TED Talk Reflect

In the TED talk, the speaker, John McWhorter, mainly states four reasons to learn a foreign language. Actually, there are a lot of benefits of learning a foreign language. As McWhorter argues in his speech, bilingualism is good to one’s health. Also, it is fun to learn languages other than your native language. Meanwhile, in today’s modern society, it is easy for a person to learn a language in home even on bed. We have many wonderful self-teaching videos online, which enables everyone to learn whatever they want.

Furthermore, the idea which impressed me most is that learning a foreign language broaden your horizon. “To go into a culture and to only ever process people through that kind of skrim curtain is to never truly get the culture. And so to the extent that hundreds of languages will be left, one reason to learn them is because they are tickets to being able to participate in the culture of the people who speak them.” McWhorter claims in the speech. It is true that learning another language will give you some more creative thoughts other than your old ones. For me, learning English and studying in America gives me various ideas when solving problems. I think Americans usually deal with things in a more direct way as well as their communications; they are open and outgoing in many aspects. Not like Chinese, we sometimes are a little embarrassed or shy when we are asking questions. After I study in UCSB however, I am becoming more open and not afraid to ask questions during the class. That is a good thing because I can solve a lot of questions in class and save plenty of time to review afterwards.

However, I still remember my high school teacher once taught us that never forget our own culture. Now that I am staying in another country and exposed to another culture, and unavoidably being influenced by them. It can be a bad thing if I am too involved in a different culture and forget my old one. If so, I may feel upset when I come back home and see others deal things in a different way. Do not abandon your old culture. After all, it is where you grow up.