The Power of Listening to Criticism

in the age of communication

everyone loves to talk just as tedx

is also an opportunity a stage for

people who love to express themselves

but how much value this stage has

depends on you

the audience the listener so

listen to me i come from china and i’m

very fortunate to have the chance to

learn abroad

and receive a diverse education in my

opinion

intercultural communication is my social

responsibility

as an international student it allows

people in the

global village to understand each other

better and bring people

closer however cultural exchange

is never the same as cultural output

speaking alone

not listening does not constitute

communication

i have come to germany to attend high

school for more than one year

both in and out of school i often hear

discussions about china

with its rapid development china is

often praised

and complemented but more often it is

criticized

and questioned like me

many chinese students are really

concerned about other people’s views on

china

because chinese people want to be

friends with people from all over the

world

faced with doubts and criticisms

gradually i found that

rather than rushing to respond to these

opinions or

argue immediately with some racists

quietly listening to criticism first

makes me more powerful

after listening to criticism i began to

reflect on myself

having looked at many media reports i

realized that

china’s environmental pollution is a

real and major problem

for instance although in my hometown

nanjing

there are already regulations on with

sorting not everyone is aware of it or

realizes the necessity of this policy

i began to examine whether i had done a

good job

of switch sorting all the time and try

my best

to improve the environmental protection

i know that as far as i am concerned in

the bigger picture

nothing can be changed immediately it

takes time

for the accumulation of knowledge which

does not happen overnight

in order to develop economy

phenomena such as environmental

pollution are almost unavailable

but just because it happened in the past

does not mean that we have not

progressed

nor does it mean that we cannot change

it in the future

self-reflection brings changes

ignoring the problem at hand simply

blinds people

to reality criticism

on the other hand can bring people to

progress

a truly civilized nation always listens

to criticism

and strives to improve itself whether

rich or poor

socrates said the unexamined life is not

worth living

this applies not only to individuals

but to countries as well at the

beginning of my studies abroad

i failed to understand why certain

stereotypes of china

persist how should i react to them

after pondering i came to understand

that the history of china

cannot be changed and should not be

erased the things

that more than chinese people should do

is to turn criticism into

motivation and redouble our efforts to

improve ourselves

and say no to unfair criticisms

behind our generation of international

students a group of ordinary parents

who recognize the importance of

education

instead of cradling children in their

arms to for the sake of their own

happiness

they try their best to provide children

a chance to see the world

therefore we carry the expectations of

our parents

absorbing the knowledge and culture from

different countries

presenting the face of the east to the

world while at the same time

suffering loneliness and even

discrimination

when we encounter criticism we should

first listen

and then try harder to improve

i know that efforts do not necessarily

mean success

of changing stereotypes however

changing bad impression is impossible

without hard work

so that we need to try a little bit

harder

we can not only fight against

discrimination after listening to them

without listening to criticism we are

even not

know that some critical comments are

actually discriminatory

so that we won’t stand up and fight

against it

criticism can also lead to us lead us to

a mutual understanding

let me share with you my experience in a

host family

during the holiday at lunch my

co-host mother asked me about eating

habits in china

looking at cold bread and potato salad i

said that

chinese people always eat eat one food

for three meals a day

she was shocked and bluntly commented

that

this was a waste of time afterwards

when she finished her meal and brought

the best

basket back to the kitchen i overheard

her say

making one meal requires hours

is there really nothing else to do

better than cook all day long in the

kitchen

moreover based on her recent visit to a

chinese restaurant in germany

she also expressed that chinese food a

pile

of high heavy seasonings

and unhealthy food in order to change

her

subjective evaluation i vividly

described my favorite chinese food

but this didn’t seem changed her mind

all i saw was an

awkward but polite smile

with doubts about chinese food i decided

to cook

for my host family even though i didn’t

have

extensive experience in the kitchen at

home i went to asian supermarket to buy

some ingredients

called my grandma to consult cooking

methods and also follow some online

cooking tutorials

one evening i made quickly a few dishes

for the host family

after the meal my host mother said to me

that

she not only thought that chinese food

was pretty delicious

but also felt the enthusiasm and warmth

of chinese people

through the food having faced doubts

about chinese food

i strengthened the communication with my

host family

from another perspective these

criticisms and doubts are also a warning

for me

as the most influential chinese

philosopher confucius said

don’t do unto others what you don’t want

others to do unto you

since i really suffered this unpleasant

frustration after being criticized

i’m more tolerant and respectful of a

variety of

traditions before spouting critical

or iran ironic comments i try to seek

the truth

and know more first an international

family like salem

with students from about 40 countries

listening to how people from different

cultural social

and political backgrounds see the world

even if it is super critical

always gives me a special perspective

and a different way of thinking

so students like me listen to criticism

and learn from them on the other hand

having experienced such injustice

i also want to encourage everybody to

think twice before criticizing others

last year in february i did an

internship in heidelberg

it was almost a perfect time except one

thing

one weekend as i was walking along the

naca

i met three teenagers they approached me

and shouted

your chronovirus get out of our country

the fact is tolerance is not justice

it isn’t a sufficient description of the

world we want

racists listen to unfair criticism of

yourself

i’m certain that you will feel very

uncomfortable so stop discriminating

your ex really hurt a lot of people

since last year the coronavirus pandemic

influences everybody’s life hopefully

the criticism that the epidemic has

generated all around the world

accelerates the pace of improving

medical systems

and shows social governance the severe

epidemic that the world is experiencing

will eventually be history i hope that

when future generations look back on

today

they are able to praise us that we did

not stop at the face of complaining

we are not defeated by the setbacks

instead of that

all of us break the boundaries of

nations religions and so on

we come together to listen to criticism

and learn from bad experience from the

last year

so that we can improve measures and do

our utmost

to prevent further spread of the virus

i also sincerely wish that this outbreak

will serve as a warning to the world

to avoid similar disasters in the future

dealing with criticism positively is an

important life skill

the first step of dealing with it is

listening

let’s listen to criticism and have power

i

wish all of you all the best and have a

better year than the last one

thank you