Chinese action star Jet Li—also the founder of One Foundation( a charity fund)was asked to share his purpose of starting this foundation in Singapore. His sharing took place during the Forbes Global CEO Conference, an international gathering of top corporate executives here. He spoke in Chinese but had intentionally interjected many English words in his speech. A few of my friends and I who had watched this news report on television found it quite disturbing. Jet Li had always given us a very suave and professional image, but through this news report, his impeccable image is somewhat tainted.
Maybe Jet Li was trying to add some punch to his speech by doing this. However, this ‘style’ of speech made audience very distracted. He was using English words very randomly in his Chinese speech. Audience therefore needs to keep deciphering what he meant, and it disrupted the continuation of thoughts in audience’s mind. Audience ended up focusing more on his weird way of speech rather than the content of his speech. I believe most people cannot accept his ‘style’ of speech here, since it is very tiring for the audience to piece the information as a whole when the speaker speaks in such a manner. The speaker therefore did not really get his message across to the audience, leading to some gaps in communication and understanding.
However we cannot totally blame Jet Li. I think the reason he chose to speak in this way is due to social factors as well as media pressure as well. Since he was speaking to a Singaporean crowd, he therefore thought he needs to use some English words in his speech in order to connect better with the audience. However he had overdone it. While the meaning of some words may be better expressed in English, he used far too many unnecessary exchanges between English and Chinese, making his speech sound very unnatural and made people feel uncomfortable.
I think in this case, some may see it as just an attempt of Jet Li to bring himself closer to the crowd, however others may interpret it that he was trying too hard to impress the audience. Jet Li thought it was essential to show a bilingual side of him to the Singaporean crowd. I think Jet Li had gauged the expectations of the Singaporean crowd wrongly. Jet Li is capable of giving his speech in pure mandarin as seen from a few of his previous interviews. I think he can impress people even more by just using his power in Chinese and show the beauty of the language through his sophistication in thoughts.
From the above, we know that speech is a very influential part of communication. The perception we have of a person is often influenced by his speech. Through a person’s choice of words, we can picture what the person is like, and thus develop a liking or abhorrence for that person. Language reflects its user. People who had seen Jet Li for the first time through this interview may have some misunderstanding and think he is pretentious. For some who had seen him before, their perception of him may be changed. While others may see this as just an isolated case and choose not to be bothered whatsoever and continue to revere him.
Maybe Jet Li was trying to add some punch to his speech by doing this. However, this ‘style’ of speech made audience very distracted. He was using English words very randomly in his Chinese speech. Audience therefore needs to keep deciphering what he meant, and it disrupted the continuation of thoughts in audience’s mind. Audience ended up focusing more on his weird way of speech rather than the content of his speech. I believe most people cannot accept his ‘style’ of speech here, since it is very tiring for the audience to piece the information as a whole when the speaker speaks in such a manner. The speaker therefore did not really get his message across to the audience, leading to some gaps in communication and understanding.
However we cannot totally blame Jet Li. I think the reason he chose to speak in this way is due to social factors as well as media pressure as well. Since he was speaking to a Singaporean crowd, he therefore thought he needs to use some English words in his speech in order to connect better with the audience. However he had overdone it. While the meaning of some words may be better expressed in English, he used far too many unnecessary exchanges between English and Chinese, making his speech sound very unnatural and made people feel uncomfortable.
I think in this case, some may see it as just an attempt of Jet Li to bring himself closer to the crowd, however others may interpret it that he was trying too hard to impress the audience. Jet Li thought it was essential to show a bilingual side of him to the Singaporean crowd. I think Jet Li had gauged the expectations of the Singaporean crowd wrongly. Jet Li is capable of giving his speech in pure mandarin as seen from a few of his previous interviews. I think he can impress people even more by just using his power in Chinese and show the beauty of the language through his sophistication in thoughts.
From the above, we know that speech is a very influential part of communication. The perception we have of a person is often influenced by his speech. Through a person’s choice of words, we can picture what the person is like, and thus develop a liking or abhorrence for that person. Language reflects its user. People who had seen Jet Li for the first time through this interview may have some misunderstanding and think he is pretentious. For some who had seen him before, their perception of him may be changed. While others may see this as just an isolated case and choose not to be bothered whatsoever and continue to revere him.
9 comments:
It is indeed unnatural for Jet Li to use so many English words in his speech. I am sure he will be able to better impress the Singaporean audience with his pure Chinese speech. Perhaps this is just another way of him trying to get more media attention so as to increase his popularity?
you provided insightful views on this issue ^_^
hmm...i didnt watch the interview so luckily you brought the issue up here. i think i would have been annoyed at his interjecting of english phrases here and there as well. it's really somewhat unnatural since we all know jet li's more fluent in mandarin.
however, i do not think he did it so as to increase popularity or get media attention. probably just so that the s'porean audience can relate better, or perhaps it's an influence by hollywood??
I agree that speech plays a very important in effective communication. What you say and how you say it will definitely have an impact on how others view you. I didn't watch the news report, so I can't say how good or bad he was, but I guess I would have found it hard to follow what he was saying. But I also think that perhaps we can be more forgiving, and try to focus on the message instead, especially since he's promoting charity work, which is very commendable. Despite his language shortcomings, it's the heart that counts in the end.
It's very interesting how language reflects its user and how people perceive the speech communicated. In this case, Jet Li tries to make himself understood to both English and Chinese media. It is funny how people read so much into it or how people is so disturbed by it. Maybe he could have used a better way to communicate himself but the focus should be placed on the purpose of the foundation rather than the speech.
Yea , it is indeed a bit weird for Jet Li to put in so many English words in his speech . Its like , my own perception of him is someone who will use Mandarin for such a speech as I grew up watching him in Chinese shows .
This perhaps showed what he percieved to be the best way to communicate with Singaporeans , as most of us like to mix both languages together and use them simultaneously .
It really is quite distracting to listen to a speech that's peppered with English phrases every now and then. It takes the focus off from the main point of the speech. Made it seem as though he did not put much effort into preparing the speech too.
I think a speech should always be made in one language, and not mixed with another language. Especially not on international tv.
Hey there! i think it has become quite a common phenomenon that celebrities like to flaunt their 'bilingualistic abilities' on tv.. i think i saw fann wong doing that also.. haha they think its cool huh?
Thanks for your very insightful post. :)
I will be more cautious next time when I am speaking.
I think, in a speech, it is more important to CONVINCE rather than to IMPRESS. Impressing people could cause misunderstanding and misinterpretation. Although he was trying hard, he was not doing it in the best way that can convince people. Trying hard does not mean positive results are obtained. A person must try hard, work SMART in the right way. Well, I am sure he learnt IMPRESS is not equal to IMPRESSION.
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