ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adora Svitak - Child prodigy
A prolific short story writer and blogger since age seven, Adora Svitak (now 12) speaks around the United States to adults and children as an advocate for literacy.

Why you should listen

A voracious reader from age three, Adora Svitak's first serious foray into writing -- at age five -- was limited only by her handwriting and spelling. (Her astonishing verbal abilities already matched that of young adults over twice her age.) As her official bio says, her breakthrough would soon come "in the form of a used Dell laptop her mother bought her." At age seven, she typed out over 250,000 words -- poetry, short stories, observations about the world -- in a single year.

Svitak has since fashioned her beyond-her-years wordsmithing into an inspiring campaign for literacy -- speaking across the country to both adults and kids. She is author of Flying Fingers, a book on learning.

More profile about the speaker
Adora Svitak | Speaker | TED.com
TED2010

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids

Adora Svitak: Cfare mund te mesojne te rriturit prej femijeve.

Filmed:
6,022,458 views

Vajza e mrekullueshme Adora Svitak mendon se bota ka nevoje per mendime "femijesh": ide guximtare, krijimtari te eger dhe mbi te gjitha optimizem. Enderrat e medha te femijeve meritojne besim , vazhdon ajo, duke nisur me iniciativen e te rriturve tu mesojne femijeve dhe ne te njejten kohe te mesojne prej tyre
- Child prodigy
A prolific short story writer and blogger since age seven, Adora Svitak (now 12) speaks around the United States to adults and children as an advocate for literacy. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Now, I want to start with a question:
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Deshiroj te filloj me nje pyetje:
00:17
When was the last time you were called childish?
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Kur ishte hera e fundit qe ju thane po silleshit si nje femije
00:20
For kids like me,
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Per femije si une,
00:22
being called childish can be a frequent occurrence.
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te quajturit feminor eshte nje ndodhi e shpeshte.
00:25
Every time we make irrational demands,
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Sa here qe bejme kerkesa iracionale
00:28
exhibit irresponsible behavior
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sillemi ne menyre te papergjegjeshme
00:30
or display any other signs
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ose shfaqim shenja te tjera
00:32
of being normal American citizens,
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te nje normal qytetar Amerikan
00:34
we are called childish.
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quhemi fëmijë,
00:36
Which really bothers me.
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e cila vertet me shqeteson.
00:38
After all, take a look at these events:
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Ne fund te fundit, hidhuni nje sy ketyre ndodhive
00:40
Imperialism and colonization,
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Imperializimi dhe kolonizimi
00:43
world wars, George W. Bush.
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luftrat boterore, George, W Bush.
00:46
Ask yourself, who's responsible? Adults.
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Pyesni veten: Kush eshte përgjegjës? Te rriturit.
00:49
Now, what have kids done?
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Tani, cfare kane bere femijet ?
00:52
Well, Anne Frank touched millions
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Atehere, Anne Frank mallëngjeu miliona
00:54
with her powerful account of the Holocaust,
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me tregimet a saj te fuqishme per Holokaustin,
00:57
Ruby Bridges helped to end segregation in the United States,
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Ruby Bridges ndihmoi te jepte fund segregimit ne Shtetet e Bashkuara,
01:00
and, most recently,
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dhe, me se fundmi,
01:02
Charlie Simpson helped to raise
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Charlie Simpson mblodhi
01:04
120,000 pounds for Haiti
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£120.000 paund per Haiti
01:06
on his little bike.
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me bicikleten e tij te vogel
01:08
So, as you can see evidenced by such examples,
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Keshtu, sic mund ta shikoni te evidentuar nga keto raste
01:11
age has absolutely nothing to do with it.
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mosha nuk ka te beje fare.
01:14
The traits the word childish addresses
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Vetite qe fjala feminor adreson
01:16
are seen so often in adults
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shpesh vihen re tek te rriturit
01:18
that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word
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dhe ne duhet te heqim dore nga kjo fjale diskriminuese ne lidhje me moshen
01:20
when it comes to criticizing behavior
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kur kritikojme sjelljen
01:22
associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.
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ne lidhje me papergjegjesine dhe mendimin iracional.
01:25
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
01:31
Thank you.
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Faleminderit
01:33
Then again, who's to say
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Dhe prape, kush e vendos
01:35
that certain types of irrational thinking
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qe disa lloje mendimi iracional
01:37
aren't exactly what the world needs?
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nuk jane pikerisht ato per te cilat bota ka nevoje.
01:40
Maybe you've had grand plans before
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Ndoshta ju kishit deshira te medha me pare,
01:42
but stopped yourself, thinking,
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por e ndale veten duke menduar:
01:44
"That's impossible," or, "That costs too much,"
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Eshte e pamundur ose kushton shume
01:46
or, "That won't benefit me."
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ose kjo nuk do te me ndihmoj mua.
01:48
For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much
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Per mire apo keq, ne femijet nuk mendojme shume
01:51
when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things.
