4 reasons to learn a new language | John McWhorter

Translator: Carme Paz Reviewer: Mario Cal

The language I'm speaking right now

A lingua que estou falando agora

is on its way to becoming the world's universal language,

está en camiño de converterse na lingua universal,

for better or for worse.

para ben ou para mal.

Afrontémolo,

Let's face it,

it's the language of the internet,

é a lingua da Internet,

it's the language of finance,

é a lingua das finanzas

it's the language of air traffic control,

é a lingua do control de tráfico aéreo

of popular music,

da música popular,

da diplomacia...

diplomacy --

O inglés está por todos os lados.

English is everywhere.

Now, Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people,

O chinés mandarín fálao máis xente,

but more Chinese people are learning English

pero hai máis xente chinesa aprendendo inglés

than English speakers are learning Chinese.

que falantes de inglés aprendendo chinés.

Last I heard,

Segundo o último que escoitei,

there are two dozen universities in China right now

actualmente hai dúas ducias de universidades en China

teaching all in English.

que ensinan todo en inglés.

English is taking over.

O inglés está tomando o poder.

And in addition to that,

E ademais,

it's been predicted that at the end of the century

prevese que a finais de século

case todas as linguas que existen hoxe,

almost all of the languages that exist now --

hai ao redor de 6000,

there are about 6,000 --

will no longer be spoken.

deixarán de falarse.

There will only be some hundreds left.

Quedarán só algúns centos.

And on top of that,

E por riba,

estamos nun momento en que a tradución instantánea en directo

it's at the point where instant translation of live speech

is not only possible, but it gets better every year.

non só é posible senón que mellora cada ano.

The reason I'm reciting those things to you

A razón por que estou dicindo estas cousas

é porque creo que estamos chegando a un punto

is because I can tell that we're getting to the point

where a question is going to start being asked,

en que vai empezar a xurdir unha pregunta:

which is: Why should we learn foreign languages --

Por que deberiamos aprender linguas estranxeiras,

á parte do inglés no caso dos que non a teñen como lingua materna?

other than if English happens to be foreign to one?

Por que aprender outra cando estamos chegando a un punto

Why bother to learn another one when it's getting to the point

en que case todas as persoas no mundo serán capaces de comunicarse nunha soa?

where almost everybody in the world will be able to communicate in one?

I think there are a lot of reasons,

Penso que hai moitas razóns,

but I first want to address

pero primeiro quero nomear

the one that you're probably most likely to have heard of,

aquela da que probablemente escoitastes falar máis

because actually it's more dangerous than you might think.

porque, en realidade, é máis perigosa do que se pensa.

Trátase da idea

And that is the idea

that a language channels your thoughts,

de que a lingua canaliza os pensamentos,

that the vocabulary and the grammar of different languages

que o vocabulario e a gramática de linguas diferentes

gives everybody a different kind of acid trip,

dálle a todos un tipo diferente de "viaxe alucinóxeno",

so to speak.

para entendérmonos.

Esa é unha idea marabillosa,

That is a marvelously enticing idea,

but it's kind of fraught.

pero ten riscos.

So it's not that it's untrue completely.

Non é que sexa completamente falsa.

Por exemplo, en francés e en español

So for example, in French and Spanish

the word for table is, for some reason, marked as feminine.

a palabra "mesa" é, por algunha razón, feminina.

So, "la table," "la mesa," you just have to deal with it.

Entón, "la table", "la mesa" é así e punto.

Demostrouse que

It has been shown

that if you are a speaker of one of those languages

se sodes falantes dunha desas linguas

e vos preguntan

and you happen to be asked

how you would imagine a table talking,

como imaxinariades unha mesa falar,

then much more often than could possibly be an accident,

moito máis a miúdo do que podería ser por coincidencia,

a French or a Spanish speaker

un falante de francés ou de español

says that the table would talk with a high and feminine voice.

di que a mesa falaría cunha voz aguda e feminina.

