A first for technology, many firsts for humanity

Vodafone has recently launched a ‘firsts’ campaign to ‘help people do things for the first time’. At firsts.com, you’ll be able to view videos following inspirational people such as, for example, Olympian Mary Kom as she builds India’s first female fight club in the remote region of Manipur or rapper Spoek Mathambo, who crosses Africa to create his own musical First. As part of the campaign, one small seed delves into an endearing partnership between young Brazilians and elderly Americans, who get together via online video chat to learn English and exchange valuable life lessons.

Those of you who have spoken a foreign language for the first time will know what its power feels like. With the naive enthusiasm of the newly rich, you’re suddenly elevated from the in-the-dark fool status to a participating influencer, a bearer of insights and an individual with power. Although first attempts at making yourself understood are often bumpy, filled with traps and generally very awkward, the journey of ‘language firsts’ – from being able to pronounce a word for the first time to understanding the humour of the foreign vernacular – is transformative and can ultimately lead to the acquisition of a completely new personality. But, as the recent Speaking Exchange project by CNA and FCB Brazil – a global advertising agency focused on creative marketing – made clear, the first awareness of its strength is only really felt when tested on an actual human being.

Through creating a conversation program that brings together English-as-a-Foreign-Language students from Brazil and senior American citizens via online video chat, Speaking Exchange outdoes many of its fellow e-learning initiatives when it comes to cultural representation, cross-generational exchange and ‘fun education’.

CNA explains how it works:

The student logs into the program, chooses a senior who is online, and starts talking.

For a while the conversation is guided with suggestions of topics, for example.

At the end, the conversations video goes to a private link to our YouTube Channel for teacher evaluation.

Learners get to actively implement and improve their newly acquired skills and, often bored, retirement-home residents have a partner for chit-chat. The project is currently in its ‘pilot stage’ but the first video-recorded experiments quickly got over a million views on YouTube and – due to the development of extremely cute conversations – inspired a lot of emotional feedback on Twitter, such as ‘you may cry’ by @Chicagobot News or ‘Another touching video on YouTube. Like I said before, I became too emotional.’ by B.. In response to interest from all over the world, CNA commented on their Facebook page that the program is only available at their schools at the moment, but they’re open to new ideas and expansion. Possibly unaware of its potential impact, the 580-schools-strong language centre network may have created a ‘first for technology’ that has the ability to generate many more future firsts within humanitarian, cultural and creative fields.

Although the Internet has contributed to cultural exchange and expansion in a variety of forms, it has rarely been responsible for fostering real human relationships. There may be the odd romance that has sprung from an encounter in a chat room, but generally the www has taught us to lol, *blush* and xoxo without much thinking of further consequence. Or to #hashtag emotions with, for example, #morethanfriends and #itslove before engaging with actual heartfelt laughter, blushing cheeks or the emotional reverb after hearing the words ‘I love you’. In the Speaking Exchange video by CNA and FCB Brazil, however, real situations marked by spontaneity in body language are created through the use of online technology.

If the program was made accessible to all language learners – maybe in the form of an online platform similar to a dating site sans sleaze – the consequences could be tremendously positive. As Vodafone points out, ‘doing something for the first time feels amazing’ and so is expressing one’s opinion in a foreign language for the first time, being able to make someone laugh in a foreign language for the first time or – as the video suggests – inviting a new found friend to stay at your home for the first time. But, most importantly, this feeling is connected to a sense of achievement that takes away a significant filter from your field of perception. Like esoteric mind expansion if you will, you suddenly have access to another person’s emotions and insights – qualities that have the potential to open endless doors.

And this is not just because you can understand what your senior buddy is saying or read the 71% of webpages that are written in English. A new language can apparently make you a more insightful person. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, for example, claims that the structure of a language can influence the way you see the world. Or, according to a study at the University of Edinburgh, bilingual children are better problem solvers and less likely to lose their memory to dementia when they get old. So, if you get over that first flimsy rope bridge – also referred to as ‘language barrier’ – you’re in a world filled with new sounds, rhythms and colours. Automatically, you’re a new person, someone who can relate to that world.

The video suggests that it’s a place filled with wisdom, compassion and friendship. When last did you get a hug from your granddad? Or tell him that he’s good looking? Or invite him to stay at your house!? Although exchanging ‘I love yous’ with strangers may appear creepy to some, the bonds formed in the clip are priceless. What has happened to relationships with the older generation? Big family houses where three generations live under one roof seem to be a thing of the past in Western culture, and hanging out with granny ain’t a thing you do after school. Not that you shouldn’t though, in fact do it at school because, as Speaking Exchange delightfully shows, cross-generational relationships are eye-opening for everyone involved. Not only is a new language learned, but a valuable platform for knowledge exchange is formed. Amadou Hampâté Bâ once said,

In Africa, when an old man dies, it’s a library burning,

when referring to the continent’s ‘oral culture’ of passing on knowledge. An idea that may be abandoned in the West, but has endless potential to be explored. What you can’t learn in books, you’ll learn through Speaking Exchange. The program can inspire mutual respect for old and young, create unlikely ‘get-togethers’ and be a medium for ‘wisdom access’ to trigger new ideas for concepts, trends and endless first times.

When was the first time you were able to practice your foreign language skills on a real human being? Was it awkward, funny, empowering? What was the message you managed to put across?

Leave a comment below or tweet @onesmallseedSA and @VodafoneFirsts to share your #first.

Words by Christine Hogg

For more information about the Vodafone Firsts programme click here.