Patricia Ryan: Don't insist on English!

Prevodilac: Sandra Gojic Lektor: Ivana Korom

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 me neko svakog trenutka povući sa bine

and guide me gently back to my seat.

i sprovesti me lagano nazad do mog mesta.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

I get that all the time in Dubai.

To mi se stalno dešava u Dubaiju.

"Here on holiday are you, dear?"

"Draga, ovde ste na odmoru?"

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

"Come to visit the children?

"Došli ste u posetu deci?

How long are you staying?"

Koliko ostajete?"

Well actually, I hope for a while longer yet.

Pa, u stvari se nadam da ću ostati bar još neko vreme.

I have been living and teaching in the Gulf

Živim i radim u Zalivu

for over 30 years.

preko 30 godina.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

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

I za to vreme, viđala sam mnogo promena.

Now that statistic

Ta statistika je prilično šokantna.

is quite shocking.

And I want to talk to you today

I želim da vam danas govorim

about language loss

o gubitku jezika

and the globalization of English.

i globalizaciji engleskog jezika.

I want to tell you about my friend

Hoću da vam govorim o svojoj prijateljici

who was teaching English to adults in Abu Dhabi.

koja je predavala engleski odraslima u Abu Dabiju.

And one fine day,

I jednog lepog dana,

she decided to take them into the garden

odlučila je da ih odvede u vrt

to teach them some nature vocabulary.

da ih uči rečima iz prirode.

But it was she who ended up learning

Ali je na kraju ona završila učeći

all the Arabic words for the local plants,

arapske reči za lokalne biljke,

as well as their uses --

kao i njihovu upotrebu -

medicinal uses, cosmetics,

medicinsku, kozmetičku,

cooking, herbal.

kuvarsku, biljnu.

How did those students get all that knowledge?

Kako su svi ti studenti stekli to znanje?

Of course, from their grandparents

Naravno, od njihovih baka i deka

and even their great-grandparents.

pa čak i pradeda i prababa.

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

Nije neophodno da vam kažem koliko je važno

to be able to communicate

imati mogućnost komunikacije

across generations.

kroz generacije.

But sadly, today,

Ali nažalost, danas,

languages are dying

jezici umiru

at an unprecedented rate.

po nečuvenoj stopi.

A language dies every 14 days.

Svakih 14 dana umre jedan jezik.

Now, at the same time,

E sada, u isto vreme,

English is the undisputed global language.

engleski je neosporno globalni jezik.

Could there be a connection?

Ima li tu neke povezanosti?

Well I don't know.

Pa ne znam.

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

Ali znam da sam videla mnogo promena.

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

Prvi put kad sam došla u Zaliv, došla sam u Kuvajt,

in the days when it was still a hardship post.

u trenutku kada je još bilo teškoća u komunikaciji.

Actually, not that long ago.

U stvari, ne tako davno.

That is a little bit too early.

Ovo je prerano.

But nevertheless,

Ali ipak,

I was recruited by the British Council,

Britiš Kaunsil me je regrutovao

along with about 25 other teachers.

zajedno sa oko 25 drugih učitelja.

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 predavali u državnim školama u Kuvajtu.

We were brought to teach English

Dovedeni smo da predajemo engleski

because the government wanted to modernize the country

jer je vlada želela da modernizuje zemlju

and to empower the citizens through education.

i osnaži građane kroz obrazovanje.

And of course, the U.K. benefited

I naravno, Britanija je dobila

from some of that lovely oil wealth.

nešto od tog divnog naftnog bogatstva.

Okay.

Okej.

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

Ovo je velika promena koju sam videla -

how teaching English

kako se učenje engleskog

has morphed

od obostrano korisne prakse pretovrilo

from being a mutually beneficial practice

to becoming a massive international business that it is today.

u masovni međunarodni biznis, koji danas viđamo.

No longer just a foreign language on the school curriculum,

Više nije samo strani jezik u školskom programu.

and no longer the sole domain

I više nije isključivo vlasništvo

of mother England,

majke Engleske.

it has become a bandwagon

Postao je trend

for every English-speaking nation on earth.

u svakoj naciji na Zemlji koja govori engleski.

And why not?

I zašto da ne?

After all, the best education --

Naposletku, najbolje obrazovanje -

according to the latest World University Rankings --

prema najnovijoj rang listi Svetskog univerziteta -

is to be found in the universities

može se naći na univerzitetima

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

u Engleskoj i Americi.

So everybody wants to have an English education, naturally.

Dakle, prirodno je da svi žele englesko obrazovanje.

But if you're not a native speaker,

Ali ako vam to nije maternji jezik,

you have to pass a test.

morate da prođete test.

