TED英語(yǔ)演講：別人嘲笑你的英語(yǔ)口音時(shí)該怎么辦
藝術(shù)家Safwat從小就有口吃，但身為獨(dú)立動(dòng)畫制作者，他決定用自己的聲音，賦予視頻中的角色生命。當(dāng)網(wǎng)絡(luò)評(píng)論者開(kāi)始嘲笑他的巴勒斯坦口音，他受到到打擊，他不再用自己的聲音配音。且聽(tīng)這令人深思的演說(shuō)中，如何找回他的聲音及自信。下面是小編為大家收集關(guān)于TED英語(yǔ)演講：別人嘲笑你的英語(yǔ)口音時(shí)該怎么辦，歡迎借鑒參考。
TED演講：當(dāng)別人都在嘲笑你的英語(yǔ)口音時(shí)，你該怎么辦?
I used to have this recurring dream where I'd walk into a roomful of people, and I'd try not to make eye contact with anyone. Until someone notices me, and I just panic. And the person walks up to me, and says, "Hi, my name is So-and-so. And what is your name?" And I'm just quiet, unable to respond. After some awkward silence, he goes, "Have you forgotten your name?" And I'm still quiet. And then, slowly, all the other people in the room begin to turn toward me and ask, almost in unison,
(Voice-over, several voices) "Have you forgotten your name?" As the chant gets louder, I want to respond, but I don't.
I'm a visual artist. Some of my work is humorous, and some is a bit funny but in a sad way. And one thing that I really enjoy doing is making these little animations where I get to do the voice-over for all kinds of characters. I've been a bear.
(Video) Bear (Safwat Saleem's voice): Hi.
Safwat Saleem: I've been a whale.
(Video) Whale (SS's voice): Hi.
SS: I've been a greeting card.
(Video) Greeting card (SS's voice): Hi.
SS: And my personal favorite is Frankenstein's monster.
(Video) Frankenstein's monster (SS's voice): (Grunts)
SS: I just had to grunt a lot for that one.
A few years ago, I made this educational video about the history of video games. And for that one, I got to do the voice of Space Invader.
(Video) Space Invader (SS's voice): Hi.
SS: A dream come true, really,
(Laughter) And when that video was posted online, I just sat there on the computer, hitting "refresh," excited to see the response. The first comment comes in.
(Video) Comment: Great job. SS: Yes! I hit "refresh."
(Video) Comment: Excellent video. I look forward to the next one.
SS: This was just the first of a two-part video. I was going to work on the second one next. I hit "refresh."
(Video) Comment: Where is part TWO? WHEREEEEE? I need it NOWWWWW!: P
SS: People other than my mom were saying nice things about me, on the Internet! It felt like I had finally arrived. I hit "refresh."
(Video) Comment: His voice is annoying. No offense.
SS: OK, no offense taken. Refresh.
(Video) Comment: Could you remake this without peanut butter in your mouth?
SS: OK, at least the feedback is somewhat constructive. Hit "refresh."
(Video) Comment: Please don't use this narrator again u can barely understand him.
SS: Refresh.
(Video) Comment: Couldn't follow because of the Indian accent.
SS: OK, OK, OK, two things. Number one, I don't have an Indian accent, I have a Pakistani accent, OK? And number two, I clearly have a Pakistani accent.
But comments like that kept coming in, so I figured I should just ignore them and start working on the second part of the video. I recorded my audio, but every time I sat down to edit, I just could not do it. Every single time, it would take me back to my childhood, when I had a much harder time speaking.
I've stuttered for as long as I can remember. I was the kid in class who would never raise his hand when he had a question -- or knew the answer. Every time the phone rang, I would run to the bathroom so I would not have to answer it. If it was for me, my parents would say I'm not around. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom. And I hated introducing myself, especially in groups. I'd always stutter on my name, and there was usually someone who'd go, "Have you forgotten your name?" And then everybody would laugh. That joke never got old.
I spent my childhood feeling that if I spoke, it would become obvious that there was something wrong with me, that I was not normal. So I mostly stayed quiet. And so you see, eventually for me to even be able to use my voice in my work was a huge step for me. Every time I record audio, I fumble my way through saying each sentence many, many times, and then I go back in and pick the ones where I think I suck the least.
