let's talk about manias let's start with Beatlemania hysterical teenagers crying screaming pandemonium Sports mania deafening crowds all for one idea get the ball in the net okay religious mania there's rapture there's weeping there's visions manias can be good manias can be alarming or manias can be deadly the world has a new mania a mania for learning English listen as Chinese students practice their English by screaming it I don't want to let my parents down I don't ever want to make my country guy mouthing constantly I don't want to let myself down how many people are
trying to learn English worldwide two billion of them in Latin America in India in Southeast Asia and most of all in China if you're a Chinese student you start learning English in the third grade by law that's why this year China will become the world's largest english-speaking country why English in a single word opportunity opportunity for a better life a job to be able to pay for school or put better food on the table imagine a student taking a giant test for three full days her score on this one test literally determines her future she
studies 12 hours a day for three years to prepare 25% of her grade is based on English it's called the GAO cow an 80 million high school Chinese students have already taken this grueling test the intensity to learn English is almost unimaginable unless you witness it English I want to change my life so is English mania good or bad is English a tsunami washing away other languages not likely English is the world's second language your native language is your life but with English you can become part of a wider conversation a global conversation about global
problems like climate change or poverty or hunger or disease the world has other Universal languages mathematics is the language of science music is the language of emotions and now English is becoming the language of problem solving not because America is pushing it but because the world is pulling it so English mania is a turning point like the harnessing of electricity in our cities or the fall of the Berlin Wall English represents hope for a better future a future where the world has a common language to solve its common problems thank you very much
