Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!

Prevoditelj: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

I know what you're thinking.

Znam što razmišljate.

You think I've lost my way,

Mislite kako sam izgubila svoj put,

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

i netko će doći na pozornicu za minutu

and guide me gently back to my seat.

i otpratiti me nježno natrag do mog sjedala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

I get that all the time in Dubai.

Dobivam to sve vrijeme u Dubaiju.

"Here on holiday are you, dear?"

"Ovdje ste na odmoru, draga?"

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

"Come to visit the children?

"Došli ste u posjet djeci?

How long are you staying?"

Koliko dugo ostajete?"

Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet.

Pa zapravo, nadam se još neko vrijeme.

I have been living and teaching in the Gulf

Živim i predajem u Zaljevu

for over 30 years.

više od 30 godina.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

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

I tijekom tog vremena, vidjela sam puno promjena.

Now that statistic

Sada kada je statistika

is quite shocking.

prilično šokantna.

And I want to talk to you today

A ja želim razgovarati s vama danas

about language loss

o gubitku jezika

and the globalization of English.

i globalizaciji engleskim jezikom.

I want to tell you about my friend

Želim vam reći o mom prijatelju

who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi.

koji je podučavao engleski za odrasle u Abu Dhabiju.

And one fine day,

I jednog lijepog dana,

she decided to take them into the garden

ona je odlučila odvesti ih u vrt

to teach them some nature vocabulary.

naučiti ih neke riječi iz prirode.

But it was she who ended up learning

Ali ona je na kraju završila učeći

all the Arabic words for the local plants,

sve arapske riječi za lokalne biljke,

as well as their uses --

kao i kako se koriste --

medicinal uses, cosmetics,

ljekovite koristi, kozmetika,

cooking, herbal.

kuhanje, biljni.

How did those students get all that knowledge?

Kako su učenici dobili svo to znanje?

Of course, from their grandparents

Naravno, od svojih djedova

and even their great-grandparents.

pa čak i pradjedova.

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

Nije potrebno objašnjavati vam koliko je to važno

to be able to communicate

biti u stanju komunicirati

across generations.

kroz generacije.

But sadly, today,

Ali nažalost, danas,

languages are dying

jezici umiru

at an unprecedented rate.

po stopi bez presedana.

A language dies every 14 days.

Jezik umre svakih 14 dana.

Now, at the same time,

U isto vrijeme,

English is the undisputed global language.

engleski je postao neosporno globalni jezik.

Could there be a connection?

Postoji li tu veza?

Well I don't know.

Pa ja ne znam.

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

Ali znam kako sam vidjela puno promjena.

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

Kada sam prvi put došla u Zaljev, došla sam u Kuvajt

in the days when it was still a hardship post.

u danima kada je još uvijek to bila teška destinacija.

Actually, not that long ago.

Zapravo, ne tako davno.

That is a little bit too early.

To je malo prerano.

But nevertheless,

No ipak,

I was recruited by the British Council,

bila sam regrutirana od strane British Councila

along with about 25 other teachers.

zajedno s oko 25 drugih nastavnika.

And we were the first non-Muslims

I mi smo bili prvi ne-muslimani

to teach in the state schools there in Kuwait.

koji su podučavali u državnim školama u Kuvajtu.

We were brought to teach English

Došli smo podučavati engleski

because the government wanted to modernize the country

jer je vlada htjela modernizirati zemlju

and to empower the citizens through education.

i osposobiti građane kroz obrazovanje.

And of course, the U.K. benefited

I naravno, Velika Britanija je imala koristi

from some of that lovely oil wealth.

od svog tog lijepog naftnog bogatstva.

Okay.

U redu.

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

To je velika promjena koju sam vidjela --

how teaching English

kako učenje engleskog

has morphed

preobražava

from being a mutually beneficial practice

od toga da bude obostrano korisna praksa

to becoming a massive international business that it is today.

do toga da postane masivni međunarodni posao, koji je i danas.

No longer just a foreign language on the school curriculum,

On nije više samo strani jezik u nastavnom planu i programu.

and no longer the sole domain

I više nije jedina domena

of mother England,

majke Engleske.

it has become a bandwagon

Ono je postalo prevodnikom

for every English-speaking nation on earth.

za svako englesko govorno područje na Zemlji.

And why not?

I zašto ne?

After all, the best education --

Uostalom, najbolje obrazovanje --

according to the latest World University Rankings --

prema najnovijem rangiranju World University --

is to be found in the universities

nalazi se na sveučilištima

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

iz Velike Britanije i SAD-a.

So everybody wants to have an English education, naturally.

Tako, prirodno, svatko želi imati englesko obrazovanje.

But if you're not a native speaker,

Ali, ako niste izvorni govornik,

you have to pass a test.

morate proći test.

Now can it be right

Može li to biti pravedno

to reject a student

odbiti učenika

on linguistic ability alone?

samo zbog jezičnih sposobnosti?

