Hey guys, Ethan from RealLife English here with another really kickass English lesson
for you.
Actually, today’s lesson is not so much about the English language as it is about
how English learners should act.
If you are learning English it is definitely to your benefit to learn how to be a good
global citizen.
This is going to help you with connecting with people from other places all over the
world, with traveling, with using the language and not making an ass of yourself.
So I just got back to the United States, I was recently in Thailand for a couple months,
as many of you may know, I was actually living there in a place called Chiang Rai and I really
disappointed myself during this time.
Why?
Because normally I am an excellent global citizen, if I do say so myself, and in Thailand
I did everything I would say that a global citizen should NOT do.
And so I wanted to share my experience with you so that you might learn what SHOULD global
citizens do?
How do you be a good global citizen?
And what do I normally do when I travel or go live in a new place?
So I’m going to kind of contrast my experience living in Thailand along with Bali, where
I just was, in Indonesia, before returning to the United States.
All right guys, let’s jump into the 6 Things Not to Do When Trying to Be a Global Citizen.
So number one, the first thing that a global citizen should NOT do is…
Not learn the language.
So that’s exactly what I didn’t do in Thailand.
I only learned enough very basic Thai to get by, so this would be like I learned some numbers
so that I could ask prices when I go to the market, so that I could not pay kind of like
a “foreigners’ price.”
I learned basically how to say “Hello,” “Good morning,” “excuse me,” “sorry,”
I could not even have the most basic conversation with any Thai person, I basically could just
smile and wave.
So that’s the first really terrible thing that I did.
Being an English learner, a lot of times English is enough when you travel, you can meet a
lot of people who speak good English and you connect with them through this.
English is my first language, I have that benefit obviously.
But, I think that it’s not enough, and I always try to challenge myself when I go to
a new place to learn a little bit of the language so that I can connect with the locals, and
I did a much better job of doing this before going to Bali.
I kind of learned maybe 10-20 phrases to get me started and then I would ask people there
how to say different things, so I could at least initiate a conversation in Indonesian
before switching to English right off the bat.
And I found that when you do this, even if you just speak a little bit of the basics
people really appreciate you making the effort to learn their language, so even as an English
learner, don’t make the excuse that you speak English, try to learn a little bit of
basics of the local language so you can connect more with the locals.
So, number two, I didn’t learn anything about Thai history, I still know almost nothing
about Thai history, and this is a mistake that I believe people make all the time when
they travel or go live abroad.
A lot of people make the excuse that “Oh I’ll learn the history when I get there,”
or “Why should I learn it anyway?
It’s not really that important for learning the language.”
However, I would highly disagree with this.
Knowing something about the history of the place that you’re going to, of the place
that you might be living in is crucial for learning the language because it really helps
you understand why people are as they are today in that country, and I would also say
that this is something a little extra that helps you to connect to the locals.
So, don’t make the excuse that you don’t need to know anything about the history.
Just open up the wikipedia entry about that country and learn the 30-second, basic introduction
to that country’s history, so that you won’t make a ass of yourself when you’re in the
country.
All right, so number three would be judging people based on your own cultural values.
This is something that I believe I did too much in Thailand and again I am really disappointed
with myself because I am usually quite good at being very non-judgmental, of giving people
the benefit of the doubt.
“The benefit of the doubt” means that you basically give people an excuse.
You give them a free pass to do something because maybe it’s something that you don’t
understand.
So I didn’t give Thai people generally the benefit of the doubt when they would do something
that I didn’t understand.
An example of this, of something that really frustrated me there, which was silly, is that
people take a lot of selfies.
They would go to places like these beautiful cafes, there are many beautiful cafes in Thailand,
by the way, and they would spend the whole time just taking pictures of themselves, taking
pictures of their food, their coffee, and not actually enjoying the environment.
And I didn’t take the time to really understand, what might be the history behind this, or
the cultural explanation for why people are really obsessed with taking pictures of themselves.
