英音演講60週年演講稿

篇一：英國女王伊麗莎白二世登基60週年演講稿(全球最美最標準的英音沒有之一!)

英國女王伊麗莎白二世登基60週年演講稿

（倪寧 譯）

My Lords and Members of the House of Commons,

各位上下議院的議員們：

I am most grateful for your Loyal Addresses and the generous words of the Lord Speaker and Mr. Speaker.

我非常感謝主議長和議長先生的衷心讚揚。

This great institution has been at the heart of the country and the lives of our people throughout its history.

這個偉大的機構（議會）已經成爲國家歷史的心臟和我們民衆生活的生命。 As Parliamentarians, you share with your forebears a fundamental role in the laws and decisions of your own age.

作爲國會議員，你分享了你的祖先中的一個根本性法律。

Parliament has survived as an unshakeable cornerstone of our constitution and our way of life.

議會已經成爲不可動搖的基石，存在於我們的憲法和生活方式中。

History links monarchs and Parliament, a connecting thread from one period to the next.

歷史聯繫着君主和議會，像一根紐帶把一個時代和下一個時代連接起來。So, in an era when the regular, worthy rhythm of life is less

eye-catching than doing something extraordinary, I am reassured that I am merely the second Sovereign to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee.

所以，在做不平凡事比平常生活更受關注的時代，我很高興我能成爲第二個慶祝鑽禧年的君主。

As today, it was my privilege to address you during my Silver and Golden Jubilees.

到今天爲止，你們能參加我銀禧和金禧的盛典，我很榮幸。

Many of you were present ten years ago and some of you will recall the occasion in 1977.

十年前你們中的很多人也出席了。你們中的一些人依然能回憶出1977年的情景。 Since my Accession, I have been a regular visitor to the Palace of Westminster and, at the last count, have had the pleasurable duty of treating with twelve Prime Ministers.

我在位期間，我是威斯敏斯特宮的常客，至今爲止，我和12位首相有過愉快的合作。

Over such a period, one can observe that the experience of venerable old age can be a mighty guide but not a prerequisite for success in public office.

在這樣一個時代，年長者的經驗很管用，但對於擔任公職來說卻不是成功的先決條件。

I am therefore very pleased to be addressing many younger

Parliamentarians and also those bringing such a wide range of background and experience to your vital, national work.

我也很高興向很多年輕議員提建議，我也把廣泛的背景知識和經驗運用到日常國家事務中。

During these years as your Queen, the support of my family has, across the generations, been beyond measure.

當女王的這些年，來自我家庭的幾代人的支持難以衡量。

Prince Philip is, I believe, well-known for declining compliments of any kind. But throughout he has been a constant strength and guide. 菲利普親王因爲拒絕各種讚揚而出名。但是，他是一個堅定的支持者和嚮導。 He and I are very proud and grateful that The Prince of Wales and other members of our family are travelling on my behalf in this Diamond Jubilee year to visit all the Commonwealth Realms and a number of other Commonwealth countries.

威爾士王子和其他家人將代表我在鑽禧年出訪所有的英聯邦王國和部分英聯邦國家，他和我都感到非常高興和自豪。

These overseas tours are a reminder of our close affinity with the Commonwealth, encompassing about one-third of the world’s population.

這些海外行程將使佔世界三分之一的人口的聯邦成員國緊緊聯繫着。

My own association with the Commonwealth has taught me that the most important contact between nations is usually contact between its peoples.

我與英聯邦國家交往的親身經歷告訴我國家之間最重要的聯繫通常是人民之間的聯繫。

An organisation dedicated to certain values, the Commonwealth has flourished and grown by successfully promoting and protecting that contact.

該機構提供固定的價值，鼓勵和保持成員之間的聯繫，促進聯邦國繁榮和發展。 At home, Prince Philip and I will be visiting towns and cities up and down the land.

在國內，菲利普親王和我將會訪問南北方的城市和郡縣。

It is my sincere hope that the Diamond Jubilee will be an opportunity for people to come together in a spirit of neighbourliness and celebration of their own communities.

我真誠地希望，鑽禧典禮將成爲人們團結的一個良好契機，傳遞友善的鄰里關係和他們的社區價值。

We also hope to celebrate the professional and voluntary service given by millions of people across the country who are working for the public good.

