"I'm gonna be the laughing stock of the school...these kids are gonna fall asleep..."
A few days ago, literally less than 24 hours after landing in China, I got an unexpected invitation to speak at a school in Guangzhou. They wanted me to give a talk to a room full of kids about the power of language, and they needed me to do it… the very next day.
My mind went straight to all the ways this could go wrong. I wasn’t prepared, I hadn’t planned anything, and I was jet-lagged beyond belief. But then, I thought, “How many chances do you get to inspire kids in another country?” So I agreed, knowing if I messed up, I could become the laughing stock of the school.
That night, I barely slept. I spent hours putting something together, and all the nerves came flooding in. I mean, these were young teenagers who’d probably rather be anywhere else than listening to me talk about languages.
I remember at their age, they made us watch Obama's inauguration speech, and I dozed off. So if a U.S. president couldn’t keep a teenager's attention, what chance did I have?
Would they all fall asleep?
I told them about my own journey with languages—how growing up, I didn’t care much for Chinese - and because of that, I missed out on opportunities to connect with family, and people I care about.
I shared how when I finally learned the language, it ended up giving me a whole new world of connections, experiences, and even a career.
It opened doors, got me doing youtube, helped me build friendships, and even got me where I was standing right then, in front of them, on that stage in Guangzhou.
I was so worried they'd fall asleep, but I saw them attentive, some were crying from my speech - even the principal cried 🥺
Having the honour of sharing the importance of Cantonese, Mandarin and English with these teenagers was such a humbling experience.
One of the big things I told them was, “Never underestimate where learning something new can take you.” I shared how learning Cantonese and Mandarin started as just another skill but turned into something life-changing. Always be learning.
I will never forget this experience. Thank you so much to the students of Minxin ♥️♥️♥️
Canto to Mando
"I'm gonna be the laughing stock of the school...these kids are gonna fall asleep..."
A few days ago, literally less than 24 hours after landing in China, I got an unexpected invitation to speak at a school in Guangzhou. They wanted me to give a talk to a room full of kids about the power of language, and they needed me to do it… the very next day.
My mind went straight to all the ways this could go wrong. I wasn’t prepared, I hadn’t planned anything, and I was jet-lagged beyond belief. But then, I thought, “How many chances do you get to inspire kids in another country?” So I agreed, knowing if I messed up, I could become the laughing stock of the school.
That night, I barely slept. I spent hours putting something together, and all the nerves came flooding in. I mean, these were young teenagers who’d probably rather be anywhere else than listening to me talk about languages.
I remember at their age, they made us watch Obama's inauguration speech, and I dozed off. So if a U.S. president couldn’t keep a teenager's attention, what chance did I have?
Would they all fall asleep?
I told them about my own journey with languages—how growing up, I didn’t care much for Chinese - and because of that, I missed out on opportunities to connect with family, and people I care about.
I shared how when I finally learned the language, it ended up giving me a whole new world of connections, experiences, and even a career.
It opened doors, got me doing youtube, helped me build friendships, and even got me where I was standing right then, in front of them, on that stage in Guangzhou.
I was so worried they'd fall asleep, but I saw them attentive, some were crying from my speech - even the principal cried 🥺
Having the honour of sharing the importance of Cantonese, Mandarin and English with these teenagers was such a humbling experience.
One of the big things I told them was, “Never underestimate where learning something new can take you.” I shared how learning Cantonese and Mandarin started as just another skill but turned into something life-changing. Always be learning.
I will never forget this experience. Thank you so much to the students of Minxin ♥️♥️♥️
11 months ago | [YT] | 143