"I am, you are, he/she/it is". A polish guy learns English for Christmas. Photo: Allegro/Youtube
Well, the holidays are here, and given the way 2016 has shaped up, a lot of us could use a hefty dose of yule tide cheer. Our British brethren have voted their way out of the European Union, with Italy possibly following suit (something we wrote about, with a little too much optimism, as it happened). And the biggest news was a xenophobic con man winning a surprise victory as president of the United States, spurring a wave of anti immigrant hatred within the country.
So, how about a little bit of cheering up? For that, we look to Poland, a country whose own language is both as beautiful and as complex as a piano piece by its homegrown hero, Frederic Chopin, where a local eBay knock-off called Allegro has come out with an explosively viral video about an old Polish gentleman who yearns to speak a language that a bit less complex than his own: English. After receiving a hefty stack of books on how to learn English, our wrinkly hero enthusiastically sets out practicing verb conjugations: "I am, you are, he, she, it is!" he gleefully belts out. (This has to be the happiest anyone has ever been about learning grammar). To bone up on his vocabulary, he plasters his house with post it notes with the English words for each object, even posting his pooch with a little note that says "dog". And any attempt to learn English would be incomplete without a movie night. As he learns English, the old Pole decides one night to flip on his TV and tune in to some English-language fare. Lucky for him, he quickly finds an English-language movie to watch, but unluckily for him, it's a violent gangster movie. Our protagonist manages to pick up the phrase: "I'm going to fucking kill you". But thankfully, he also manages to pick up another phrase: "I love you." The clip closes with the old man preparing his suitcase - before packing, he holds it up and promptly blurts out "Suitcase!" with a giddy grin - and heads off to an Airport. Why is he going to the airport? Well, we won't spoil it for you, at least not entirely, but get ready for a sappy, feel good ending. In a troubled world, where foreign languages seem to increasingly be becoming a springboard for bigotry, nativist sentements, and even violence, this video is just what we need. It's a reminder that, as strange and unpleasant languages may seem to us at first, they can all be used for the same purpose: coming together with of friends and family to let them know that they are important to us. And maybe pinning a post-it note on them to brush up on our vocabulary. Watch the video here: |
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