Whether you are speaking in person or online, you often have people of different ages and nationalities in the audience. I am a member of a Toastmasters clubs in the West and in the East.
I am a member of a club in London, England, called Harrovians. Harrow is an area with a large immigrant population, Europeans and Indians.At my London club, I have also met three Chinese people.
I am also a member of three clubs in Singapore and a Singaporean online club with speakers from the USA, Europe, India and China.
European folk tales are familiar to us in Europe. But not to others. Unless they have seen the Disney version of Cinderella.
The majority of the population in Singapore is ethnic Chinese. I belong to the English language Toastmasters clubs.
1 Cinderella And Glass Slippers
In Singapore at a Braddell Heights Advanced speakers club workshop, I referred to Cinderella, sugesting the audience should take turns telling the story. Which everyone in Europe and the USA would know.
But a Chinese listener said, 'I have never heard of Cinderella.'
The Frenhc version was written by Perrault. Most English people would greet that information with blank looks.
Disney produced a film of Cinderella in 1950. Before most of my audience were born.
I asked, 'Name a story about a girl which Chinese children would know."
Chinese Folk Tales
She said, 'I grew up knowing the story of Mulan.'
The Chinese folk tales are all totally different. A Western audience, especially the older ones, won't know them. Unless they have seen the Disney version of Mulan.
You can amuse a foreign audience with a story which will strike them as totally new. But you have to explain everything.
What is a glass slipper? A glass flip-flop? A Chinese listener is trying to work out whether it is a day shoe or a pair of evening shoes, dance shoes, ballet shoes, and what is the significance of glass?
You need to explain the moral of the story.
Indian Folk Tales
I have listened to several Indian folk tales and completely missed the moral which was obvious to the Indian listeners. Jokes and cultural assumptions can be completely different.
2, Gravestones
I ended a talk with Spike Milligan's joke on his gravestone, "I told you I was ill."
Aftereards I asked for questions. An Indian asked, 'What's a gravestone?'
He didn't understand. I xplained, 'When you bury a dead body, you mark the place with a gravestone.'
He looked puzzled. He said, 'In my part of the world we don't bury people. Mostly we have cremation. Near the Ganges they put bodies in the river."
They don't have gravestones marking non-existent graves.
Indians grown up hearing Indian folk tales.
3.The Brothers Inheriting The Seeds
I heard an Eastern story about two brothers. Both were given a seed by the dying father.
One brother planted the seed given by the father expecting it to grow. The other brother didn't plant, but kept the seed in a box.
Who was the son who cared most for the father? Which son did the father praise?
However, the punchline praise went to the brother who did not plant the seed.
Everyone applauded. Everyone nodded. Everyone agreed it was the best story of the evening. The story teller won the prize ribbon for best speaker.
I was puzzled. I thought, the audience is over-polite. The story teller has mixed up the names of the brothers.
I afterwards asked the storyteller the point of the story. In my mind, the story was similar to the biblical story. I was sure that the moral was either: you should plant seeds, work hard, or, plan for the future.
A suitable story for gardeners, investors, entrepreneurs. For parents with lazy children.
But the storyteller said the moral was: don't be materialistic. The love of the father's gift was more important than its value.
I thought, no wonder they are starving in India. That was not the thought I was supposed to take away. The moral is, try out your speech. Make the message clear at both the start at the end. Check that the foreigners have understood the characters plot, and moral and call to action.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Useful Websites
I am a member of a club in London, England, called Harrovians. Harrow is an area with a large immigrant population, Europeans and Indians.At my London club, I have also met three Chinese people.
I am also a member of three clubs in Singapore and a Singaporean online club with speakers from the USA, Europe, India and China.
European folk tales are familiar to us in Europe. But not to others. Unless they have seen the Disney version of Cinderella.
The majority of the population in Singapore is ethnic Chinese. I belong to the English language Toastmasters clubs.
1 Cinderella And Glass Slippers
In Singapore at a Braddell Heights Advanced speakers club workshop, I referred to Cinderella, sugesting the audience should take turns telling the story. Which everyone in Europe and the USA would know.
But a Chinese listener said, 'I have never heard of Cinderella.'
The Frenhc version was written by Perrault. Most English people would greet that information with blank looks.
Disney produced a film of Cinderella in 1950. Before most of my audience were born.
I asked, 'Name a story about a girl which Chinese children would know."
Chinese Folk Tales
She said, 'I grew up knowing the story of Mulan.'
The Chinese folk tales are all totally different. A Western audience, especially the older ones, won't know them. Unless they have seen the Disney version of Mulan.
You can amuse a foreign audience with a story which will strike them as totally new. But you have to explain everything.
What is a glass slipper? A glass flip-flop? A Chinese listener is trying to work out whether it is a day shoe or a pair of evening shoes, dance shoes, ballet shoes, and what is the significance of glass?
You need to explain the moral of the story.
Indian Folk Tales
I have listened to several Indian folk tales and completely missed the moral which was obvious to the Indian listeners. Jokes and cultural assumptions can be completely different.
2, Gravestones
I ended a talk with Spike Milligan's joke on his gravestone, "I told you I was ill."
Aftereards I asked for questions. An Indian asked, 'What's a gravestone?'
He didn't understand. I xplained, 'When you bury a dead body, you mark the place with a gravestone.'
He looked puzzled. He said, 'In my part of the world we don't bury people. Mostly we have cremation. Near the Ganges they put bodies in the river."
They don't have gravestones marking non-existent graves.
Indians grown up hearing Indian folk tales.
I heard an Eastern story about two brothers. Both were given a seed by the dying father.
One brother planted the seed given by the father expecting it to grow. The other brother didn't plant, but kept the seed in a box.
Who was the son who cared most for the father? Which son did the father praise?
However, the punchline praise went to the brother who did not plant the seed.
Everyone applauded. Everyone nodded. Everyone agreed it was the best story of the evening. The story teller won the prize ribbon for best speaker.
I was puzzled. I thought, the audience is over-polite. The story teller has mixed up the names of the brothers.
I afterwards asked the storyteller the point of the story. In my mind, the story was similar to the biblical story. I was sure that the moral was either: you should plant seeds, work hard, or, plan for the future.
A suitable story for gardeners, investors, entrepreneurs. For parents with lazy children.
But the storyteller said the moral was: don't be materialistic. The love of the father's gift was more important than its value.
I thought, no wonder they are starving in India. That was not the thought I was supposed to take away. The moral is, try out your speech. Make the message clear at both the start at the end. Check that the foreigners have understood the characters plot, and moral and call to action.
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I and my family have lived in the UK, Spain, the USA and Singapore. I am a trave writer and phtographer and teacher of English A level and English as a foreign language.
Please come to a Toastmasters International Club where the English clubs have a langauge evaluator or grammarian. We also have French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and other language clubs based in Singapore and many more online around the world which because of Covid-19 are now meeting online.
I am President of Braddell Heights Advanced, meeting every Wednesday, on zoom the first Wednesday of the month but the other Wednesdays are workshops on app learncool.sg
Or quicker to type and easier to remember: tinyurl.com/BHACOOL
Useful Websites
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogs
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/second-set-of-portuguese-words.html Please share links to your favourite posts
translate.google.com
duolingo.com
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