(Voice-over) SS: Audio editing is like Photoshop for your voice. I can slow it down, speed it up, make it deeper, add an echo. And if I stutter along the way, and if I stutter along the way, I just go back in and fix it. It's magic.
SS: Using my highly edited voice in my work was a way for me to finally sound normal to myself. But after the comments on the video, it no longer made me feel normal. And so I stopped using my voice in my work. Since then, I've thought a lot about what it means to be normal. And I've come to understand that "normal" has a lot to do with expectations.
Let me give you an example. I came across this story about the Ancient Greek writer, Homer. Now, Homer mentions very few colors in his writing. And even when he does, he seems to get them quite a bit wrong. For example, the sea is described as wine red, people's faces are sometimes green and sheep are purple. But it's not just Homer. If you look at all of the ancient literature -- Ancient Chinese, Icelandic, Greek, Indian and even the original Hebrew Bible -- they all mention very few colors. And the most popular theory for why that might be the case is that cultures begin to recognize a color only once they have the ability to make that color. So basically, if you can make a color, only then can you see it. A color like red, which was fairly easy for many cultures to make -- they began to see that color fairly early on. But a color like blue, which was much harder to make -- many cultures didn't begin to learn how to make that color until much later. They didn't begin to see it until much later as well. So until then, even though a color might be all around them, they simply did not have the ability to see it. It was invisIble. It was not a part of their normal.
And that story has helped put my own experience into context. So when I first read the comments on the video, my initial reaction was to take it all very personally. But the people commenting did not know how self-conscious I am about my voice. They were mostly reacting to my accent, that it is not normal for a narrator to have an accent.
But what is normal, anyway? We know that reviewers will find more spelling errors in your writing if they think you're black. We know that professors are less likely to help female or minority students. And we know that resumes with white-sounding names get more callbacks than resumes with black-sounding names. Why is that? Because of our expectations of what is normal. We think it is normal when a black student has spelling errors. We think it is normal when a female or minority student does not succeed. And we think it is normal that a white employee is a better hire than a black employee. But studies also show that discrimination of this kind, in most cases, is simply favoritism, and it results more from wanting to help people that you can relate to than the desire to harm people that you can't relate to.
And not relating to people starts at a very early age. Let me give you an example. One library that keeps track of characters in the children's book collection every year, found that in 2014, only about 11 percent of the books had a character of color. And just the year before, that number was about eight percent, even though half of American children today come from a minority background. Half.
So there are two big issues here. Number one, children are told that they can be anything, they can do anything, and yet, most stories that children of color consume are about people who are not like them. Number two is that majority groups don't get to realize the great extent to which they are similar to minorities -- our everyday experiences, our hopes, our dreams, our fears and our mutual love for hummus. It's delicious!
Just like the color blue for Ancient Greeks, minorities are not a part of what we consider normal, because normal is simply a construction of what we've been exposed to, and how visible it is around us.
And this is where things get a bit difficult. I can accept the preexisting notion of normal -- that normal is good, and anything outside of that very narrow definition of normal is bad. Or I can challenge that preexisting notion of normal with my work and with my voice and with my accent and by standing here onstage, even though I'm scared shitless and would rather be in the bathroom.
(Video) Sheep (SS's voice): I'm now slowly starting to use my voice in my work again. And it feels good. It does not mean I won't have a breakdown the next time a couple dozen people say that I talk (Mumbling) like I have peanut butter in my mouth.
SS: It just means I now have a much better understanding of what's at stake, and how giving up is not an option.
The Ancient Greeks didn't just wake up one day and realize that the sky was blue. It took centuries, even, for humans to realize what we had been ignoring for so long. And so we must continuously challenge our notion of normal, because doing so is going to allow us as a society to finally see the sky for what it is.
(Video) Characters: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Frankenstein's monster: (Grunts)
SS: Thank you.
