Short summary and discussion questions for English learners. Have your students watch the talk for homework and discuss in class.

1. English Mania
Jay Walker
http://www.ted.com/talks/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania.html

2. What is it about?
• Jay Walker explains why two billion people
around the world are trying to learn English.
He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of
Chinese students rehearsing English -- "the
world's second language" -- by the thousands.

3. Jay Walker
• Jay S. Walker (born 1955) is an American
entrepreneur who founded Priceline.com and
Walker Digital
• He earned a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations
from Cornell University in 1977
• "Walker shuns the sort of bibliomania that covets
first editions for their own sake ... What gets him
excited are things that changed the way people
think." Steven Levy, WIRED

4. Comprehension / Vocabulary
• Why do Asians pursue English?
• Approximately how many people are learning
English around the world today?
• ‘Tsunami washing away other languages’

5. Discussion
• He claims Asians pursue English because of
opportunity. What is the situation like in your
country?
• Is English the world’s second language, or a
second language?
• Is English destroying other languages?
• Is English the language of problem solving?

6. Discussion / Follow up
• How do students in your country learn
English? Is it effective?
• Is the world pulling English or are the USA,UK and
other English speaking countries pushing it?
• Why didn’t Esperanto work?
• Could Spanish or Chineese take over English as a
dominant international language?
• Will translation technology slow the need for an
international language?
• Is English a rich language?