Perhaps you have a computer scientist

Možda ste računalni znanstvenik

who's a genius.

koji je genije.

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

Hoće li on trebati isti jezik kao odvjetnik?

Well, I don't think so.

Pa ja ne mislim tako.

We English teachers reject them all the time.

Mi učitelji engleskog ih odbacujemo svo vrijeme.

We put a stop sign,

Mi smo stavili znak stop,

and we stop them in their tracks.

i mi ih zaustavljamo u njihovom razvoju.

They can't pursue their dream any longer,

Oni više ne mogu slijediti svoj san,

'til they get English.

dok ne savladaju engleski.

Now let me put it this way:

Dozvolite da vam to predstavim na ovaj način,

if I met a monolingual Dutch speaker

ako sam upoznala nizozemskog govornika

who had the cure for cancer,

koji je imao lijek za rak,

would I stop him from entering my British University?

bih li ga spriječila da uđe u moje britansko sveučilište?

I don't think so.

Sigurno ne.

But indeed, that is exactly what we do.

Ali doista, to je upravo ono što mi radimo.

We English teachers are the gatekeepers.

Mi učitelji engleskog smo vratari.

And you have to satisfy us first

I morate nas zadovoljiti prvo

that your English is good enough.

tako da je vaš engleski dovoljno dobar.

Now it can be dangerous

Sada, to može biti opasno

to give too much power

dati previše moći

to a narrow segment of society.

uskom segmentu društva.

Maybe the barrier would be too universal.

Možda će prepreka biti previše univerzalna.

Okay.

U redu.

"But," I hear you say,

"Ali", čujem kako kažete,

"what about the research?

"što je s istraživanjem?

It's all in English."

To je sve na engleskom jeziku."

So the books are in English,

I knjige su na engleskom jeziku,

the journals are done in English,

časopisi su napravljeni na engleskom jeziku,

but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

ali to je samoispunjavajuće proročanstvo.

It feeds the English requirement.

Ono hrani engleski zahtjev.

And so it goes on.

I tako ide dalje.

I ask you, what happened to translation?

Pitam vas, što se dogodilo s prijevodom?

If you think about the Islamic Golden Age,

Ako mislite o islamskom Zlatnom dobu,

there was lots of translation then.

bilo je puno prijevoda tada.

They translated from Latin and Greek

Oni su prevodili s latinskog i grčkog

into Arabic, into Persian,

na arapski, na perzijski,

and then it was translated on

a onda je prevedeno na

into the Germanic languages of Europe

germanske jezike Europe

and the Romance languages.

i romanske jezike.

And so light shone upon the Dark Ages of Europe.

I tako je svjetlost zasjala u tamnom dobu Europe.

Now don't get me wrong;

Sada, nemojte me krivo shvatiti;

I am not against teaching English,

Ja nisam protiv poučavanja engleskoga jezika,

all you English teachers out there.

svi vi nastavnici engleskog.

I love it that we have a global language.

Volim što imamo globalni jezik.

We need one today more than ever.

Trebamo jedan danas više nego ikad.

But I am against using it

Ali ja sam protiv toga da ga se koristi

as a barrier.

kao barijeru.

Do we really want to end up with 600 languages

Želite li zaista ukinuti 600 jezika

and the main one being English, or Chinese?

i ostaviti glavni engleski, ili kineski?

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

Trebamo više od toga. Gdje ćemo povući crtu?

This system

Ovaj sustav

equates intelligence

izjednačava inteligenciju

with a knowledge of English,

sa znanjem engleskog jezika

which is quite arbitrary.

što je prilično proizvoljno.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And I want to remind you

I želim vas podsjetiti

that the giants upon whose shoulders

da divovi na čijim ramenima

today's intelligentsia stand

danas inteligencija stoji

did not have to have English,

nisu morali imati engleski,

they didn't have to pass an English test.

nisu morali proći test engleskog.

Case in point, Einstein.

Konkretno, Einstein.

He, by the way, was considered remedial at school

On je, usput, smatran slabijim učenikom u školi

because he was, in fact, dyslexic.

jer je, u stvari, imao disleksiju.

But fortunately for the world,

No, na sreću za svijet,

he did not have to pass an English test.

on nije morao proći engleski test.

Because they didn't start until 1964

Budući da oni nisu započeti do 1964.

with TOEFL,

s TOEFL-om,

the American test of English.

američkim testom engleskog jezika.

Now it's exploded.

To je eksplodiralo.

There are lots and lots of tests of English.

Postoji jako puno testova engleskog jezika.

And millions and millions of students

I milijuni i milijuni učenika

take these tests every year.

prolaze te testove svake godine.

Now you might think, you and me,

Sada možda mislite, tebi i meni,

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

te naknade nisu velike, one su u redu,

but they are prohibitive

ali one su previsoke

to so many millions of poor people.

za tolike milijune siromašnih ljudi.

So immediately, we're rejecting them.

