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Is the rise of foreign pop culture breaking down the language barrier? In September 2018, South Korean boy band BTS spoke at the United Nations International Assembly about their anti-violence campaign. Watchers across the world were shocked that a boy band would be given this opportunity, but a brief look back at the development of international popculture puts this initial surprise to rest. âDespacito,â a Latin pop song by renowned Spanish artists Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, was the first Spanish song to chart internationally since the Macarena in 1993. Some of the most popular and well-awarded films in the USA over the past few years havenât been in English; the infamous romance âCall Me By Your Nameâ is in a combination of French, Italian, German and English (all without any subtitles provided) and âSpirited Away,â the first animated film to win an Oscar and IMDBâs highest rated animated film, is entirely in Japanese. Western popular culture no longer revolves around the English language in the way that it used to, and teenagers and young adults across the world are scrambling to learn the
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languages theyâve experienced through their favourite actors, singers or internet personalities.
2018 was a revolutionary year in terms of the breaking down of language barriers. In the past, the boundaries caused by language affected global culture in hugely significant ways - from music and television to international students, tourism and immigration - language barriers made life difficult for those who wanted more than what their home country had to offer. Fast forward to 2019, however, and itâs an entirely different story. Record numbers of students are choosing to study in foreign countries and films, books and television shows are being translated into hundreds of languages. A report by the Modern Language Association shows that Korean uptake in US universities rose by almost 14% between 2013 and 2016, while overall language enrolment was in decline. Duolingoâs Korean programme has attracted over 200,000 pupils since its launch in 2017 - and the vast majority of these people have been attracted to the language because itâs what their favourite artists sing, rap and speak in. Korean is just one example, picked from many, that demonstrates the enthusiasm of young people to learn
languages. Due to the rise of media content in a multitude of languages, millions of young people across the world are becoming accustomed to not being able to understand what their favourite celebrities are saying without translation. To the bafflement of older generations, itâs rapidly becoming the norm to no longer let a language barrier stop someone from liking a TV show, film, artist or book. Teenagers are going to concerts in order to hear artists sing in languages that they donât understand a word of, or are painstakingly watching hours of television shows with subtitles so that they understand whatâs going on. Why would they do this? Thanks to social media, we have access to cultures that we would never have heard of or been able to learn about otherwise, and many enjoy experiencing these cultures through media content and the people who exist within it. Generation Z, the name given to those born from 1996 onwards, has an advantage over any other generation to date due to growing up accustomed to the use of the internet; the fast-paced nature of digital development and how that affects socialisation is boring to us. We can talk to people in every country of the world in seconds, so why wouldnât we? As for what this all means, itâs being interpreted in various different ways. While some see this as a bad thing - after all, shipping albums and downloading TV shows from a different hemisphere is costly and time-consuming, and may seem pointless if you donât even speak the language - others see this as the beginning of something much bigger. In a time of international conflict, with world wars in our past and potentially hovering in the future, it could not be more important for young people to reach out to other countries for comfort through entertainment and even for friends. This phenomenon is one that is only getting bigger. E Eisenberg, Lower Sixth
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