Day 1 TedTalk Questions

Pre-Watching Questions:

1. Write down at least ten words that come to mind when you think about language. 

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. complex

            2. understandable

            3. culture

            4. vocabulary

            5. extinct

            6. slang

            7. contemporary

            8. grammatical structure

            9. text

            10. dialects/accents

2. Have you ever thought about language and the power of language? Give an 3 examples of language that helps you to express yourself?

Yes, I have thought about language and the power of language. I believe that is a very important tool that we need in our lives to communicate and interact, regardless of which culture we come from. Humans are social beings, and through language, we can fulfill socialization to meet our needs of love, approval, self-actualization, and more. Furthermore, I believe that languages are so powerful that they allow us to better analyze who we are and why we behave in certain ways—one behaviour being the need to communicate with others. Moreover, I can fluently speak three languages: Dari, Farsi, and English. I can also speak at an intermediate level of French, and through different mediums such as poetry, visual arts, and the songs I choose to listen to. Being able to communicate with people around me (including my family, friends, teachers, and the rest of society) allows me to achieve my desires and express my voice in multiple ways. In addition, being able to speak the above languages has improved my competence in communication because my brain can make connections between them and make me more fluent in each individual language. Ultimately, language is an advantageous tool that can come in different forms, and we can use it to communicate our needs. 

While-Watching Questions:

1. Take notes when listening to this talk and describe the 5 examples that the speaker gives to show that language shapes the way we think. 

Below are some key ideas the presenter mentioned in her TedTalk:

1. • • We can transmit our ideas and knowledge across minds

     • Languages have different structures → leads to question of whether the languages we speak shape the way we think

     • Some languages have grammatical gender to nouns: 

       1. eg. "bridge" in German= feminine → use feminine adjectives such as beautiful

       2. eg. "bridge" in Spanish= masculine→ use masculine adjectives such as strong

     • Construction of languages:

       1. eg. in English: “I broke my arm; he did it; he broke the vase” leads to reasonings about events (who broke it?)

       2. eg. in Spanish “it broke”

     • Russian speakers can make a surprised reaction if a colour changes from one shade to another, whereas English speakers don't → Russian has words given to specific shades of a colour

     • Eye-witness testimony → involves seeing same event and comprehending it in different ways 

     • 7000+ languages, but half of languages will be gone in next 100 years

     • What we know about human mind and brain is from undergraduate American students (biased and missing much of world’s population)

In addition, the five examples that the speaker gives to show that language shapes the way we think include: big effects, deep effects, early effects, broad effect, and weighty effects. Big effects is organizing time from left to right, or right to left, based on the how the language is written (such as English being written from left to right whereas Arabic is written from right to left). Deep effects involve the use of numbers leading to complex mathematics. When describing early effects, the presenter mentioned the example of simple decisions like shades of a colour. She mentioned that broad effects are complex and can be the grammatical gender that may be given to nouns, such as in the French language. Finally, the weighty effects include blaming, witnessing, and punishments—the more complicated ideas that a language shapes how we think.

2. What does the presenter do to entertain the audience and keep their attention?

To entertain the audience and keep their attention, the presenter gives numerous "bizarre" examples throughout the TedTalk. These kinds of examples allow the audience to laugh and enjoy the topic, while being encouraged to critically think about the complex ideas. For example, in the beginning of the TedTalk, Ms. Boroditsky says, "Imagine a jellyfish walking through a library while thinking about quantum mechanics," and this makes the audience laugh while proving to them how ideas can be spread from one human mind to another without a significant reason. In addition, at the beginning, Ms. Boroditsky introduces the big idea question, "Do the languages we speak shape the way we think?" In the middle of her presentation, she explains who the Kuuk Thaayorre group is and describes their way of giving directions. She entertains the audience once again by solidifying engagement; she tells them to close their eyes and point southeast, being obvious that no one knows, and she finally says that she doesn’t know which way it is herself. Nevertheless, she brings into light the idea that we have the cognitive ability to identify direction and time. By supporting her talk with visuals, she kept the audience's attention and asked how many penguins were present in a given photo, the different shades of blue and how Russian would be able to quickly tell the difference between light and dark blue because they have words specific to each (eg.goluboy and siniy). Finally, the speaker ends her presentation with some final reflection questions such as, “What thoughts do I wish to create?” The techniques used by the presenter to entertain the audience and keep their attention are truly effective and inspiring.

Post-Watching Questions:

1. What do you think about language and its effects on your thoughts?  

After having watched this TedTalk video, my vision on language has expanded and I believe that language plays a crucial role in shaping our identities. Despite the various languages in the world and the different structures they have, we humans have been able to transmit knowledge and complex ideas across our minds.This has allowed for a collaborative success in the world, with economies thriving and societies modernizing. I believe that it is a fascinating concept that all complex inventions and accomplishments that we have achieved come down to the base of linguistic communication. Furthermore, I have come to realize that languages are interconnected, no matter how different they could be. For example, Ms. Boroditsky mentioned that the Kuuk Thaayorre people do not have words such as “left” or "right” but instead used “east" and "west”; however, that is similar to the “left” and “right” we use in English. This idea could explain how some languages may be more exact in describing things; for instance, in Russian, there are different words to describe a value spectrum of blue, but in English, we can collectively call all of them blue and it would be understandable. Overall, language plays a big role in affecting our thoughts, and no matter what language we speak, we can still communicate our findings to other cultures and transmit ideas.

2. Do you agree with Lera Boroditsky or do you think language can be seen independently? Provide 2 examples to prove your point. 

Yes, I agree with Lera Boroditsky that languages can be interconnected and have the five main effects on us. As mentioned previously in this activity, knowing how to speak one language can help us learn new languages because of our cognitive ability to make connections and find similarities between words and structures. For example, I can personally connect to this idea because knowing how to speak Dari, I learned Farsi, and that improved my French because there are certain similarities in vocabulary that exist between the three languages. Learning the grammaticals details of French and the different tenses, I expanded my thinking on English tenses and when to use which. Moreover, Ms. Boroditsky mentioned that language has five ultimate effects such as being big (space and time), deep (numbers leading to complex mathematics), early (simple decisions like the shades of a colour), broad (grammatical gender to nouns), and weighty (blaming, witnessing, and punishments). Therefore, language cannot be seen as one entity without sub-characteristics and quantities. Overall, Ms. Boroditsky’s presentation on languages and how it shapes us has deepened my understanding and allowed me to reflect on how the languages I communicate through truly contribute to my socialization as a human.