我也希望能夠表彰那些在公共領域工作的，來自全國各地自願提供服務的數百萬人民和專家。

They are a source of vital support to the welfare and wellbeing of others, often unseen or overlooked.

他們是爲公衆福祉提供重要支持的源泉，卻往往被忽視。

And as we reflect upon public service, let us again be mindful of the remarkable sacrifice and courage of our Armed Forces.

我們對公共服務進行思考，讓我們再一次注意到我們軍隊做出的卓越貢獻和勇敢。

Much may indeed have changed these past sixty years but the valour of those who risk their lives for the defence and freedom of us all remains undimmed.

在過去的六十年裏，許多已經改變，但是爲了守護國家和我們的自由而獻身的勇氣會永存。

The happy relationship I have enjoyed with Parliament has extended well beyond the more than three and a half thousand Bills I have signed into law.

我和議員之間的愉快關係很好地延續着已經超過我簽署3500份法案的時間。 I am therefore very touched by the magnificent gift before me, generously subscribed by many of you.

結果我收到了非常壯觀的禮物，你們中許多人慷慨地付出了。

Should this beautiful window cause just a little extra colour to shine down upon this ancient place, I should gladly settle for that. 如果這扇漂亮的窗戶能爲這個古老的地方增添色彩，我將爲此感到高興。

We are reminded here of our past, of the continuity of our national story and the virtues of resilience, ingenuity and tolerance which created it. 在這裏，我們想起過去我們國家的故事，國民的堅韌性、創造力和寬容心。 I have been privileged to witness some of that history and, with the support of my family, rededicate myself to the service of our great country and its people now and in the years to come.

我親歷了其中的一些歷史，在我家人的支持下，現在和將來，我將致力於爲我們偉大的國家和人民服務。

篇二：十招教給你發出地道英國腔

十招教給你發出地道英國腔

英格蘭、蘇格蘭、北愛爾蘭和威爾士各自擁有獨特的口音，通過練習，就可以用聽起來頗爲純正的英式英語與人交談。除了語言，你的行爲舉止也要相配，這樣才能發揮最佳效果。下面的內容介紹了英格蘭南部和威爾士所用的女皇英語或”標準英音”，也就是外國人對英國人說話的固有印象，儘管這在現代英國其實幾乎從未用過。學習標準英音很大程度關乎發音，而要學習標準語言，還需注意其他方面，如正確的語法、較正式的詞彙和語言風格。

1. “R”不發音

要知道，大多數說英音的人發R音的時候都不捲舌(除了那些來自蘇格蘭、諾森比亞、北愛爾蘭和蘭開夏郡部分地區的人)，但並非所有英式口音都相同。元音之後的R不要發音，同時拉長元音，還可以加上一個“uh”音(here就讀成“heeuh”)。在像“hurry”這樣的單詞中，不要把R和元音混在一起，要讀成“huh-ree”。

在美式英語中，以“rl”或“rel”結尾的單詞發音時可以用一個或兩個音節，沒有區別。但在英式英語中就不同。以“rl”結尾的單詞，如“girl”、“hurl”等只發一個音節，R不發音;而“squirrel”則要讀成“squih-rul”，而“referral”則爲“re-fer-rul”。

有些單詞用英式口音讀起來比較輕鬆。比如“mirror”讀起來就是“mih-ra”。別把它讀得像“mere”一樣，英國人幾乎從不這麼發音。

2. 字母“U”在“stupid”和“duty”中的發音爲“ew”，和單詞“you”一樣

不要像美式口音那樣發“oo”音，所以正確的發音應該是stewpid ，或者schewpid 也很常見，但不是stoopid ;而duty 應該是“dewty”，或更常見的“jooty”。在標準英音中，“A”(比如在“father”中)應該是在口腔後部發的開嗓音，聽起來就是“Arh”。這點在幾乎所有英式口音中都不例外，不過在標準英音中尤爲突出。在英格蘭南部和標準英音中，諸如“bath”、“path”、“glass”和“grass”這樣的詞也發這個元音(bawth、pawth、glawss和grawss，等等)。不過在英國其他地區，“bath”、“path”這些詞還是發“ah”音。

