Shadowing Practice: Professor Shocks High School by Speaking Gen Z Slang - Learn English Speaking with Video

I was invited by this high school To give a speech as a language expert About the importance of learning languages But instead of just telling the students why language matters I decided to show them So I spent weeks mastering gen-alpha slang And then delivered the entire speech In their own linguistic native tongue Now, I know it seems ridiculous for this outdated millennial And to truly test my gen-alpha fluency I brought the dialect to a college graduation Delivering a formal commencement speech In full professor robes To a room full of future teachers Now they know exactly what they are up against Please join me and give a warm welcome to Arieh Smith Good morning everyone It's a true honor To be here at Westtown High School for languages week Your school invited me to give a guest lecture About the importance of learning languages But it occurred to me that All of you are already In some sense multilingual Whether you realize it or not And that's because you speak The gen-alpha dialect of English A language so distinct That I, an aging 34 year old millennial genuinely cannot understand it Or at least couldn't understand it Before I spent weeks immersed in TikTok videos Studying your dialect to partial fluency And because nothing drives home the importance Of learning languages Better than hearing someone else try to speak your own I'm going to try to deliver the rest of this speech In your very own native tongue Gen-alpha But wait...

Of course to facilitate the comprehension for my fellow elders on YouTube Watching this as a video I'll also be including subtitles in standard English So without further ado It’s genuinely a tremendous honor to be here At Westtown High School for Languages Week But ladies and gentlemen, please settle down I came prepared Now, I know it seems ridiculous for this outdated millennial To speak to you in such bizarre slang But if you’ll bear with me I’ll do what I came to do in just a second I do actually have a message here For real!

As I was saying Honestly, I was really stressed about trying to understand this language But I had to learn it so I wouldn’t get ignored by your generation Seriously, people assume Gen Alpha slang is just memes and nonsense But honestly, it’s a linguistic revolution happening right before our eyes Every time you use phrases like “wow” or “it seems like" You're genuinely updating the English language in real time literally changing the way people speak English Language evolves because you’re constantly innovating new ways To express yourselves And honestly, today’s memes might very well become tomorrow’s standard vocabulary Really And this is exactly why learning languages matters so much Just like your casual slang with your friends could soon be the dictionary definition Picking up another language gives you front-row seats To how people around the world share ideas It’s like unlocking a whole new style It lets you win socially across cultures Build deeper connections with others And grasp new perspectives that you would otherwise miss completely Languages aren’t just a bunch of confusing grammar rules, friends They’re the ultimate social tool for genuinely connecting wherever you go And that’s true confidence to me So knowing languages isn’t lame And it isn’t just something to show off either It's an incredibly powerful life advantage Some people will complain that languages are confusing or too hard Don’t listen, friends They’re just frustrated because their language skills aren’t good enough Being multilingual is incredibly powerful Letting you deeply appreciate cultures Easily connect with people around the world And massively boost your career opportunities Honestly, speaking another language allows you to truly shine Turning you into an expert communicator.

So yes, everyone, that’s the main idea Keep growing, stay exceptional, never settle for average And truly, study hard and master that knowledge And thanks again to Westtown for having me You’re all amazing When someone has made a really important contribution to our field We honor you with basically a symbolic doctorate So what we'd like to do is to confer upon you The title of Dr. Xiaoma How does that sound My colleague Dr Francis Troyan Is going to confer to you So this is a doctoral hood And this signifies that you are getting it So stand there for us So in recognition of your contributions We are conferring upon you a symbolic doctorate My colleague Francis Troyan will place the doctoral hood on Arieh Congratulations Dr Xiaoma Good afternoon everyone It's such an honor to be here today For Ohio State Universities multilingual language education commencement As graduates of this program You're coming out of one of the countries most respected institutions As true experts in the art and science of language How to learn it How to teach it And how to use it to build bridges across cultures But if you'll indulge me for a moment I do have one final test For you language experts No it's not a vocabulary quiz Nor is it a grammar drill It is, rather, a test of listening comprehension In a language you may not have formally studied But one that your future students are highly likely to speak fluently I'm talking of course about gen-alpha Now full disclosure As an aging millennial myself I am not a native speaker But I have been actually studying this dialect For weeks with real native speakers In order to attempt to deliver The rest of my commencement speech in it So So in the spirit of meeting your students where they are And celebrating how dynamic and fast evolving language really is I'm going to give it a shot So without further ado Hey everyone how are you doing First of all, it's a tremendous honor to be here today You have truly placed me in the spotlight on this significant occasion I'm humbled to be receiving recognition today for multilingual excellence Feeling quite distinguished in this graduation attire Indeed I truly I never imagined myself becoming an authority on languages But my goodness, here we are But bear with me, ladies and gentlemen I promise I am not simply pandering to younger generations Allow me a moment to elaborate Because, genuinely, there is actually a point coming.

So I know some of you are thinking "Why even learn languages when Google Translate exists?" Well friends, that technology can often lead to rather poor interactions Have you ever tried using it in a real conversation?

It inevitably results in robotic behavior You will be mocked by a native speaker Resulting in immediate embarrassment But actually learning languages Is immensely rewarding and intellectually stimulating It's like exercising your brain Imagine arriving in a new country Confidently ordering food in the local colloquial expressions And immediately gaining the respect and appreciation of the locals You instantly feel more confident and empowered Not hesitant or uncertain But composed and impressive Let's face it Nothing is worse than being publicly corrected or misunderstood Due to inadequate translations That's why it's crucial to commit yourself fully to genuinely mastering a language But speaking another language isn't just about showing off It’s about discovering an entirely new dimension of connection The culture, the people, the stories And the authentic richness that enhances life itself When you talk to someone in their own language Your connection is profound and rewarding You feel fulfilled just knowing you understand a whole new world So if you've ever thought about learning a new language Consider this your sign to do so Embrace the challenges, accept the inevitable setbacks, make mistakes But persist and strive to excel This is how you truly succeed in language learning By acquiring all the knowledge you can.

Because your students may not remember your worksheets But they will never forget the day you spoke their language Thank you Thank you Arieh I think I'm going to have to ask my 15 year old for a translation They'll probably say "Dad, go experience real life" There will be subtitles At least there's that When he posts there will be subtitles Seriously