So if you're French or Spanish, to you, a table is kind of a girl,

Así que se sodes franceses ou españois, para vós, unha mesa é como unha rapaza,

as opposed to if you are an English speaker.

ao revés do que ocorre se sodes falantes de inglés.

It's hard not to love data like that,

É difícil non apreciar este tipo de datos,

and many people will tell you that that means

e moita xente dirá que iso significa

that there's a worldview that you have if you speak one of those languages.

que hai unha visión do mundo que tes se falas unha desas linguas.

But you have to watch out,

Pero hai que ter coidado,

because imagine if somebody put us under the microscope,

imaxinade se alguén nos pon debaixo dun microscopio,

the us being those of us who speak English natively.

con "nós" refírome aos que falamos inglés como nativos.

What is the worldview from English?

Cal é a visión do mundo desde o inglés?

So for example, let's take an English speaker.

Por exemplo, collamos un falante nativo de inglés.

Up on the screen, that is Bono.

O da pantalla é Bono.

He speaks English.

Fala inglés.

I presume he has a worldview.

Supoño que ten unha visión do mundo.

Now, that is Donald Trump.

Agora, este é Donald Trump.

Á súa maneira

In his way,

he speaks English as well.

tamén fala inglés.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

And here is Ms. Kardashian,

E aquí está a Sra. Kardashian,

and she is an English speaker, too.

que tamén é falante de inglés.

So here are three speakers of the English language.

Aquí hai tres falantes da lingua inglesa.

What worldview do those three people have in common?

Que visión do mundo teñen estas tres persoas en común?

What worldview is shaped through the English language that unites them?

Que visión do mundo se formou a través da lingua que as une?

It's a highly fraught concept.

É un concepto moi perigoso.

And so gradual consensus is becoming that language can shape thought,

Estase chegando a un consenso de que a lingua pode modelar o pensamento,

pero non se trata máis que de lixeiras e escuras variacións psicolóxicas.

but it tends to be in rather darling, obscure psychological flutters.

It's not a matter of giving you a different pair of glasses on the world.

Non é cuestión de darvos outro par de lentes para ver o mundo.

Now, if that's the case,

Entón, se é así,

por que aprender linguas?

then why learn languages?

Se non vai cambiar a forma en que penso,

If it isn't going to change the way you think,

what would the other reasons be?

cales serían as razóns?

There are some.

Hai unhas cantas.

One of them is that if you want to imbibe a culture,

Unha delas é que se queredes empaparvos dunha cultura,

se queredes absorbela, se queredes ser parte dela,

if you want to drink it in, if you want to become part of it,

entón canalice esa cultura ou non,

then whether or not the language channels the culture --

--e iso parece dubidoso--

and that seems doubtful --

se queredes empaparvos da cultura,

if you want to imbibe the culture,

you have to control to some degree

tedes que controlar ata certo punto

the language that the culture happens to be conducted in.

a lingua a través da que se vehicula esa cultura.

There's no other way.

Non hai outra.

There's an interesting illustration of this.

Hai unha ilustración interesante sobre isto.

I have to go slightly obscure, but really you should seek it out.

Teño que poñerme un pouco escuro pero, de verdade, deberiades velo.

There's a movie by the Canadian film director Denys Arcand --

Hai unha película do director canadense Denys Arcand,

pronunciado en inglés "Dennis Ar-cand",

read out in English on the page, "Dennis Ar-cand,"

if you want to look him up.

se queredes buscalo.

Fixo unha película chamada "Xesús de Montreal".

He did a film called "Jesus of Montreal."

And many of the characters

Moitas das personaxes

are vibrant, funny, passionate, interesting French-Canadian,

son franco-canadenses vibrantes, graciosas, apaixonadas e interesantes,

French-speaking women.

mulleres que falan francés.

There's one scene closest to the end,

Hai unha escena cara ao final

where they have to take a friend to an Anglophone hospital.

na que teñen que levar un amigo a un hospital anglófono.