3. 輔音較多的單詞要發音清晰

“duty”中的T 發T 音：不要像美語中那樣發成D ，讀成doody，所以“duty”應該讀dewty ，或者柔和一點，jooty 。讀後綴“-ing”的時候要加重“G”的後鼻音。這樣聽起來就應該是“-ing”而非“-een”。不過有時候也會縮短爲“in”，比如“lookin”。

“human being”這個詞組要讀成“hewman being”，有的地區讀成“youman been”，不過也可以是“hewman bee-in”。

4. 略去“T”

包括倫敦腔在內的某些口音中，單詞中的“T”不發音，而美國人會用“D”取而代之。不過在原本“T”的位置上通常會有短暫的停頓。所以“battle”的發音就應該是“Ba-ill”，在第一個音節末尾含住舌根的氣息，然後在發第二個音節的時候才把它吐出來，這就是所謂的“喉塞音”glottal stop。 美國人也用喉塞音，比如像“mittens”和“mountain”這樣的詞，只是英國人用得更多罷了。

說河口英語、標準英音，以及操蘇格蘭、愛爾蘭和威爾士口音認爲把“T”吞掉是懶惰粗魯的行爲，因此也就沒有這種發音方法。不過幾乎在所有口音中，在非正式情形下單詞中間的T不發音，都是可以接受的;而在詞尾加上喉塞音就更加普遍了。

5. 請注意，有些單詞的發音與拼寫是一致的

單詞“Herb”的發音中有“H”的音，而“Often”通常都讀成“Off tin”而非“Off in”。單詞“Been”的發音爲“Bean”，不是“bin”或者“ben”。“Again”和“renaissance”讀成“a gain”和“run nay snce”，“ai”的發音和在“pain”中一樣，而不是“said”中那樣。以“body”結尾的單詞也都按照拼寫發音，如“any body”而非“any buddy”，不過“O”的發音是英式的短促音。

6. 請注意，“H”並不總是發音

單詞“herb”中的“H”是發音的，和美語中的“erb”相反。不過，在很多英式口音中，比如不少北部口音和倫敦東區口音，詞首的“H”往往略去不發。

7. 單詞“been”的讀音是“bean”，而不是“bin”

在英式口音中，“been”是較常見的發音，而“bin”則更多出現在非正式談話中不對單詞做特別強調的情況中。

8. 聆聽語言的“樂曲”

所有的口音和方言都有自己的音樂性。留意細聽說英音的人的語調和語氣。句子一般是以升調、平調還是降調結束通常整個句子中語調變化會有多大不同地區的語調相差迥異。英式英語，尤其是標準英音在整句話中的語調變化一般都比美式英語要少得多，而且整體趨勢是在一個短語的結尾略微降調。不過利物浦和英格蘭東北部卻是顯著的例外。

9. 請一位英國人來說一些有名的句子：

“How now brown cow”和“The rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain”，並留神細聽。在倫敦讀成圓口元音的單詞，如“about”，在北愛爾蘭常會變成平舌音。

10. 請注意，兩個或多個元音在一起，可能會增加一個音節。

比如，“road”這個單詞通常讀作“rohd”，但在威爾士和一些生活在北愛爾蘭的人口中，它的發音可能就會變成“”，有些人甚至可能會說“reh-uud”。

【英音發音小貼士】

和其他任何口音一樣，傾聽並模仿母語者說話是最好最快的學習方法。記得嗎，小時候我們都是通過傾聽和重複聽到的話來學習語言的，同時也模仿聽到的口音。

聽英國人交談。這能增加你的詞彙量。

另外，英語中能輕鬆辨別一個人的口音的單詞之一是“Water”。在英國，它通常被讀作“war-tah”，而在美國它聽起來則更像是“wa-der”。

用英式口音說“at all”的時候，發音與“a tall”相近。

孩提時代，你耳朵不同頻率聲音的能力較強，這讓你能更好地辨別並重復身邊各種語言的語音。要有效地學習一門新語言，你就要一遍遍重複聽這種口音的例句，努力施展耳朵的能力。

除了口音以外，還要留意俚語用詞，比如“lads”或“blokes”就是指男孩或男人，而“birds”或“lasses”(用於英格蘭北部和蘇格蘭)則是指女人。“Loo”是廁所，但“bathroom”則是供你清潔洗澡的房間。