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kur vjen ceshtja tek arsyet pse nuk duhen bere gjera.
01:54
Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations
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Femijet mund te kene plot aspirata frymezuese
01:56
and hopeful thinking.
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dhe mendime shpresemedha
01:58
Like my wish that no one went hungry
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si deshira ime qe askush te mos ndihet i uritur
02:00
or that everything were a free kind of utopia.
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ose si utopia qe cdo gje duhet te jete e lire.
02:03
How many of you still dream like that
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Sa nga ju akoma enderroni ashtu
02:05
and believe in the possibilities?
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dhe besoni ne mundesi?
02:08
Sometimes a knowledge of history
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Ndonjehere njohja e historise
02:10
and the past failures of utopian ideals
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dhe deshtimeve te idealeve utopike te kaluara
02:12
can be a burden
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mund te jete nje barre
02:14
because you know that if everything were free,
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sepse ju e dini qe nese cdo gje eshte e lire
02:16
then the food stocks would become depleted
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grumbulli i ushqimit do te harxhohej
02:18
and scarce and lead to chaos.
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dhe do te pakesohej dhe do conte drejt dhe ne kaos.
02:20
On the other hand,
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Nga ana tjeter,
02:22
we kids still dream about perfection.
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ne femijet akoma enderrojme per perfekten
02:24
And that's a good thing because in order
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dhe kjo eshte dicka e mire sepse ne menyre
02:26
to make anything a reality,
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qe te bejme gjerat realitet
02:28
you have to dream about it first.
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duhet ta enderrosh ne fillim.
02:30
In many ways, our audacity to imagine
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Ne shume menyra, guximi per te imagjinuar
02:33
helps push the boundaries of possibility.
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ndihmon te shtysh tutje limitet e mundesise.
02:36
For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington,
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Per shembull, ne Museun e Xhamit ne Tacoma, Washington
02:39
my home state -- yoohoo Washington!
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shteti im ametar --yoohoo Washington-
02:41
(Applause) --
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(Duartrokitje)
02:44
has a program called Kids Design Glass,
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ka nje program te quajtur Femijet Dizenjojne Xhamin
02:46
and kids draw their own ideas for glass art.
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dhe femijet projektojne idete e tyre artistike me xham.
02:48
Now, the resident artist said they got
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Tani, artisti rezident tha qe morren
02:50
some of their best ideas through the program
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disa nga idete me te mira nepermjet ketij programit
02:52
because kids don't think about the limitations
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sepse femijet nuk mendojne per limitet
02:54
of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes;
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apo se sa e veshtire eshte te perthyesh xhamin ne disa forma.
02:56
they just think of good ideas.
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Ata thjesht mendojme per ide te mira
02:58
Now, when you think of glass, you might
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Kur ju vjen ne mendje xhami, ju mund te
03:00
think of colorful Chihuly designs
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mendoni per dizenjime shumengjyreshe prej Chihuly
03:03
or maybe Italian vases,
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ose ndoshta vazo Italiane,
03:05
but kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that
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por femijet sfidojne artistet e xhamit te mendojne me tej
03:08
into the realm of broken-hearted snakes
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ne dimensionin e gjarperinjeve zemerthyer
03:10
and bacon boys, who you can see has meat vision.
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dhe kukullave prej bejkon, qe sic mund ta shikoni kane vizione prej mishi.
03:13
(Laughter)
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(Te qeshura)
03:15
Now, our inherent wisdom
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Tani, mencuria jone e trasheguar
03:17
doesn't have to be insider's knowledge.
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nuk ka pse te jete njohuria e njerezve te specializuar.
03:20
Kids already do a lot of learning from adults,
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Dihet qe femijet mesojne shume nga te rriturit,
03:23
and we have a lot to share.
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dhe gjithashtu ka shume gjera per te ndare.
03:25
I think that adults should start learning from kids.
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Une mendoj qe te rriturit duhet te fillojne te mesojne nga femijet.
03:29
Now, I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd,
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Une bej nje pjese te mire te ligjeratave perpara nje turme te arsimuar
03:32
teachers and students, and I like this analogy:
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mesues dhe student, dhe me pelqen kjo analogji.
03:34
It shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom
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Nuk duhet te jete vetem mesuesi ne krye te klases
03:36
telling students, "Do this, do that."
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duke u thene studentve, beni kete ose ate.
03:38
The students should teach their teachers.
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Studentet duhet tu japin mesim mesuesve te tyre gjithashtu.
03:41
Learning between grown ups and kids
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Procesi is mesimit midis te rriturve dhe femijeve
03:43
should be reciprocal.
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duhet te jete reciprok.
03:45
