I have wanted to write this article about language for some time. It boggles the mind (or my mind at least) how ignorant some folks can be... I recalled telling someone about this girl on youtube.com.
Did I not mention this girl? Well, yes there is this girl on Youtube called Leyla (speaking Japanese)
Leyla is an Afro-French girl on Youtube who has a bunch of videos of herself learning/teaching new languages. One of the methods that Leyla uses to express her learning is through music. Although "not a singer" Leyla uses popular music to learn aspects of some languages.
The maddening ignorance that I ran into was from a colleague who when viewing Leyla singing Mandarin said 'it must be fake, right?..."
As if an African person could not speak Chinese. This ignorant concept, of course, is totally ridiculous. I have run into Africans in Hong Kong who speak perfect Chinese. I myself speak Cantonese fairly well (I am learning Mandarin), so naturally I was peeved.
Leyla also speaks Japanese, French, English and probably some others of which I have no knowledge... The point is that everyone can and should expand their vocabulary. Communication in a world where everyone needs to compete for business on a global scale will be the key to the future economies in every country.
Everyone needs to be prepared for this brave new world. In New York City some parents are sending their preschoolers to multi-cultural prekindergarten. Language indoctrination is now considered a key factor to mental and economic development.
To see more videos from Leyla please follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/leyla1
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