不太確定的時候，就去看Monty Python的喜劇或者科幻劇《神祕博士》吧，《哈利波特》也有幫助。

遇到特別強的區域性口音時，往往會用“ff”來替代“th”——“through”聽起來可能像是“froo”，而“birthday”則要讀成“birfday”。《神祕博士》中的Billie Piper說起話來就是這樣。

通過聽別人說話來學習口音比較容易。如果你所在的地方能常常聽到BBC新聞，那就是正規的英音。正式的英式言談的確比美語更嚴謹，也更清晰，不過這在電視和廣播播報中得到了着意強調，這方面哪裏的新聞播報員都一樣。

如果英式英語中用詞和美語不同，一定要用英式的。英國人會傾向於保護這些差異，尤其注意，“垃圾”和“水龍頭”要說“rubbish”和“tap”，而不是“trash”和“faucet”。另外，在說“schedule”

的時候，最好讀成“sh_”而不是“sk_”。不過“specialty”這個詞一定要讀出5個音節，別讀成3個(像這樣：spe-ci-al-i-ty)。

標準英音被譽爲女皇英語是可不是沒來由的，你可以自己聽聽伊麗莎白二世女皇殿下說話。在國會開幕大典上她總會作很長的演講，那是個觀察她說話方式的絕佳機會。

一旦掌握了技巧，也聽過英國人說話，你可以嘗試用這種口音朗讀書中的片段。這既很有趣，又是一種很好的練習。

無論說什麼，都要發音清晰，每個詞都念得清楚得當，而且要確保單詞間有一定間隔。

許多地方有不同的語言風格和用詞習慣。用網上的英式字典查一查更多英式用語，請記住，除了像tap/faucet和pavement/sidewalk這樣較明顯的差異外，要是你想全盤應用本地人的地方用語和語言風格，他們頂多會覺得你是個討喜的開心果，最糟糕的結果則是認爲你自命不凡，屈尊俯就。

聯繫英格蘭、威爾士、蘇格蘭和愛爾蘭中某種口音的另一種方式是認定某一英語新聞頻道的某位新聞播報員，堅持復讀他們的講話。這樣每天看半小時，只需幾周時間，你的語言模式會大有長進。

試着想象嘴裏含了一個梅子。在發元音的時候，口腔上壁擡高，而舌頭則儘可能下壓。儘量正常說話(別弄得笨拙可笑)。舌頭的位置再加上加強的共鳴效果，應該能讓你在“假裝”英式口音方面順利起步。

英國有幾百種不同口音，所以把它們一概歸爲英式口音其實是相當不正確的。無論走到那裏，你都會發現不同的發音種類多得難以置信。

想想你的聽衆。如果你想真正讓別人以爲你是英國人，就要考慮到地區因素，而且要多加努力，這可比在學校演出裏裝個皮毛要難得多。

如果你想聽聽這種口音較爲當下的版本，可以去看幾集電視劇《東區人》和《只有傻瓜和馬》。現在的人的確還是這麼說話，尤其是倫敦東部和埃塞克斯及肯特郡部分地區的工人階級，不過在年長者中更爲明顯。

記住：影星朱莉安德魯斯(《音樂之聲》中女教師的扮演者)和艾瑪沃特森(《哈利波特》中赫敏的扮演者)說的是標準英音，不過她們的口音和明星主廚傑米奧利弗以及達人秀評判西蒙考威爾的口音(河口英語，大概是英格蘭南部傳播最廣的日常會話口音了，介於倫敦東區口音和標準英音之間)大不相同，也與比利康納利的口音(格拉斯哥口音)大相徑庭。

隨着聽辨能力的加強，說就變得水到渠成了。當耳朵能“聽出”一種聲音時，口腔就有較大的把握能發出這個聲音。

你也許聽到過倫敦東區口音(倫敦最東部)。這種口音在21世紀越來越少聽到了，不過如果你想模仿，留意他們的發音幾乎像唱歌，而且所有元音幾乎都被替代，並且吞掉一些字母。比如“change”中的“a”就變成了“i”的音。狄更斯作品改編的電影中或許有這種口音的樣板，如《窈窕淑女》。

發揮創意，樂在其中。帶着你所學的新知識自己探索。試着對你的朋友用英式口音說話。他們會告訴你你說的怎麼樣!

