English Maniac by Jay Walker (2009) [TED Summary]

Talking about manias, we start with Beatlemania. There are sports mania and religious mania. Manias can be good. Manias can be alarming. Or manias can be deadly. The world has a new mania, such as Chinese students practice their English, by screaming, they use a mania for learning English.

There are Two billion of people are trying to learn English in this worldwide. In Latin America, in India, in Southeast Asia, and most of all, in China. China will become the world's largest English-speaking country this year.

Why English? In a single word: opportunity. Learning english we can get opportunity for a better life, a job, to be able to pay for school, or put better food on the table. Imagine the students in China taking a giant test for three full days. They studies 12 hours a day for three years to prepare Twenty-five percent of her grade is based on English. It's called the gaokao, and 80 million high school Chinese students have already taken this grueling test. The intensity to learn English is almost unimaginable.

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 the language of problem solving because the world is pulling it. Not because America is pushing it, so English mania is a turning point.

English is a hope for a better future - a future in which the world has the same language to solve common problems. Such as taking advantage of electricity in our city, or the fall of the Berlin Wall.