Dear fellow language learners, my name is Eagle Bong
And welcome to this series on how to survive
in any language, no matter where you are in the world
Because I've been to many places
facing dangerous situations during which I almost died
Now I thought I was prepared watching all these
survivalist kind of videos you can find out there
I am a big fan of Bear Grylls, Kellie Nightlinger or Coyote
amongst other influencers
Now that's very useful when you're alone in the wild
But what happens if you've abducted
brought to another country, you manage to escape
but then you realize that people don't speak your language
You might go to the first person you see and ask
"I'm in a terrible situation, where are we now?"
To their ears, it's probably going to sound like [nonsense]
That's why I'm making this video and many more
because knowing its content would have saved me a lot of trouble
I don't often go on the Internet but when I do
sometimes, I see pages entitled
"10 Expressions You Must Know in Every Language"
And it's like "hello, how are you... Fine and you?"
Do you really think you can survive with that?
So I'll give you a tool box of 7 words or expressions
That's not even 10 guys, so no excuses!
Do you know Maslow's hierarchy of needs?
Well according to Abraham Maslow
you must satisfy a level before reaching the next one
That's why it's often shaped like a pyramid
A lot of people in the society don't really care about
the physiological and safety needs because they take it for granted
But being in a survival mode is precisely focusing
on those two basic an fundamental levels of needs
Also, when you experience life through those
you really feel like all your senses are awakened
And you really feel like living
I'm sorry, I got a little carried away...
I'm not shouting because I'm mad at you
but on the contrary, because I'm passionate about this topic
Anyway, what do these needs imply?
Eating, drinking, being warm and sleeping
You've probably heard the rule of 3
That you can't survive 3 weeks without food
3 days without water and 3 minutes without breathing
Of course, this is just a reference and some people showed
how amazing the human body is
like Randy Gardner who was a 17-year-old student in 1964
and who managed to stay awake more than 11 days
without sleeping
Man, you're awesome!
All this to say that these are the kind of words
you better know if you want to survive, right?
7 words or expressions is a very limited amount
So I would choose how to ask for water
Only two syllables, very easy, short and sweet
Water is an essential molecule for life!
Our body is made of 65% of it!
If someone finds you asking for water
they're probably going to understand that you are in a critical state
and also offer you food and a shelter
What's the point of saying I'm tired?
If you are, they're probably going to tell by your face, right?
If you're cold, people are also going to notice it
Don't underestimate the power of body language!
Prof. Paul Ekman's studies show that we all share universal expressions
If you meet a person, on the other side of the world
who doesn't speak your language
you're still going to be able to understand each other
through your respective face
Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust
So basically, we can get rid of all these words on our list
But water... you better know how to say it!
If there is no one in sight but you're in danger
you must shout "help"
So that's the second word you need to learn
This expression is very useful!
For example, if you're drowning hopefully someone will find you
and get you out of the water
But there can also be different sources of danger
like a fire when it's cold outside or thunder when it rains
So "fire" is not on my list
But it's always good to know how to say "fire"
Otherwise, there is also danger involving other people
Are you getting beaten up?
Did someone steal something from you?
These are very complicated situations to explain
Hopefully, the person helping you will figure it out quickly
and act accordingly
Now with cultural differences, the person helping you
might become another source of danger
if you've been disrespectful to him or her
You can always bow and show a universally
understandable position of submissiveness
But it's just easier and faster to say "sorry"
The 4th expression might be the most important one on the list
"What is..." as in "What's this? What's that?"
I don't know if you remember how you were as a kid
but I was pretty annoying asking that all the time
However, this is precisely how we learned
everything we know today
So if you're traveling in a place where people don't speak your language
You can pretty much learn anything with this expression!
If there is a translator that speaks your language
you can learn the more sophisticated expression
"How do you say that in English?"
That way, you can learn not only what's visible around you
but also more conceptual words like
"antidisestablishmentarianism"
We, human beings, are incredible and unique creatures
And this uniqueness is defined by our identity
which is personified by our name
So it's good to know "my name is..."
It shows that you have your own personal universe
and you're ready to meet the other person's one
In other words, it shows that the other person can trust you
You can also learn "I am..." and then your name
The verbe "to be" being one of the most important one in many languages
but in some others like Japanese or Korean
it's a little bit more complicated to literally translate
Besides, if you learn how to say "my name is..."
with the previous expression, you should already be able
to ask "what is your name?"
Give your name first!
My name is Eagle Bong and this is 7 words or expressions
you must know to survive in any language
Number 6 is like a small package
It's "yes / no"
You can communicate so many things with only these 2 words
And don't be that guy who thinks everybody understands English
I remember when I was visiting Czech Republic
A beautiful country!
There was this English speaking tourist
who was kinda pushy with the local people
But do you know how to say "yes" in Czech? It's "ano"!
It's was like "Is the train station over there?"
"Ah no"
Ok, so it's on the other side?
That was pretty fun to watch
but not really successful for that guy
So learn how to say "yes" and "no"
Last but not least, the final expressions is "thank you"
If someone helped you, you need to show your appreciation
I'm telling you, you should do it!
And there is no better way than to say it in their native tongue
It's a proof that you care about them
because you actually did make the effort
to learn this magical word in their language
Because even though I'm passionate about the survivalist
kind of lifestyle, I don't believe societies were built
on the survival of the fittest
Instead, I believe that civilisations were built upon unity and trust
So don't underestimate the relationships you create
around you but also when you travel
So here are the 7 words and expressions we saw today
Water please, help, sorry
What's this? What's that?
My name is... or I am...
Yes / No
And thank you, I do mean it... Thank you!
My name is Eagle Bong and that was 7 words and expressions
you must know to survive in any language