0:00:09.305,0:00:15.209
Roughly 365 million people[br]have English as their mother tongue.

0:00:16.609,0:00:20.710
More than two billion others[br]learn and speak English

0:00:20.711,0:00:23.059
as a second or third language.

0:00:24.376,0:00:26.082
If you speak English,

0:00:26.083,0:00:31.535
you can make yourself understood[br]to almost 2.5 billion people.

0:00:32.485,0:00:36.838
Why would you need to learn[br]any other foreign language?

0:00:36.839,0:00:41.143
Isn't that just[br]a ridiculous waste of time?

0:00:41.144,0:00:45.382
Nelson Mandela was fiercely criticized

0:00:45.383,0:00:49.112
by black South Africans[br]for speaking Afrikaans.

0:00:50.022,0:00:51.488
He replied,

0:00:51.489,0:00:55.225
"When you speak to man[br]in a language he understands.

0:00:56.055,0:00:57.613
that goes to his head.

0:00:59.023,0:01:02.040
When you speak to him in his own language,

0:01:02.720,0:01:04.312
that goes to his heart."

0:01:05.391,0:01:06.661
So here's the thing:

0:01:06.662,0:01:09.330
if you want to win somebody over,

0:01:09.331,0:01:11.705
you need to speak to their heart.

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Popes know that.

0:01:14.974,0:01:18.884
John Paul II spoke[br]like ten languages fluently

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and a dozen others[br]on a more elementary level.

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Wherever he went,[br]he would greet the people

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with at least a few sentences[br]in their native language;

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and that was an important key[br]to his popularity.

0:01:37.395,0:01:39.804
People with foreign mothers-in-law,

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or foreign mothers-in-law-to-be,[br]know it, too.

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They may speak English[br]with their girlfriends,

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but when they want to be[br]on good terms with the girl's mom,

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young men are willing to learn[br]the craziest languages,

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including Dutch.

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(Laugher)

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And it usually does the trick.

0:02:01.974,0:02:03.300
Why?

0:02:04.030,0:02:09.044
Well, our native language[br]is totally entwined with

0:02:09.045,0:02:13.050
our personality, with our identity.

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Our whole personal history[br]is deeply rooted,

0:02:17.695,0:02:20.727
it's soaked in our mother tongue.

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There are so many memories and feelings[br]connected to words, expressions,

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even to the grammar[br]that we have grown up with.

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So, If you learn[br]another person's language,

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you show that you are genuinely interested

0:02:40.351,0:02:44.168
in their life. in their personality.

0:02:44.959,0:02:47.585
What mother-in-law wouldn't be flattered?

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When you hear your own language[br]you feel connected.

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When you're traveling,

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and you've been speaking[br]a foreign language for days or weeks,

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the moment you board a plane

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where cabin crew greets you[br]in your own language,

0:03:06.280,0:03:08.408
you know you're going home.

0:03:10.478,0:03:14.450
If mother tongues had fragrances,

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I think they would smell of cookies,

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and of comforting chicken soup,

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and of granny's cologne –

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maybe even a little bit of mothballs.

0:03:28.742,0:03:34.000
This may very well be the reason[br]why constructed languages,

0:03:34.001,0:03:40.301
like Esperanto, have never caught on[br]as broadly as could have been expected.

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However cleverly designed,

0:03:44.213,0:03:46.995
and simple, easy to learn,

0:03:48.334,0:03:53.085
no country has ever adopted[br]an artificial language as their own.

0:03:53.948,0:03:58.939
Nor as a foreign language[br]to be taught systematically

0:03:58.940,0:04:02.564
on a large scale[br]over a longer period of time,

0:04:03.414,0:04:05.161
though it has been tried.

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But somehow, despite the difficulties[br]with natural languages –

0:04:11.872,0:04:15.434
like frustrating irregularities,

0:04:15.435,0:04:20.154
the discrepancy between[br]spelling and pronunciation,

0:04:20.156,0:04:24.694
sometimes absurd complexity[br]of the grammar –

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but despite all that,

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we prefer to learn languages[br]that have grown organically with people.

0:04:35.812,0:04:39.654
Constructed languages speak to the head.

0:04:40.774,0:04:44.772
Natural languages smell of cookies.

0:04:46.056,0:04:51.981
To Nelson Mandela, learning Afrikaans[br]was all about "knowing your enemy".

0:04:51.982,0:04:56.910
He said, "You have to know[br]their language, and their passions,

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and hopes, and fears,[br]if you want to defeat them."

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He did. It worked.

0:05:04.724,0:05:08.186
But it's not all about enemies[br]all the time, is it?

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This applies to[br]all kinds of human relationships.

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And I'll be the last person to claim[br]that mothers-in-law are enemies –

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per definition.

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Some seven or eight years ago,

0:05:22.763,0:05:25.642
I was driving through Poland[br]with my family.

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And the shops were about to close,[br]and we needed to buy food.

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Finally, we saw a supermarket[br]on the other side of the street.

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The only way to get there in time[br]was by making a U-turn.

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So that's what I did.

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That was probably dangerous.

0:05:47.528,0:05:49.696
It was definitely illegal.

0:05:52.065,0:05:57.638
On the car park, before I even[br]had a chance to switch off the engine –

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– I heard a knock-knock.