還有， 不要 用鼻音說話，也就是說別用鼻咽說話。

如果你要去英國，牛津大學和劍橋大學都是傳統標準英音和“皇后英語”口音的最後據點之一。不過越來越多的學生現在都帶着英國乃至世界各地的口音說話，而這兩個城市及周邊地區的本地人則用自己的本地口音(往往都非常獨特)。如果你假設他們用“典型英國腔”說話，可能會冒犯他們。別以爲牛津郡或劍橋郡的口音就是標準英音，這可是個常見的陷阱。

拜訪口音的發源地，並觀察當地人談話的方式。

一次只學習一種口音。河口英語和紐卡斯爾的”Geordie”口音大不相同，很容易讓你混淆。 去英國旅行，真正聽聽他們是怎麼說話的。

試着找一個英國人做你的電話聊友!

去倫敦，那裏的英式口音比一些其他地方更清楚。

篇三：美國大牛人Sarah模仿八國英語口音

美國大牛人Sarah Jones模仿八國英語口音

如果恰好您對於各種口音有強烈的興趣，這篇TED是絕對要列爲必看之列的。TED牛人女演員——莎拉·瓊斯（SARAH JONES）惟妙惟肖地模仿了八國人說英語，驚爲天人。裏面包括了英式口音、美式口音、印度口音、法國口音、中式口音、阿拉伯口音，這短短的20分鐘內，Sarah Jones好像領着你去了一次環球旅行。莎拉·瓊斯一個人分別扮演了一位固執的猶太老太太、一個語速極快的多米尼加裔女大學生以及其他衆多精彩角色。

被莎拉·瓊斯模仿的八個國家和地區爲：英國（British English）, 紐約皇后區（New York Queens）, 澳大利亞（Australia）, 多米尼加（Dominican American）, 法國（French）,德國（Germany）, 印度（India), 中國（China）,約旦（Jordan）。代表了八種不同的口音：英音，美音，西班牙音，法語音，德語音，印度音，漢語音，阿拉伯音。即使你的英文水準不是很高，還是能一下就聽出她是在什麼時候模仿中國人說英語。

開始英音---42秒，美音 ----2分13秒，澳大利亞---- 6分06秒 多米尼加 ----10分20秒 法國 ----- 10分58秒 德國 ----- 11分40秒 印度 ----- 13分 中國-----17分31秒，約旦。

當然，從Sarah的本意出發，這次旅行的重點並不僅僅是口音，還有文化與交流的問題。我們生活在一個距離越來越短，聯繫越來越緊密的地球村裏。一種 語言就像是一把鑰匙，打開地球另一邊人們生活的大門。如果說你的語言是一個維度，它帶來了一個角度，多一種語言能力就是多一個思考的維度，多了一扇看世界 的窗，生活的厚度就這樣疊加起來越發豐富多彩。

特別推薦的原因是Sarah模仿中國口音的那段超級超級搞笑！她說的實在是很準，讓人歎服。其中還講到了中國人的思維方式與文化傳統，拿捏得還是很到位的，幽人一默。

Sarah Jones演講稿：

I should tell you that when I was asked to be here, I thought to myself that well, it's TED. And these TEDsters are -- you know, as innocent as that name sounds -- these are the philanthropists and artists and scientists who sort of shape our world. And what could I possibly have to say that would be distinguished enough to justify my participation in something like thatAnd so I thought perhaps a really civilized sounding British accent might help things a bit.

And then I thought no, no. I should just get up there and be myself and just talk the way I really talk because, after all, this is the great unveiling. And so I thought I'd come up here and unveil my real voice to you. Although many of you already know that I do speak the Queen's English

because I am from Queens, New York. (Laughter) But the theme of this session, of course, is invention. And while I don't have any patents that I'm aware of, you will be meeting a few of my inventions today. And I suppose it's fair to say that I am interested in the invention of self or selves. We're all born into certain circumstances with particular physical traits, unique developmental experiences, geographical and historical contexts. But then whatTo what extent do we self-construct, do we self-inventHow do we self-identify and how mutable is that identityLike, what if one could be anyone at any timeWell my characters, like the ones in my shows, allow me to play with the spaces between those questions. And so I've brought a couple of them with me. And well, they're very excited. What I should tell you -- what I should tell you is that they've each prepared their own little TED talks. So feel free to think of this as Sarah University. (Laughter)

