The video explores the personal journey of the speaker, who began working at a young age in Canada, highlighting his experiences with the challenges of using a second language in a work environment. Faced with the difficulty of serving customers in French, despite attending an English school, he shares anecdotes of how his comprehension and communication skills improved over time due to immersion and practice.

The importance of effective communication, especially in a multilingual and multicultural context, is underscored as the speaker draws parallels between managing a hearing impairment and working in a second language. With a career shift to become an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, the speaker emphasizes the necessity of proficiency in English for global business and cooperation, as well as the lack of fluent English teachers in non-English-speaking countries.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. anglophones [ˈæŋɡloʊˌfoʊnz] - (n.) - People who speak English, especially native speakers. - Synonyms: (English speakers, native English speakers)

But in the 60s, all of my teachers were anglophones, native English speakers like me.

2. immersion [ɪˈmɜrʒən] - (n.) - Deep involvement in a particular activity or culture to learn or become fluent. - Synonyms: (engagement, involvement, absorption)

You are going to need a long time in immersion before you can understand regular conversation.

3. comprehension [ˌkɑmprɪˈhɛnʃən] - (n.) - The ability to understand something. - Synonyms: (understanding, grasp, knowledge)

In spite of my rocky beginning, my English journey has actually been very well. My comprehension improved over the years and I acquired vocabulary thanks to the gas station.

4. sociolinguistic [ˌsoʊsi.oʊlɪŋˈɡwɪstɪk] - (adj.) - Relating to the study of language in relation to social factors. - Synonyms: (language study, social linguistics, anthropological linguistics)

sociolinguistic studies show us that our native language connects us to our ethnicity, to our family, even to our sense of self.

5. neuro-linguistic [ˌnʊroʊ lɪŋˈɡwɪstɪk] - (adj.) - Related to the study of how language is represented in the brain. - Synonyms: (brain language study, cognitive linguistics, neurological linguistics)

So we think better in our native language and we're more creative.

6. facilitate [fəˈsɪləˌteɪt] - (v.) - To make an action or process easier. - Synonyms: (ease, assist, expedite)

No one is better positioned to facilitate that than we are.

7. comprehensive [ˌkɒmprɪˈhɛnsɪv] - (adj.) - Including or dealing with all elements or aspects of something. - Synonyms: (complete, inclusive, thorough)

Advanced comprehension in a second language requires extensive immersion.

8. clarification [ˌklærəfɪˈkeɪʃən] - (n.) - The action of making a statement or situation less confused and more comprehensible. - Synonyms: (explanation, elucidation, interpretation)

It means I need clarification.

9. eloquence [ˈɛləkwəns] - (n.) - Fluent or persuasive speaking or writing. - Synonyms: (articulateness, expressiveness, fluency)

Do not confuse eloquence and intelligence.

10. idiomatic [ˌɪdiəˈmætɪk] - (adj.) - Using expressions that are natural to a native speaker. - Synonyms: (colloquial, conversational, vernacular)

Yeah, a native English speaker would have said, she's your age, which says exactly the same thing, but is somehow not idiomatically insulting.

From Accent to Asset - Integrating Non-Native English Speakers - Myke Wilder - TEDxMechanicsville

I was 11 years old, the beginning of years of Saturdays pumping gas at my father's garage in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I remember being nervous because I would have to serve customers in French, Quebec's official language. Going to an English school, I'd had French class every day since grade one. But in the 60s, all of my teachers were anglophones, native English speakers like me. So they taught the syllabus, but they weren't fluent French speakers at all. So my first customer pulled in and instead of saying cinq dolar, he said cinq pias. Five bucks. And I had never heard that. And then I offered to clean the fenetre, but the windshield is the par brise. And he got mad, stuffed the money at me, yelled at me in French, and he left me shaking.

In spite of my rocky beginning, my English journey has actually been very well. My comprehension improved over the years and I acquired vocabulary thanks to the gas station. I could swear like a dock worker in French before I could order breakfast in a restaurant. Working in your second language is hard. Conversational language is very fast and we use things like connected speech to make English even faster. I ate an apple becomes I ate an apple and idiom do not cross cultures, so having other fish to fry only makes sense to us. Millions of second language speaking workers face these comprehension problems and more every day. And most non native English speakers have not had a native English speaking teacher for English second language.