我以前常常做一個(gè)夢(mèng)， 夢(mèng)到我走進(jìn)一個(gè)滿是人的房間， 我小心翼翼地避開(kāi)每個(gè)人的眼神。 直到有個(gè)人注意到我， 我就慌了。 然后，這個(gè)人向我走來(lái)， 說(shuō)：“你好，我的名字叫某某某， 你叫什么?” 我就一句話都說(shuō)不出了。 尷尬的沉默后，他繼續(xù)問(wèn)道， “你忘了自己的名字嗎?” 我還是一句話都說(shuō)不出。 然后，慢慢地， 屋子里的所有人都轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)身，看著我。 幾乎是齊聲問(wèn)我：
(畫外音，各種聲音) “你是忘了自己的名字嗎?” 聲音越來(lái)越大， 我很想回答，但是答不出口。
我是個(gè)視覺(jué)藝術(shù)家。 我的工作有時(shí)候很幽默， 有時(shí)候卻是黑色幽默。 我很喜歡一件事， 就是做這些小動(dòng)畫， 我很喜歡給各種角色配音。 我為熊配過(guò)音
(視頻)熊(薩配音)：你好。
薩：我為鯨魚配過(guò)音。
(視頻)鯨魚(薩配音)：你好。
薩：我還為賀卡配過(guò)音。
(視頻)賀卡(薩配音)你好。
薩：而我個(gè)人最喜歡的是科學(xué)怪人。
(視頻)科學(xué)怪人(薩配音)：咕嚕
薩：這一個(gè)，我只需要發(fā)出 咕嚕咕嚕的聲音。
幾年前，我做過(guò)一個(gè)教育片， 是關(guān)于電子游戲史的。 在那部片子里，我為太空侵略者配音。
(視頻)太空侵略者(薩配音)：你好。
薩：我的夢(mèng)想實(shí)現(xiàn)了，真的。
(笑聲) 當(dāng)視頻在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上發(fā)布以后， 我就坐在電腦面前 不停地敲“刷新”鍵， 很期待觀眾的反應(yīng)。 第一個(gè)評(píng)論是這樣說(shuō)的：
(視頻)評(píng)論：干得不錯(cuò)。 薩：太好了! 我接著敲“刷新”鍵，
(視頻)評(píng)論：很棒的視頻， 期待你的下一部作品。
薩：目前發(fā)布的只是上半部， 我正在準(zhǔn)備著制作下半部。 我再敲“刷新”鍵
(視頻)評(píng)論：下半部在哪哪哪哪? 我現(xiàn)在就想看啊啊啊!
薩：除了我媽以外，所有人都在夸我。 這可是在網(wǎng)絡(luò)上啊! 我感覺(jué)像獲得了最終的勝利一樣。 我繼續(xù)敲“刷新”鍵，
(視頻)評(píng)論：他的聲音真不好聽(tīng)，別介意啊。
薩： 好好好，不介意，刷新。
(視頻)評(píng)論：能再做一個(gè) 沒(méi)有含著花生醬錄的版本嗎?