Now can it be right

E sad, da li je ispravno

to reject a student

odbiti studenta samo

on linguistic ability alone?

na osnovu jezičkih sposobnosti?

Perhaps you have a computer scientist

Možda imate kompjuterskog naučnika

who's a genius.

koji je genije.

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

Da li je njemu potreban isti jezik kao i advokatu, na primer?

Well, I don't think so.

Pa, mislim da ne.

We English teachers reject them all the time.

Mi profesori engleskog ih stalno odbacujemo.

We put a stop sign,

Postavimo znak stop,

and we stop them in their tracks.

i zaustavimo ih na njihovom putu.

They can't pursue their dream any longer,

Više ne mogu da prate svoj san,

'til they get English.

dok ne prođu engleski.

Now let me put it this way:

Hajde da to postavim ovako,

if I met a monolingual Dutch speaker

da upoznam jednojezičnog holandskog govornika

who had the cure for cancer,

koji ima lek za rak,

would I stop him from entering my British University?

da li bih ga sprečila da uđe na britanski univerzitet?

I don't think so.

Mislim da ne.

But indeed, that is exactly what we do.

Ali zapravo, to je upravo ono što činimo.

We English teachers are the gatekeepers.

Profesori engleskog su čuvari na kapiji.

And you have to satisfy us first

I prvo morate nas da zadovoljite

that your English is good enough.

svojim dovoljno dobrim engleskim.

Now it can be dangerous

Može biti opasno dati

to give too much power

preveliku moć

to a narrow segment of society.

uskom delu društva.

Maybe the barrier would be too universal.

Možda bi granice bile suviše univerzalne.

Okay.

Okej.

"But," I hear you say,

"Ali", čujem vas kako kažete,

"what about the research?

"šta sa istraživanjima?

It's all in English."

Sve je na engleksom."

So the books are in English,

Knjige su na engleskom,

the journals are done in English,

časopisi se pišu na engleskom,

but that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

ali to je proročanstvo koje se samo ispunjava.

It feeds the English requirement.

Ono hrani zahteve engleskog.

And so it goes on.

I tako to ide.

I ask you, what happened to translation?

Pitam vas, šta se desilo prevođenju?

If you think about the Islamic Golden Age,

Ako se prisetite islamskog zlatnog doba,

there was lots of translation then.

tada su rađeni mnogi prevodi.

They translated from Latin and Greek

Prevodilo se sa latinskog i grčkog

into Arabic, into Persian,

na arapski, persijski,

and then it was translated on

pa se onda prevodilo

into the Germanic languages of Europe

na germanske jezike Evrope

and the Romance languages.

i onda romanske jezike.

And so light shone upon the Dark Ages of Europe.

I tako je sunce sinulo na mračno doba Evrope.

Now don't get me wrong;

Nemojte me pogrešno shvatiti;

I am not against teaching English,

nisam ja protiv učenja engleskog,

all you English teachers out there.

svi vi profesori engleskog.

I love it that we have a global language.

Volim to što imamo globalni jezik.

We need one today more than ever.

Danas nam je potreban više nego ikada.

But I am against using it

Ali sam protiv toga da se on koristi

as a barrier.

kao barijera.

Do we really want to end up with 600 languages

Da li zaista želimo da završimo sa 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. Gde povlačimo crtu?

This system

Ovaj sistem

equates intelligence

izjednačava inteligenciju

with a knowledge of English,

sa znanjem engleskog

which is quite arbitrary.

što je vrlo proizvoljno.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

And I want to remind you

I želim da vas podsetim

that the giants upon whose shoulders

da giganti na čijim ramenima

today's intelligentsia stand

stoje današnji intelektualci

did not have to have English,

nisu imali engleski,

they didn't have to pass an English test.

nisu morali da polože test iz engleskog.

Case in point, Einstein.

Na primer, Ajnštajn.

He, by the way, was considered remedial at school

Inače, smatrali su da mu je potrebna specijalna škola

because he was, in fact, dyslexic.

jer činjenica je da je bio disleksičar.

But fortunately for the world,

Ali srećom po svet,

he did not have to pass an English test.

nije morao da položi test engleskog.

Because they didn't start until 1964

TOEFL, američki test engleskog,

with TOEFL,

je počeo da se koristi

the American test of English.

tek 1964.

Now it's exploded.

Sada je on eksplodirao.

There are lots and lots of tests of English.

Postoje gomile i gomile testova engleskog.

And millions and millions of students

I milioni i milioni učenika

take these tests every year.

svake godine polažu te testove.

Now you might think, you and me,

E sad možete pomisliti, vi i ja,

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

da kotizacije nisu loše, da su okej,

but they are prohibitive

ali one su prevelike

to so many millions of poor people.

za milione mnogih siromašnih ljudi.