The reality, unfortunately, is a little different,
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Fatkeqesisht, e verteta eshte pak ndryshe,
03:48
and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
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dhe ka shume te bej me besim ose me mungesen e tij.
03:51
Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right?
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Nese nuk ke besim tek dikush, ndodh qe i kufizon apo jo.
03:54
If I doubt my older sister's ability
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Nese do te dyshoja aftesine e motres time te madhe
03:56
to pay back the 10 percent interest
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qe te me paguante me 10 per qind interesin
03:58
I established on her last loan,
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qe vendosa ne huamarrjen e saj,
04:00
I'm going to withhold her ability to get more money from me
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Atehere do ta ndaloja ate te me merrte akoma leke hua
04:03
until she pays it back. (Laughter)
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derisa te ma paguante plotesisht.
04:05
True story, by the way.
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Meqe ra fjala, eshte histori e vertet.
04:07
Now, adults seem to have
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Ndodh qe te rriturit te kene
04:10
a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids
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nje sjellje kufizuese te perhapur kundrejt femijeve
04:13
from every "don't do that,
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qe nga cdo "mos e bej ate"
04:15
don't do this" in the school handbook
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"mos e bej kete" ne fletore
04:17
to restrictions on school Internet use.
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deri tek perdorimi i internetit ne shkolle.
04:20
As history points out, regimes become oppressive
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Sic e ka treguar historia, regjimet behen me shtypese
04:23
when they're fearful about keeping control.
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kur ndihen te kercenuar ne lidhje me ushtrimin e kontrollit.
04:25
And although adults may not be quite at the level
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Dhe megjithese, te rriturit nuk jane ne nivelin
04:27
of totalitarian regimes,
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e regjimeve totalitare,
04:29
kids have no, or very little say in making the rules,
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ndodh qe femijet nuk kane ose kane pak impakt ne vendosjen e rregullave
04:32
when really the attitude should be reciprocal,
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ne nje kohe kur sjellja duhet te jete reciproke.
04:34
meaning that the adult population should learn
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gje qe do te thote qe te rriturit duhet te mesojne
04:36
and take into account the wishes
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te konsiderojne deshirat
04:38
of the younger population.
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e me te rinjve
04:40
Now, what's even worse than restriction
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Cfare eshte me keq sesa kufizimi
04:42
is that adults often underestimate kids abilities.
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eshte qe te rriturit shpesh nenvleresojne aftesite e femijve.
04:45
We love challenges, but when expectations are low,
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Ne i duam sfidat, por kur besimi eshte i ulet
04:48
trust me, we will sink to them.
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me besoni, ne fundosemi.
04:51
My own parents had anything but low expectations
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Prinderit e mi kishin cdo gje pervec mungeses se besimit
04:54
for me and my sister.
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per mua dhe motren time.
04:56
Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors
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Normalisht, ata nuk na thane te beheshim doktore
04:59
or lawyers or anything like that,
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apo avokate ose dicka te ngjashme
05:01
but my dad did read to us
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por babi na lexonte
05:03
about Aristotle
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per Aristotelin
05:05
and pioneer germ fighters
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dhe per luftuesit e pare te mikrobeve,
05:07
when lots of other kids were hearing
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ne nje kohe kur shume femije te tjere degjonin
05:09
"The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round."
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"Rrotat e autobusit shkojne rreth e qark".
05:11
Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules.
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Normalisht e kemi degjuar dhe ate por "Luftuesit Pioner te Mikrobeve" eshte mbigjithecka.
05:14
(Laughter)
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(Te qeshura)
05:16
I loved to write from the age of four,
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Me pelqente te shkruaja qysh nga mosha kater vjec,
05:18
and when I was six
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dhe kur isha gjashte
05:20
my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word.
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mami me bleu laptop-in tim te paisur me Microsoft Word
05:23
Thank you Bill Gates and thank you Ma.
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Faleminderit Bill Gates dhe faleminderit mami.
05:25
I wrote over 300 short stories
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Kam shkruar mbi 300 tregime te shkurtra
05:27
on that little laptop,
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me ate laptop
05:29
and I wanted to get published.
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dhe desha ti botoja.
05:32
Instead of just scoffing at this heresy
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Ne vend qe te talleshin me idene
05:34
that a kid wanted to get published
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qe nje femije donte te botonte
05:36
or saying wait until you're older,
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ose te thoshin prit sa te rritesh,
05:38
my parents were really supportive.
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prinderit e mi me mbeshteten shume.
05:40
Many publishers were not quite so encouraging,
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Shume botues nuk ishin inkurajues.
