Top of the Pops?

Top languages they’ve experienced through their favourite actors, singers or AQUILA Pops OF THE 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 been in English; the infamous romance “Call Me By Your Name” is in a combination of French, Italian, German and English (all without any subtitles provided) and “Spirited Away,” the first animated film to win an Oscar and IMDB’s 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 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. Is the rise of foreign pop culture Fast forward to 2019, however, and breaking down the language barrier? it’s an entirely different story. Record In September 2018, South Korean boy study in foreign countries and films, band BTS spoke at the United Nations books and television shows are being International Assembly about their translated into hundreds of languages. anti-violence campaign. Watchers A report by the Modern Language across the world were shocked that Association shows that Korean uptake a boy band would be given this in US universities rose by almost 14% opportunity, but a brief look back at between 2013 and 2016, while overall the development of international poplanguage enrolment was in decline. culture puts this initial surprise to rest. Duolingo’s Korean programme has “Despacito,” a Latin pop song by attracted over 200,000 pupils since its renowned Spanish artists Luis Fonsi launch in 2017 - and the vast majority and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin of these people have been attracted Bieber, was the first Spanish song to the language because it’s what their to chart internationally since the favourite artists sing, rap and speak in. Macarena in 1993. Some of the most Korean is just one example, picked popular and well-awarded films in the from many, that demonstrates the USA over the past few years haven’t enthusiasm of young people to learn numbers of students are choosing to

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, it’s 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 don’t understand a word of, or are painstakingly watching hours of television shows with subtitles so that they understand what’s 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 wouldn’t we?

As for what this all means, it’s 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 don’t 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