So immediately, we're rejecting them.

I u samom startu ih mi odbijamo.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

It brings to mind a headline I saw recently:

Sećam se naslova koji sam nedavno videla:

"Education: The Great Divide."

"Obrazovanje: Veliki delilac."

Now I get it,

Sada shvatam,

I understand why people would want to focus on English.

razumem zašto bi se ljudi usmerili na engleski.

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

Žele da svojoj deci pruže najbolju moguću priliku u životu.

And to do that, they need a Western education.

A da bi to mogli, potrebno im je zapadnjačko obrazovanje.

Because, of course, the best jobs

Jer, naravno, najbolji poslovi

go to people out of the Western Universities,

idu ljudima koji dolaze sa univerziteta sa zapada,

that I put on earlier.

kako sam ranije navela.

It's a circular thing.

To je kružna stvar.

Okay.

Okej.

Let me tell you a story about two scientists,

Dozvolite da vam ispričam priču o dva naučnika,

two English scientists.

dva engleska naučnika.

They were doing an experiment

Radili su eksperiment

to do with genetics

u vezi sa genetikom

and the forelimbs and the hind limbs of animals.

i prednjim i zadnjim udovima životinja.

But they couldn't get the results they wanted.

Ali nisu mogli da dođu do željenih rezultata.

They really didn't know what to do,

Stvarno nisu znali šta da rade,

until along came a German scientist

sve dok se nije pojavio nemački naučnik

who realized that they were using two words

koji je shvatio da su koristili dve reči

for forelimb and hind limb,

za prednje i zadnje udove,

whereas genetics does not differentiate

dok genetika zapravo ne pravi razliku

and neither does German.

kao ni nemački.

So bingo,

Dakle bingo,

problem solved.

rešen problem.

If you can't think a thought,

Ako ne možete da mislite misao,

you are stuck.

zaglavili ste se.

But if another language can think that thought,

Ali ako neki drugi jezik može to da čini,

then, by cooperating,

onda, saradnjom,

we can achieve and learn so much more.

možemo postići i naučiti mnogo više.

My daughter

Moja ćerka

came to England from Kuwait.

je došla u Englesku iz Kuvajta.

She had studied science and mathematics in Arabic.

Studirala je nauku i matematiku na arapskom.

It's an Arabic-medium school.

Arapska viša škola.

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

Morala je da to prevede na engleski u gimnaziji.

And she was the best in the class

I bila je najbolja u odeljenju

at those subjects.

u tim predmetima.

Which tells us

To nam govori

that when students come to us from abroad,

da, kada učenici dođu kod nas iz drugih zemalja,

we may not be giving them enough credit

moguće je da im ne odajemo priznanje

for what they know,

za ono što već znaju,

and they know it in their own language.

a znaju to na svom jeziku.

When a language dies,

Kada jezik umre,

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

ne znamo šta sa njim gubimo.

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

Ovo je - ne znam da li ste to videli nedavno na CNN-u -

they gave the Heroes Award

dali su Heroes Award

to a young Kenyan shepherd boy

mladom kenijskom čobanu

who couldn't study at night in his village,

koji nije mogao noću da uči u svom selu,

like all the village children,

poput ostale dece iz sela,

because the kerosene lamp,

jer se kerozinska lampa,

it had smoke and it damaged his eyes.

dimila i oštetila njegove 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 šta možete da kupite sa dolarom na dan?

So he invented

Tako je napravio

a cost-free solar lamp.

solarnu lampu koja ništa ne košta.

And now the children in his village

I sada deca u njegovom selu

get the same grades at school

dobijaju iste ocene u školi

as the children who have electricity at home.

kao i deca čije kuće imaju struju.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

When he received his award,

Kada je primio svoju nagradu,

he said these lovely words:

izgovorio je ove divne reči:

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

"Deca mogu Afriku da vode od onoga što je ona danas,

a dark continent,

mračni kontinent,

to a light continent."

do svetlog kontinenta."

A simple idea,

Jednostavna ideja,

but it could have such far-reaching consequences.

koja može da ima dalekosežan uticaj.

People who have no light,

Ljudi koji nemaju svetlosti,

whether it's physical or metaphorical,

bilo fizičke ili metaforičke,

cannot pass our exams,

ne mogu proći naše testove,

and we can never know what they know.

i nikada ne možemo znati šta oni znaju.

Let us not keep them and ourselves

Hajde da ne držimo ni sebe ni njih

in the dark.

u mraku.

Let us celebrate diversity.

Hajde da slavimo različitost.

Mind your language.

Negujte svoj jezik.

Use it to spread great ideas.

Koristite ga da širite sjajne ideje.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Thank you very much.

Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)