Okay. Okay. Oh, well. Oh, wonderful. Good evening everybody. Thank you so very much for having me here today. Ah, thank you very much. My name is Loraine Levine. Oh my! There's so many of you. Hi sweetheart. Okay. (Laughter) Anyway, I am here because of a young girl, Sarah Jones. She's a very nice, young, black girl. Well you know, she calls herself black, she's really more like a caramel color if you look at her. But anyway, (Laughter) she has me here because she puts me in her show, what she calls her one-woman show. And you know what that means, of course. That means she takes the credit and then makes us come out here and do all the work. But I don't mind.

Frankly, I'm kvelling just to be here with all the luminaries you have attending something like this, you know. Really, it's amazing. Not only, of course, the scientists and all the wonderful giants of the industries but the celebrities. There are so many celebrities running around here. I saw -- Glenn Close I saw earlier. I love her. And she was getting a yogurt in the Google cafe. Isn't that adorable. (Laughter) So many others you see, they're just wonderful. It's lovely to know they're concerned, you know. And -- oh, I saw Goldie Hawn. Oh, Goldie Hawn. I love her, too; she's wonderful. Yeah. You know, she's only half Jewish. Did you know that about herYeah. But even so, a wonderful talent. And I -- you know, when I saw her, such a wonderful feeling. Yeah, she's lovely. But anyway, I should have started by saying just how lucky I feel. It's such an eye-opening experience to be here. You're all so responsible for this world that we live in today. You know, I couldn't have dreamed of such a thing as a young girl. And you've all made these advancements happen in such a short time. You're all so young. You know, you're parents must be very proud.

But I -- I also appreciate the diversity that you have here. I noticed it's very multicultural. You know, when you're standing up here, you can

see all the different people. It's like a rainbow. It's okay to say rainbow. Yeah. I just -- I can't keep up with whether you can say, you know, the different things. What are you allowed to say or not sayI just -- I don't want to offend anybody. You know. But anyway, you know, I just think that to be here with all of you accomplished young people, literally, some of you, the architects building our brighter future. You know, it's heartening to me. Even though, quite frankly, some of your presentations are horrifying, absolutely horrifying. It's true. It's true. You know, between the environmental degradation and the crashing of the world markets you're talking about. And of course, we know it's all because of the -- all the ... Well, I don't know how else to say it to you, so I'll just say it my way. The ganeyvish tetikeyt coming from the governments and the, you know, the bankers and the Wall Street. You know it. Anyway. (Laughter)

The point is, I'm happy somebody has practical ideas to get us out of this mess. So I salute each of you and your stellar achievements. Thank you for all that you do. And congratulations on being such big makhers that you've become TED meisters. So, happy continued success. Congratulations. Mozel tov. (Applause)

Hi. Hi. Thank you everybody. Sorry, this is such a wonderful opportunity and everything, to be here right now. My name is Noraida. And I'm just -- I'm so thrilled to be part of like your TED conference that you're doing and everything like that. I am Dominican American. Actually, you could say I grew up in the capital of Dominican Republic, otherwise known as Washington Heights in New York City. But I don't know if there's any other Dominican people here, but I know that Juan Eiquez, he was here yesterday. And I think he's Mexican, so that's -- honestly, that's close enough for me, right now. So -- (Laughter)

I just -- I'm sorry. I'm just trying not to be nervous because this is a very wonderful experience for me and everything. And I just -- you know I'm not used to doing public speaking. And whenever I get nervous I start to talk really fast. Nobody can understand nothing I'm saying, which is very frustrating for me, as you can imagine. I usually have to just like try to calm down and take a deep breath. But then on top of that, you know, Sarah Jones told me we only have 18 minutes. So then I'm like, should I be nervous, you know, because maybe it's better. And I'm just trying not to panic and freak out. So I like, take a deep breath.

Okay. Sorry. So anyway, what I was trying to say is that I really love TED. Like, I love everything about this. It's amazing. Like, it's -- I can't get over this right now. And, like, people would not believe, seriously, where I'm from, that this even exists. You know, like even,

I mean I love like the name, the -- TED. I mean I know it's a real person and everything, but I'm just saying that like, you know, I think it's very cool how it's also an acronym, you know, which is like, you know, is like very high concept and everything like that. I like that.