In the hospital, they have to speak English.

No hospital, teñen que falar inglés.

Now, they speak English but it's not their native language,

Falan inglés pero non é a súa lingua materna,

they'd rather not speak English.

preferirían non falar inglés.

And they speak it more slowly,

E fálano máis devagar,

they have accents, they're not idiomatic.

teñen acento, non soan naturais.

Suddenly these characters that you've fallen in love with

De súpeto, esas personaxes das que vos namorastes

convértense en caricaturas, sombras de si mesmas.

become husks of themselves, they're shadows of themselves.

To go into a culture

Entrar nunha cultura

e comprender as persoas a través dese tipo de cortina opaca

and to only ever process people through that kind of skrim curtain

implica non chegar nunca a entender a cultura.

is to never truly get the culture.

And so to the extent that hundreds of languages will be left,

Entón, na medida en que queden centos de linguas,

one reason to learn them

unha razón para aprendelas

é porque son billetes que nos permiten participar

is because they are tickets to being able to participate

in the culture of the people who speak them,

na cultura da xente que a fala,

só polo feito de que é o seu código.

just by virtue of the fact that it is their code.

So that's one reason.

Así que esa é unha razón.

Second reason:

A segunda razón:

it's been shown

Demostrouse

that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in,

que se falamos dúas linguas é menos probable que suframos demencia

e que probablemente sexamos mellores en multitarefas.

and that you are probably a better multitasker.

And these are factors that set in early,

Eses son factores que se establecen axiña

and so that ought to give you some sense

e debería darnos algunha indicación

of when to give junior or juniorette lessons in another language.

sobre cando darlle ao neno ou á nena clases noutra lingua.

Bilingualism is healthy.

O bilingüismo é saúde.

And then, third --

E agora, a terceira:

languages are just an awful lot of fun.

As linguas son moi divertidas.

Much more fun than we're often told.

Moito máis divertidas do que nos din.

So for example, Arabic: "kataba," he wrote,

Por exemplo, en árabe: "kataba", el escribiu,

"yaktubu," he writes, she writes.

"yaktubu", el escribe, ela escribe.

"Uktub", escribe, no imperativo.

"Uktub," write, in the imperative.

Que teñen en común?

What do those things have in common?

Todos estes verbos teñen en común

All those things have in common

the consonants sitting in the middle like pillars.

as consoantes postas no medio como piares.

They stay still,

Quedan aí,

and the vowels dance around the consonants.

e as vogais bailan ao redor das consoantes.

Who wouldn't want to roll that around in their mouths?

Quen non querería enrolalas na boca?

You can get that from Hebrew,

O mesmo ocorre no hebreo,

o mesmo ocorre coa lingua principal de Etiopía, o amhárico.

you can get that from Ethiopia's main language, Amharic.

That's fun.

É divertido.

Ou as linguas que ordenan as palabras de forma diferente.

Or languages have different word orders.

Learning how to speak with different word order

Aprender a falar cunha orde diferente nas palabras

is like driving on the different side of a street if you go to certain country,

é como conducir polo outro carril se ides a certo país,

or the feeling that you get when you put Witch Hazel around your eyes

ou a sensación cando poñemos hamamelis ao redor dos ollos

and you feel the tingle.

e sentimos o formigo.

A language can do that to you.

A lingua pode darvos iso.

So for example,

Por exemplo,

"The Cat in the Hat Comes Back,"

"The Cat in the Hat Comes Back",

a book that I'm sure we all often return to,

un libro ao que estou seguro todos volvemos,

como "Moby Dick".

like "Moby Dick."

One phrase in it is, "Do you know where I found him?

Unha frase do libro di: "Sabes onde o atopei?

Do you know where he was? He was eating cake in the tub,

Sabes onde estaba? Estaba comendo torta na bañeira,

Yes he was!"

Si, estaba!"

