From lost in translation to a global success

This man didn't speak a word of English when he came to America in the 80s.

At one point he mistook a restaurant menu to be a top secret, confidential document!

And it took him over 5 years of rigorous training to get good at the language.

He’s none other than our beloved, Jackie Chan.

We all love his slapstick comedy, & his out of the box thinking gave us the new genre of ”Comedy Kung Fu”.

And despite all the success, little is known about his struggles with the English language.

As a non native speaker, his journey was anything but smooth sailing.

There were disappointments & heavy doses of self doubt.

At one point he almost quit his “American dream” of making it big in Hollywood, because of the language.

In an interview with Roosie O donald, he shared the hard times he had with English. So much so that jumping of buildings and doing stunts was easier for him than delivering a dialogue in English!

“No one cared about whether my action sequences and scenes were good. They only praised me when I got my lines right!”

“I think it [English] is the most difficult language… first time when I come to the United States, I just know, ‘Hello, my name is Jackie Chan.’ I even, I don’t know how to order food,” he said.

Here’s a clip from that interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyJOS7Y08I0&ab_channel=IAmUs

So how did this Chinese guy coming from Hong- kong overcome this to become the superstar we know today?

1. Immersing himself into an English-speaking environment. An all English crowd, made him shift base from Hong king to the states.

2. Cultural & contextual Integration. Understanding the context, mannerisms, & background of things, helped him get a good hang on this.

3. Recording himself- Listening to his voice & making notes on them. This helped him identify his areas for improvement in pronunciation & fluency.

4. Watching himself talk: Using a mirror to observe his mouth movements and facial expressions while speaking the language.

5. Imitating what he heard on TV: Mimicking English movies, songs, anything that involved tha language.

Jackie learning English, charging pennies.

Jackie after getting good at it, making millions.

And how many of these can you apply to improve?

Almost all of them.

Most importantly, start with a strong why.

Just like in everything life, you have to have a strong reason why you wanna get better at English.

Is it:

1. For a better job?

2. Impressing a possible partner?

3. Making connections with people in different parts of the world?

What is it?

Write it down.

And don't ever be afraid to make mistakes!

Look here. He delivers the line with the same conviction, not flinching one second in his delivery, realizing only later he mixed the words.

And all this made him a household name world over!

Adults love him.

Oldies love him.

Kids love him.

Heck, they even made a anime series on him.

Imagine what would become of him if he had just shrugged of learning the language, what a loss it would have been.

Like it or not but English is the language of the market, and it is your duty to get better at it.

How else will you:

1. Communicate your ideas.

2. Connect with a global audience.

3. Collaborate with possible partners.

Hope that helped!

Are you facing language barriers or challenges in your own journey?

DM me on X, and get access to my 2 week exclusive course (for free)! https://twitter.com/wellverse1

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