And actually, I can relate to the whole like acronym thing and everything. Because, actually, I'm a sophomore at college right now. At my school -- actually I was part of co-founding an organization, which is like a leadership thing, you know, like you guys, you would really like it and everything. And the organization is called DA BOMB, And DA BOMB -- not like what you guys can build and everything -- It's like, DA BOMB, it means like Dominican -- it's an acronym -- Dominican American Benevolent Organization for Mothers and Babies. So, I know, see, like the name is like a little bit long, but with the war on terror and everything, the Dean of Student Activities has asked us to stop saying DA BOMB and use the whole thing so nobody would get the wrong idea, whatever. So, basically like DA BOMB -- what Dominican American Benevolent Organization for Mothers and Babies does is, basically, we try to advocate for students who show a lot of academic promise and who also happen to be mothers like me. I am a working mother, and I also go to school full-time. And, you know, it's like -- it's so important to have like role models out there. I mean, I know sometimes our lifestyles are very different, whatever. But like even at my job -- like, I just got promoted. Right now it's very exciting actually for me because I'm the Junior Assistant to the Associate Director under the Senior Vice President for Business Development. That's my new title. So, but I think whether you own your own company or you're just starting out like me, like something like this so vital for people to just continue expanding their minds and learning. And if everybody, like all people really had access to that, it would be a very different world out there, as I know you know. So, I think all people, we need that, but especially, I look at people like me, you know like, I mean, Latinos, we're about to be the majority, in like two weeks. So, we deserve just as much to be part of the exchange of ideas as everybody else. So, I'm very happy that you're, you know, doing this kind of thing, making the talks available online. That's very good. I love that. And I just -- I love you guys. I love TED. And if you don't mind, privately now, in the future, I'm going to think of TED as an acronym for Technology, Entertainment and Dominicans. Thank you very much. (Laughter) (Applause) So, that was Noraida, and just like Loraine and everybody else you're meeting today, these are folks who are based on real people from my real life. Friends, neighbors, family members. I come from a multicultural family. In fact, the older lady you just met, very, very loosely based on a great aunt on my mother's side. It's a long story, believe me. But

on top of my family background, my parents also sent me to United Nations school, where I encountered a plethora of new characters including Alexandre, my French teacher, okay.

Well, you know, it was beginner French, that I am taking with her, you know. And it was Madame Bousson, you know, she was very [French]. It was like, you know, she was there in the class, you know, she was kind of typically French. You know, she was was very chic, but she was very filled with ennui, you know. And she would be there, you know, kind of talking with the class, you know, talking about the, you know, the existential futility of life, you know. And we were only 11 years old, so it was not appropriate.

But [German]. Yes, I took German for three years, [German], and it was quite the experience because I was the only black girl in the class, even in the UN school. Although, you know, it was wonderful. The teacher, Herr Schtopf, he never discriminated. Never. He always, always treated each of us, you know, equally unbearably during the class.

So, there were the teachers and then there were my friends, classmates from everywhere. Many of whom are still dear friends to this day. And they've inspired many characters as well. For example, a friend of mine. Well, I just wanted to quickly say good evening. My name is Praveen Manvi and thank you very much for this opportunity. Of course, TED, the reputation precedes itself all over the world. But, you know, I am originally from India, and I wanted to start by telling you that once Sarah Jones told me that we will be having the opportunity to come here to TED in California, originally, I was very pleased and, frankly, relieved because, you know, I am a human rights advocate. And usually my work, it takes me to Washington D.C. And there, I must attend these meetings, mingling with some tiresome politicians, trying to make me feel comfortable by telling how often they are eating the curry in Georgetown. So, you can just imagine -- right. So, but I'm thrilled to be joining all of you here. I wish we had more time together, but that's for another time. OkayGreat. (Applause)

And, sadly, I don't think we'll have time for you to meet everybody I brought, but -- I'm trying to behave myself. It's my first time here. But I do want to introduce you to a couple of folks you may recognize, if you saw "Bridge and Tunnel."

Uh, well, thank you. Good evening. My name is Pauline Ning, and first I want to tell you that I'm -- of course I am a member of the Chinese community in New York. But when Sarah Jones asked me to please come to TED, I said,