薩：這個(gè)反饋勉強(qiáng)算是有點(diǎn)用。 接著刷新。
(視頻)評(píng)論：別再用這個(gè)人配音了， 根本聽(tīng)不懂他在說(shuō)什么。
薩：刷新。
(視頻)評(píng)論：這印度口音讓人根本聽(tīng)不清。
薩：好吧好吧，我就說(shuō)兩件事， 第一，我沒(méi)有印度口音， 我是巴基斯坦口音好嗎? 第二，我明顯是巴基斯坦口音嘛。
像這樣的評(píng)論越來(lái)越多， 我決定無(wú)視他們， 開(kāi)始制作視頻的下半部。 我錄下了音頻， 但每次我想剪輯的時(shí)候， 我就是做不下去。 每一次， 這都讓我想起我小時(shí)候， 那時(shí)我說(shuō)話更糟糕。
我說(shuō)話一直都結(jié)結(jié)巴巴的。 我就是班里那種 從不舉手提問(wèn) 也從不回答問(wèn)題的學(xué)生。 每一次電話鈴聲響起， 我就會(huì)跑到廁所， 這樣就可以不用接電話了。 如果電話是找我的， 我爸媽就會(huì)說(shuō)我不在家。 我總是躲在廁所里。 我最討厭自我介紹， 尤其是面對(duì)很多的人的時(shí)候。 我連自己的名字都說(shuō)不順， 這時(shí)總會(huì)有人問(wèn)， “你連自己的名字都不記得了嗎?” 然后所有人都笑了。 這個(gè)笑話一直伴隨著我。
小時(shí)候我總覺(jué)得， 只要我一說(shuō)話， 別人就會(huì)覺(jué)得我有問(wèn)題， 覺(jué)得我不正常。 于是我總是很安靜。 所以你看， 把我自己的聲音用到我的作品里， 于我而言，已經(jīng)是非常大的進(jìn)步了。 每當(dāng)我錄音的時(shí)候， 我總是笨手笨腳的， 一句話要說(shuō)好多好多遍。 然后當(dāng)我剪輯的時(shí)候， 我就會(huì)挑一個(gè)我覺(jué)得最不糟糕的。
(畫外音)薩：音頻剪輯就像 給你的聲音Photoshop一樣。 我給它減速、加速， 讓它變得深沉、加上回音。 如果我說(shuō)得不順暢， 如果我說(shuō)得不順暢， 我就重新再修改一遍。 這就像魔法一樣。
薩：將經(jīng)過(guò)大幅度修飾的聲音 用到我的視頻里， 才能讓我覺(jué)得自己的聲音正常了一些。 不過(guò)自從看了那些評(píng)論， 這也不能讓我覺(jué)得正常了。 于是我不再把自己的聲音用到視頻里。 在那之后，我想了很多 人們所謂的“正常”到底是什么? 后來(lái)我開(kāi)始理解了， 所謂的“正常” 與人們的期待值有關(guān)。
舉個(gè)例子吧， 我想到一個(gè)故事， 是關(guān)于古希臘作家荷馬的。 在荷馬的作品里 只提到了非常少的幾種顏色。 即使在描寫顏色的時(shí)候， 荷馬筆下的顏色 也和現(xiàn)代人的常識(shí)不盡相同。 比如說(shuō)，荷馬說(shuō)海是酒紅色的， 人的臉有時(shí)是綠色的， 而綿羊則是紫色的。 這種現(xiàn)象不單單出現(xiàn)在荷馬的作品里。 在世界古典文學(xué)中—— 古代中國(guó)、冰島、希臘、印度的文學(xué) 甚至是在希伯來(lái)圣經(jīng)中 提到的顏色都很少。 對(duì)這種現(xiàn)象最出名的解釋是： 一個(gè)文明首先要能生產(chǎn)出一種顏色， 然后才能識(shí)別出這種顏色。 簡(jiǎn)單的說(shuō)，你只有先制造出一種顏色， 才能“看見(jiàn)”這種顏色。 像紅色這種比較方便制造的顏色 就能比較早的出現(xiàn)在各大文明的認(rèn)知中。 然而像藍(lán)色這種 不那么方便制作的顏色， 很多文明都花了相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間 才最終制造出了藍(lán)色。 于是他們也花了相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間 來(lái)最終“看見(jiàn)”藍(lán)色。 在一個(gè)顏色被制造出來(lái)之前 就算它隨處可見(jiàn)， 人們也對(duì)它視而不見(jiàn)。 就好像這種顏色是隱形的一樣。 這種顏色不在人們 “正常”的認(rèn)知范疇里。