Now, native language is what we used to call mother tongue and we don't use that anymore and we shouldn't use native, it's going to change. My preference would be ethnic language, but whatever the word, if you haven't learned your second language from someone who is fluent in that language, you are going to need a long time in immersion before you can understand regular conversation. Even if your hearing is perfect and mine isn't. Forty years ago, I began to lose my hearing. And not long after, all of my listening skills were compromised. So I got help with my hearing disability courses in how to manage conversations in meetings, speech reading. That's what lip reading is called now.

But the thing that struck me the most in that training was was the similarity between working with a hearing impairment and working in your second language. Because if you can't hear the words, you can't follow the conversation. Twelve years ago, I retrained as an English second language teacher, specialized in business English. I love teaching and coaching, especially one on one. It's easier on my hearing aids. I have actual business experience and I've lived what my clients are going through. And I've brought that experience to over 7,000 hours of coaching, executives, managers and entrepreneurs in person, in Montreal and around the world. Online.

We need more English second language teachers. Over 2 billion people around the world speak English as a second language or are learning it. 3 out of 4 non English speaking countries have an English component in their education system. But the teachers are all local and not necessarily fluent. The trend to English started after the Second World War. It accelerated in the 70s and 80s and the advent of the Internet really exploded it. Now let's be clear. French people will always speak French to each other and Koreans will speak Korean. And that won't change.

sociolinguistic studies show us that our native language connects us to our ethnicity, to our family, even to our sense of self and neuro. Linguistic studies show that our brain's neural network was created around the first language we learned as small children. So we think better in our native language and we're more creative. English is there to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps. So what does that mean for us? Well, in English speaking countries, population and workforce growth are fueled by immigration and immigrants need to pass an English exam to be accepted. They want to work, so companies need to integrate them. So we give them English lessons, often the first lessons they've had from an anglophone teacher. The classroom does not replicate the workplace.

Now, we don't all have to become teachers, but we can improve our communication skills and we can accelerate the integration of immigrant and foreign workers in our companies and and in our communities. So I'm gonna leave you with three practices that you can implement tomorrow that will improve your communications with all of your non English speaking stakeholders, employees, foreign suppliers, local business people, maybe your impending in laws practice number speak to be understood. Do you really think that everyone in this room speaks clear, understandable English? What, are you kidding? Forget about it. Listen to your favorite national news anchor. Broadcast journalists are taught to speak to be understood. They reduce connected speech. You can hear all of the words except for some small ones. And then listen to your team in a meeting. Can you hear words or is it all mush? That's the key. If they could hear the words, they can follow the conversation.

Practice number two, implement specific policies that encourage people to let you know when they haven't heard or haven't understood what you're saying. Saying I don't understand is very, very difficult. It takes a lot of courage to interrupt even a small conversation, much less a formal meeting. But modern meeting management techniques encourage the use of this gesture. It means I need clarification. And we can use this for comprehension as well. It doesn't interrupt the speaker. It's unobtrusive, but it signals that someone in the meeting is not understanding them well and allows the speaker to react positively in their own time as appropriate. And slow down, please. That works very well too.

Now, since communications is a two way street, practice three rests with our listening skills. Do not confuse eloquence and intelligence. It's actually easier to speak your second language than it is to understand it. Because even if you make a mistake like cleaning the instead of the par brise, you can still get your message across, especially if the audience is understanding and accepting. Case in point, in 2019, a client, gathering her stuff after a session casually said, mike, I want you to meet my friend Linda. She's old like you, and she loves opera like you. Yeah, a native English speaker would have said, she's your age, which says exactly the same thing, but is somehow not idiomatically insulting. So I didn't laugh. And eventually a meeting was arranged and a date was had. And about a year after, her friend and I moved in together. And four years later, I'm living my best life because my client had a fantastic idea that I could have laughed off because she didn't say it right. Consider the power of kindness in communications.

Now, I could say all this is just good business. But it's more than that. We have global problems that no country can solve on their own. Hunger, climate change, hate, cancer. Yes, all over the world people are working on these problems in. In their own countries, in their own languages, in universities and organizations. But when experts get together to share data and share knowledge, they are sharing in English. We are blessed that our language has been chosen by the world for international and global cooperation. No one is better positioned to facilitate that than we are. And that makes us responsible for their success.

Think of your audience. Speak to be understood. It's not just good business. The future of our society, of our planet, of our communities, rests on the path of communication. And they have made some very large steps along that path. It's up to us to make that path smoother. Thank you.

EDUCATION, ENGLISH LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, BUSINESS, GLOBAL, INTEGRATION, TEDX TALKS