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So I buzzed down the window,[br]and two pairs of eyes appeared.

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Each pair of eyes was attached[br]to a policeman.

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Now, I cannot claim[br]any level of real fluency in Polish

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at the best of times,

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but I used to be able to keep[br]a simple conversation going.

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But in that setting, though,[br]with a guilty conscience,

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eye in eye with two men[br]of the law, in uniform,

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every sensible Polish word I had[br]ever known just drained out of me.

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Yet, I didn't consider for a moment,

0:06:44.549,0:06:47.728
trying to deal with[br]this situation in English.

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English would most probably[br]have given me the linguistic advantage,

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but that might have made[br]the policemen uncomfortable.

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So, I was determined to stick to Polish.

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How?

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That tiny Polish corner[br]of my brain had just gone blank

0:07:10.388,0:07:11.965
except for one thing.

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There was one thing[br]that I had repeated so often

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that I could have recited it in my sleep.

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It was a children's poem,

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about a sick frog.

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(Laughter)

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That's what I had.

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I know it was a bizarre thing[br]to do, but I blurted out:

0:07:40.417,0:07:42.532
(Polish) A certain frog felt weak

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so she went to a doc[br]and said she felt sick.

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The doctor puts his glasses on[br]because he was rather old."

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I glanced at the policemen.

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And they were like staring at me.

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(Laughter)

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I seem to recall that one of them[br]like scratched his head.

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And then they smiled.

0:08:06.112,0:08:07.339
They smiled.

0:08:07.340,0:08:10.879
And that, in turn, put me at ease,

0:08:10.880,0:08:14.256
well, enough so that a few[br]more relevant words

0:08:14.257,0:08:16.677
could come tumbling back into my head,

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I could stammer[br]a few half sentences like,

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"Very sorry, needed food,[br]will never do it again."

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They let me off the hook.

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As I ran into the shop, they called, [br](Polish) “Szczęśliwej podróży!"

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"Have a nice trip!"

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It is not my intention[br]to incite you to learn languages

0:08:39.006,0:08:42.696
so that you can travel around the world,[br]break laws, and get away with it.

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But this little episode illustrates[br]how a few words,

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however simple or silly, just a few words,

0:08:53.761,0:08:57.991
can go straight to the heart and melt it.

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By the way, there was[br]an alternative to the sick frog.

0:09:01.772,0:09:04.207
There was one thing[br]I knew equally well:

0:09:05.857,0:09:07.232
a drinking song.

0:09:07.233,0:09:08.525
(Laughter)

0:09:09.185,0:09:11.394
That might not have earned me a smile

0:09:12.124,0:09:14.430
probably a trip[br]to the local police station

0:09:14.431,0:09:15.661
for a blood test.

0:09:17.603,0:09:21.133
You don't need to learn many languages,

0:09:21.134,0:09:24.153
and you don't need[br]to learn them thoroughly.

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A little can go a long way.

0:09:27.122,0:09:30.383
Ten words to the heart[br]can have a bigger impact

0:09:30.384,0:09:32.964
than a thousand words to the head.

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You can choose to always use[br]English and meet in the middle.

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But you can also choose to be[br]the person to cross that middle line

0:09:44.823,0:09:49.393
and meet your new acquaintance,[br]or your opponent, whoever it is,

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meet them on their own territory.

0:09:52.375,0:09:55.334
Speaking the other's language[br]does not make you weak,

0:09:55.336,0:09:57.066
it proves you strong.

0:09:57.856,0:10:04.241
It's the person who has the courage,[br]and makes the effort to cross lines

0:10:05.221,0:10:06.923
that wins in the end.

0:10:08.292,0:10:12.210
Don't be afraid to make mistakes.[br]Mistakes make you human.

0:10:12.918,0:10:16.836
And in this case, there's a bonus:

0:10:18.091,0:10:20.692
If you make a mistake out there,

0:10:20.693,0:10:26.090
you give the others an opportunity[br]to help you, to come and meet you.

0:10:26.091,0:10:31.933
And in this way, the connection[br]you have just initiated will be stronger.

0:10:32.934,0:10:37.190
So, do you want[br]to make yourself understood

0:10:38.320,0:10:39.970
or do you want to connect?

0:10:41.650,0:10:46.520
Let's all continue to learn[br]and to use English.

0:10:48.080,0:10:52.561
So that we can interact with mixed[br]audiences, like we're doing here at TEDx.

0:10:53.591,0:10:57.697
English is a powerful tool[br]for sharing knowledge,

0:10:57.698,0:11:03.750
for international conventions[br]on global problems.

0:11:04.940,0:11:10.161
Above all, English is the highway[br]to 365 million hearts.

0:11:11.131,0:11:17.170
To 365 million people,[br]the English language smells of cookies.

0:11:18.927,0:11:20.517
But why stop there?

0:11:22.007,0:11:24.535
Why not make the extra effort

0:11:24.536,0:11:27.696
and learn at least[br]one other foreign language?

0:11:28.776,0:11:31.784
There are many flavors[br]of cookies out there.

0:11:31.785,0:11:34.181
Let's go and taste a new one.

0:11:34.990,0:11:36.051
Thank you.

0:11:36.463,0:11:37.755
(Applause)