I never asked anyone, or really put in the time or the effort to understand why people
were like this.
I just got frustrated, which, it hurts me, it doesn’t help anyone, so, always giving
people the benefit of the doubt, being non-judgmental, being very patient, putting yourself in other
people’s shoes.
It really benefits you as a person, as a global citizen, as a human being, to understand,
to try to understand other people’s world views.
So number 4, which will help with all of these things is of course making local friends.
Either friends that speak English, or if you are making the effort to learn the local language,
maybe someone that is going to be helping you to learn it, and are, you know, obviously
you need someone who is a bit patient while you are learning it.
So when I was in Thailand I made zero local friends unfortunately.
I really missed out on a huge opportunity I think.
Again not just to connect with the local culture, but to connect with people who have a different
life experience from me.
This is one of the big benefits of global citizenship is that you get to see how people
all over the world through their different experiences, their different points of views,
kind of grow up, and how they see the world.
So it’s a regret of mine that I didn’t make any local friends.
I’m sure with a little bit of effort, just by being a little bit more friendly, smiling
at more people, and putting myself out there to start more conversations and meet more
people I could have very easily made some local friends, which would have helped me
to learn more all about the culture, and be a better global citizen.
All right, so number five a very crucial thing when you go to a new place.
If you learn nothing else from this video I would say this is extremely important for
everything else you’re going to hear.
It’s being curious and asking a lot of questions.
So obviously when you learn the local language or you find people who speak English, you
learn about the history, you are non-judgmental and patient, and you make local friends it
becomes much easier to become curious because you’re just more motivated to learn more
about the place that you are at.
I did a much better job in Bali at this than when I was in Thailand.
I actually had the benefit there that I already had a friend, so I was able to connect with
her and some of her friends, but we also just would be kind of curious when we would go
in the taxi for example.
We would ask the driver, you know, about what else he did in Bali.
We would ask him about the local holiday that was happening when we were there, and it was
just interesting to get to know people’s points of views again.
To experience a little bit about how people there live lives, and to imagine a little
bit like, what would my life be like if I had grown up in Bali.
And this is something that I always love when I travel, I like to ask myself like, “Huh,
I wonder what my life would be like if I had grown up in Bali, if I had grown up in Japan,
if I grew up in Spain,” and to, I think this is something that global citizens do,
they kind of imagine their life through the lens of many different cultures.
And that will bring me to number six, which is, getting fascinated by the local culture.
And obviously we talked about this a little bit, the history is a big part of this, and
all of the other things that I already said, one through five, contribute a lot to this.
Learning about the local culture really gives you an entirely new, higher level of appreciation
for the place that you are visiting, or that you are living in.
And this could be things like taking a dance class, taking a cooking class, if your play
an instrument maybe finding a jam session and going to play guitar or singing with the
locals or even just listening to music and appreciating it with the locals.
And of course, this can contribute to you meeting new people who are going to help you
with all the other things on this list.
So, I know a lot of people tend to travel to new places and they get too comfortable
by just talking to other foreigner, or by just talking to people from their own country.
I know I did this in Thailand.
It was very out of character for me, I feel like I missed out on a huge opportunity to
experience a new place, to experience a new culture, to really understand a new, different
worldview from my own, and to take up my global citizenship, so to speak.
So that said, I feel like I’ve learned a huge lesson.
I will not be making these mistakes again when I go to visit a new place.
I hope that you have learned something about this and that you will take consideration
of these lessons that I learned next time you visit another country, speak to someone
from another country, or if you ever go live abroad, or are living abroad right now.
So I would really appreciate it if you learned anything in this video if you found anything
interesting in this video if you would LIKE it, and of course, I would love it if you
would share your experience.
Do you have any stories about when you were a really good global citizen?
When you were a really bad global citizen?
Share them below and let’s start a conversation around this topic.
I can’t wait to hear what you guys say!
So remember to go out there and kick ass with your English, kick ass with your global citizenship,
and I will see you guys really soon.
Aww yeah!