možemo postići i naučiti mnogo toga.

My daughter

Moja kćerka

came to England from Kuwait.

je došla u Englesku iz Kuvajta.

She had studied science and mathematics in Arabic.

Studirala je prirodne nauke i matematiku na arapskom

It's an Arabic-medium school.

u jednoj arapskoj srednjoj školi.

She had to translate it into English at her grammar school.

U gimnaziji je to morala prevesti na engleski.

And she was the best in the class

Bila je najbolja u razredru

at those subjects.

iz tih predmeta.

Which tells us

To nam govori da,

that when students come to us from abroad,

kada učenici dođu iz inostranstva,

we may not be giving them enough credit

mi im ne dajemo dovoljno priznanja

for what they know,

za ono što znaju,

and they know it in their own language.

a to znaju na svom maternjem jeziku.

When a language dies,

Kada jezik izumre,

we don't know what we lose with that language.

mi ne znamo šta gubimo zajedno sa tim jezikom.

This is -- I don't know if you saw it on CNN recently --

Ne znam jeste li gledali nedavno na CNN-u --

they gave the Heroes Award

Nagradu za junaštvo

to a young Kenyan shepherd boy

je dobio mladi pastir iz Kenije

who couldn't study at night in his village,

koji u svom selu nije mogao noću učiti

like all the village children,

kao druga seoska djeca,

because the kerosene lamp,

jer je petrolejska lampa

it had smoke and it damaged his eyes.

od dima oštetila njegove oči.

And anyway, there was never enough kerosene,

Uostalom, nikada nije bilo dovoljno petroleja,

because what does a dollar a day buy for you?

a šta bi mogao kupiti za dolar dnevno?

So he invented

Stoga je izumio

a cost-free solar lamp.

besplatnu solarnu lampu.

And now the children in his village

Sada djeca u njegovom selu

get the same grades at school

imaju iste ocjene u školi

as the children who have electricity at home.

kao i djeca koja imaju struju u svojim domovima.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

When he received his award,

Kada je primio nagradu,

he said these lovely words:

rekao je ovim lijepim riječima:

"The children can lead Africa from what it is today,

"Djeca mogu povesti Afriku iz

a dark continent,

tame kakva je danas,

to a light continent."

u svijetli kontinent."

A simple idea,

Ovo je jednostavna ideja,

but it could have such far-reaching consequences.

ali mogla bi imati dalekosežne posljedice.

People who have no light,

Ljudi koji ne vide svijetlo,

whether it's physical or metaphorical,

fizički ili metaforično,

cannot pass our exams,

ne mogu položiti naše ispite,

and we can never know what they know.

a mi nikada nećemo saznati šta oni znaju.

Let us not keep them and ourselves

Nemojmo ih držati u tami

in the dark.

a ni same sebe.

Let us celebrate diversity.

Slavimo raznolikost.

Mind your language.

Pazite na svoj jezik.

Use it to spread great ideas.

Koristite ih za širenje velikih ideja.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam puno.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)