這個(gè)說(shuō)法和我的自身經(jīng)歷很契合。 當(dāng)我第一次看到那些評(píng)論時(shí)， 我的第一反應(yīng)是 那些評(píng)論都是針對(duì)我的。 不過(guò)事實(shí)上 那些評(píng)論者并不知道， 我對(duì)自己的聲音那么在意。 他們的評(píng)論都是關(guān)于我的口音。 他們認(rèn)為一個(gè)帶口音的配音者 是不常見(jiàn)的、不正常的。
不過(guò)話說(shuō)回來(lái)，什么才算正常? 評(píng)論家會(huì)在你的作品里 挑出很多拼寫錯(cuò)誤， 僅僅因?yàn)樗詾槟闶莻€(gè)黑人。 教授會(huì)不那么情愿去輔導(dǎo) 女學(xué)生、或者少數(shù)族裔學(xué)生。 一份有著看起來(lái) 像是白人名字的簡(jiǎn)歷， 比起寫著黑人名字的簡(jiǎn)歷 要有更高的通過(guò)率。 為什么會(huì)這樣? 這都是因?yàn)槲覀儗?duì)常識(shí)的刻板印象。 常識(shí)告訴我們， 黑人學(xué)生往往會(huì)有拼寫錯(cuò)誤。 常識(shí)告訴我們， 女學(xué)生和少數(shù)族裔學(xué)生 往往在學(xué)術(shù)領(lǐng)域少有建樹(shù)。 常識(shí)告訴我們， 一個(gè)白人員工往往要比黑人員工好。 但是研究表明， 像這一類的區(qū)別判斷， 通常只是偏見(jiàn)而無(wú)事實(shí)依據(jù)。 而這種偏見(jiàn)讓我們傾向于去幫助同類， 而傷害異類。
人類在很小的時(shí)候 就開(kāi)始區(qū)分同類與異類。 舉個(gè)例子， 有一個(gè)圖書館把每年出版的 兒童故事書 里面的角色都記錄了下來(lái)。 他們發(fā)現(xiàn)， 在2014年 只有11%的角色 是有色人種。 而這個(gè)數(shù)值在2013年 只有8%。 可事實(shí)上，有一半的美國(guó)兒童 都是少數(shù)族裔。 50%啊。
這就導(dǎo)致了兩個(gè)問(wèn)題， 第一，我們一方面告訴孩子們 他們可以成為任何人， 他們有能做任何事的潛力， 然而另一方面 少數(shù)族裔的孩子們， 看到的故事 卻都是關(guān)于其他人的。 第二，多數(shù)族裔的人沒(méi)有意識(shí)到 他們其實(shí)與少數(shù)族裔的人 有很多相似之處—— 我們的日常生活，我們的期待， 我們的夢(mèng)想，我們的恐懼， 都是相似的。 甚至我們對(duì)鷹嘴豆泥的喜好 也是一樣的， 真的很好吃嘛!
就像藍(lán)色之于古希臘人， 少數(shù)族裔之于我們的社會(huì)而言 也不在“正常”的范疇之內(nèi)。 因?yàn)槲覀儗?duì)“正常”的界定 形成于日常生活之中， 取決于我們的見(jiàn)識(shí)，
這就是癥結(jié)所在。 我可以選擇認(rèn)可所謂的“正常” 所有在正常范疇內(nèi)的都是好的， 而在“正常”這個(gè)狹隘的定義之外 一切都是不好的。 我也可以選擇挑戰(zhàn) 所謂的“正常”， 就憑著我的作品， 我的聲音， 還有我的口音， 以及我現(xiàn)在的演講。 盡管我現(xiàn)在緊張得要死， 恨不得馬上躲進(jìn)洗手間里。
(視頻)綿羊(薩配音)： 現(xiàn)在我又逐漸開(kāi)始用自己的聲音 給作品配音了。 這感覺(jué)真好。 這不是說(shuō)我的聲音完美無(wú)缺了， 下一次還會(huì)有一堆人 說(shuō)我的聲音 (含糊不清地)好像含了花生醬 在嘴里一樣，
薩：而是說(shuō)我現(xiàn)在 更加清楚 什么是至關(guān)重要的， 以及放棄 并不是一種選擇。
古希臘人不是一覺(jué)醒來(lái)就發(fā)現(xiàn) 天空是藍(lán)色的。 人們花了很長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間才漸漸注意到 那些曾經(jīng)被忽略了很久的事物。 所以我們必須要經(jīng)常挑戰(zhàn) 我們對(duì)“正常”的界定。 因?yàn)檫@樣做可以使整個(gè)社會(huì) 最終看清天空的顏色。
(視頻)角色：謝謝!謝謝! 謝謝!謝謝!謝謝! 科學(xué)怪人：(咕嚕)
薩：謝謝。
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