Fine. Now, if you learn that in Mandarin Chinese,

Ben, se o dicides en chinés mandarín,

then you have to master,

teriades que esforzarvos:

"Podes saber, eu souben onde o atopar?

"You can know, I did where him find?

He was tub inside gorging cake,

Estaba na bañeira dentro engulindo torta,

No mistake gorging chewing!"

Sen dúbida, engulindo mastigando!"

Iso está moi ben.

That just feels good.

Imagine being able to do that for years and years at a time.

Imaxinade poder facer iso durante anos e anos.

Or, have you ever learned any Cambodian?

Ou, algunha vez aprendestes algo de cambodjano?

Me either, but if I did,

Eu tampouco, pero se o fixese,

enrolaría na boca non só unha ducia de vogais

I would get to roll around in my mouth not some baker's dozen of vowels

like English has,

como o inglés,

but a good 30 different vowels

senón unhas 30 vogais diferentes

scooching and oozing around in the Cambodian mouth

dando voltas na boca cambodjana

like bees in a hive.

como abellas nunha colmea.

That is what a language can get you.

Iso é o que unha lingua pode darnos.

And more to the point,

E centrándonos máis,

we live in an era when it's never been easier to teach yourself another language.

vivimos nunha era na que nunca foi máis sinxelo aprender sós outra lingua.

It used to be that you had to go to a classroom,

Antes había que ir a unha clase,

and there would be some diligent teacher --

onde estaría un profesor dilixente,

un profesor brillante,

some genius teacher in there --

but that person was only in there at certain times

pero esa persoa estaba alí só en certos momentos

e tiñas que ir alí entón,

and you had to go then,

and then was not most times.

e ás veces non era a miúdo.

Tiñas que ir a clases.

You had to go to class.

If you didn't have that, you had something called a record.

Se non podías, tiñas algo chamado gravación.

I cut my teeth on those.

Eu aprendín o básico con elas.

There was only so much data on a record,

Pero había demasiada información nunha gravación,

or a cassette,

ou nunha casete,

or even that antique object known as a CD.

ou mesmo neses obxectos antigos coñecidos como CD.

Other than that you had books that didn't work,

Ademais, había libros que non funcionaban,

that's just the way it was.

así era a cousa.

Today you can lay down --

Hoxe podemos tombarnos,

lie on your living room floor,

deitarnos no chan no salón

sipping bourbon,

bebendo whisky

and teach yourself any language that you want to

e aprender calquera lingua que nos apeteza

with wonderful sets such as Rosetta Stone.

con marabillosas leccións como as de Rosetta Stone.

I highly recommend the lesser known Glossika as well.

Eu tamén recomendo a menos coñecida Glossika.

Pódese facer en calquera momento,

You can do it any time,

therefore you can do it more and better.

polo tanto, pódese facer máis e mellor.

You can give yourself your morning pleasures in various languages.

Podemos ter os praceres matinais en diferentes linguas.

I take some "Dilbert" in various languages every single morning;

Eu leo tiras cómicas de "Dilbert" en varias linguas cada mañá,

isto pode mellorar as vosas destrezas.

it can increase your skills.

Couldn't have done it 20 years ago

Non o podería facer hai 20 anos

when the idea of having any language you wanted

cando a idea de ter calquera lingua que desexásemos

in your pocket,

no peto,

coming from your phone,

saíndo do móbil,

would have sounded like science fiction to very sophisticated people.

soaría a ciencia ficción para xente moi sofisticada.

So I highly recommend

Así que recomendo moito

that you teach yourself languages other than the one that I'm speaking,

que estudedes pola vosa conta linguas distintas da que estou falando,

because there's never been a better time to do it.

porque nunca houbo mellor momento para facelo.

It's an awful lot of fun.

É moi divertido.

Non nos vai cambiar a mente,

It won't change your mind,

but it will most certainly blow your mind.

pero con certeza vaina sorprender.

Moitas grazas.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)