Tako ih odmah, odbacujemo.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

It brings to mind a headline I saw recently:

To me podsjeća na naslov koji sam nedavno vidjela:

"Education: The Great Divide."

"Obrazovanje: Velika podijela".

Now I get it,

Razumijem,

I understand why people would want to focus on English.

razumijem zašto se ljudi usredotočavaju na engleski.

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

Oni žele dati svojoj djeci najbolju priliku u životu.

And to do that, they need a Western education.

A za to, oni trebaju zapadno obrazovanje.

Because, of course, the best jobs

Jer, naravno, najbolji poslovi

go to people out of the Western Universities,

idu ljudima sa zapadnih sveučilišta,

that I put on earlier.

koje sam objasnila ranije.

It's a circular thing.

To je cirkulirajuća stvar.

Okay.

U redu.

Let me tell you a story about two scientists,

Ispričat ću vam priču o dvoje znanstvenika,

two English scientists.

dva engleska znanstvenika.

They were doing an experiment

Oni su radili na pokusu

to do with genetics

vezenim uz genetiku

and the forelimbs and the hind limbs of animals.

i prednjim i stražnjima ekstremitetima životinja.

But they couldn't get the results they wanted.

Ali nisu mogli dobiti rezultate koje su htjeli.

They really didn't know what to do,

Stvarno nisu znali što učiniti,

until along came a German scientist

dok nije došao njemački znanstvenik

who realized that they were using two words

koji je shvatio da se oni koriste s dvije riječi

for forelimb and hind limb,

za prednje i stražnje ekstremitete,

whereas genetics does not differentiate

a genetika ih ne razlikuje

and neither does German.

a niti njemački.

So bingo,

Dakle, bingo,

problem solved.

problem riješen.

If you can't think a thought,

Ako se ne možete sjetiti misli,

you are stuck.

vi ste zaglavljeni.

But if another language can think that thought,

Ali ako se drugi jezik može dosjetiti te misli,

then, by cooperating,

onda, kroz suradnju,

we can achieve and learn so much more.

možemo postići i naučiti puno više.

My daughter

Moja kćer,

came to England from Kuwait.

je došla u Englesku iz Kuvajta.

She had studied science and mathematics in Arabic.

Ona je studirala matematiku i znanost na arapskom jeziku.

It's an Arabic-medium school.

To je arapska srednja škola.

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

To je morala prevesti na engleski za njenu gimnaziju.

And she was the best in the class

I bila je najbolja u klasi

at those subjects.

u tim predmetima.

Which tells us

Što nam govori

that when students come to us from abroad,

da, kada nam studenti dođu iz inozemstva,

we may not be giving them enough credit

možda im ne dajemo dovoljno kredita

for what they know,

za ono što oni znaju,

and they know it in their own language.

i oni to znaju na svom jeziku.

When a language dies,

Kada jezik umre,

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

ne znamo što smo izgubili s tim jezikom.

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

To je -- ne znam ako ste to vidjeli na CNN-u u zadnje vrijeme --

they gave the Heroes Award

dali su nagradu za heroje

to a young Kenyan shepherd boy

mladom kenijskom pastiru

who couldn't study at night in his village,

koji nije mogao učiti noću u svom selu

like all the village children,

kao i sva djeca iz sela,

because the kerosene lamp,

jer su mu kerozinska lampa

it had smoke and it damaged his eyes.

i njezin dim oštetili oči.

And anyway, there was never enough kerosene,

I svakako, nikada nije bilo dovoljno kerozina,

because what does a dollar a day buy for you?

jer što vam dolar dnevno može kupiti?

So he invented

Tako je izumio

a cost-free solar lamp.

besplatne solarne svjetiljke.

And now the children in his village

I sada djeca u njegovom selu

get the same grades at school

mogu dobiti iste ocjene u školi

as the children who have electricity at home.

kao djeca koja imaju struju u kući.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

When he received his award,

Kad je primio svoju nagradu,

he said these lovely words:

izrekao je te divne riječi:

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

"Djeca mogu odvesti Afriku od onoga što je danas,

a dark continent,

tamni kontinent,

to a light continent."

u svjetli kontinent."

A simple idea,

Jednostavna ideja,

but it could have such far-reaching consequences.

ali bi mogla imati takve dalekosežne posljedice.

People who have no light,

Ljudi koji nemaju svjetla,

whether it's physical or metaphorical,

bilo da je to fizički ili metaforički,

cannot pass our exams,

ne mogu proći naše ispite,

and we can never know what they know.

i nikada ne možemo saznati što oni znaju.

Let us not keep them and ourselves

Nemojmo ih držati, a niti sebe,

in the dark.

u mraku.

Let us celebrate diversity.

Idemo slaviti različitost.

Mind your language.

Brinite se o vašem jeziku.

Use it to spread great ideas.

Koristite ga za širenje velikih ideja.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you very much.

Puno hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)