05:44
one large children's publisher ironically saying
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Nje botues i madh per libra femijesh tha ne menyre ironike
05:47
that they didn't work with children --
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qe ata nuk punonin me femije.
05:49
children's publisher not working with children?
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Botues per femije qe nuk punon me femije?
05:52
I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client there.
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Nuk e di, por duket sikur po tjeterson nje klient te madh aty.
05:55
(Laughter)
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(Te qeshura)
05:57
Now, one publisher, Action Publishing,
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Nje botues, Action Publishing
06:00
was willing to take that leap and trust me
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kishte vullnetin te merrte kurajon dhe te besonte
06:03
and to listen to what I had to say.
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dhe te degjonte cfare kisha per te thene.
06:05
They published my first book, "Flying Fingers," -- you see it here --
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Ata botuan librin tim te pare "Gishta Fluturues,"-- mund ta shikoni ketu --
06:08
and from there on, it's gone to speaking at hundreds of schools,
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dhe qysh prej atehere, eshte perdorur ne qindra shkolla
06:12
keynoting to thousands of educators
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dhe u adresohet mijra edukatorve,
06:14
and finally, today, speaking to you.
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dhe se fundmi, sot, duke folur me ju.
06:16
I appreciate your attention today,
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E vleresoj vemendjen tuaj sot
06:18
because to show that you truly care,
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sepse tregon qe vertet e konsideroni,
06:20
you listen.
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ju degjuat.
06:22
But there's a problem with this rosy picture
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Por ka nje problem me kete situate roze
06:25
of kids being so much better than adults.
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sesi femijet jane me mire sesa te rriturit.
06:28
Kids grow up and become adults just like you.
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Femijet rriten dhe behen te rritur tamam si ju.
06:31
(Laughter)
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(Te qeshura)
06:33
Or just like you? Really?
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ose si ju, vertet ?
06:35
The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult,
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Synimi eshte te mos ti kthejme femijet ne kete lloj te rriturish,
06:38
but rather better adults than you have been,
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por ne te rritur me te mire sesa keni qene ju,
06:41
which may be a little challenging
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dicka qe mund te jete pak e veshtire
06:43
considering your guys' credentials (Laughter).
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duke konsideruar kredencialet tuaja
06:45
But the way progress happens
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por menyra sesi progresi ndodh
06:47
is because new generations and new eras
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eshte sepse gjenerata te reja dhe kohe te reja
06:50
grow and develop and become better than the previous ones.
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rriten, zhvillohen dhe permiresohen me shume sesa te meparshmet.
06:53
It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore.
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Eshte arsyeja pse nuk jemi me ne Epoken e Erret.
06:56
No matter your position or place in life,
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Pavaresisht nga pozicionet tuaj ne jete
06:59
it is imperative to create opportunities for children
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eshte e detyrueshme te krijohen mundesi per femijet
07:02
so that we can grow up to blow you away.
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ne menyre qe ne te rritemi tju zevendesojme ju.
07:05
(Laughter)
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(Te qeshura)
07:08
Adults and fellow TEDsters,
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Te rritur dhe pjesemarres ne TED
07:10
you need to listen and learn from kids
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ju duhet te degjoni dhe te mesoni nga femijet
07:12
and trust us and expect more from us.
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te na besoni dhe te prisni me shume nga ne.
07:16
You must lend an ear today,
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Duhet te na vini vesh sot,
07:18
because we are the leaders of tomorrow,
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sepse ne jemi liderat e te ardhmes,
07:20
which means we're going to be taking care of you
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cka do te thote qe ne do te kujdesemi per ju
07:22
when you're old and senile. No, just kidding.
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kur te jeni te vjeter dhe te moshur. Jo, thjesht po bej shaka.
07:25
No, really, we are going to be the next generation,
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Seriozisht, ne do jemi gjenerata tjeter,
07:28
the ones who will bring this world forward.
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ajo qe do te coj boten me tej.
07:31
And in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you,
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Dhe, nese ju mendoni qe kjo nuk ka rendesi per ju
07:34
remember that cloning is possible,
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konsideroni qe klonimi eshte i mundur,
07:36
and that involves going through childhood again,
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dhe perfshin te kthehesh ne femijeri perseri,
07:38
in which case you'll want to be heard
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per te cilen, ju mund te doni te dini
07:40
just like my generation.
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njesoj si gjenerata ime.
07:42
Now, the world needs opportunities
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Bota ka nevoje per mundesi
07:45
for new leaders and new ideas.
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per lider dhe ide te reja.
07:48
Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed.
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Femijet kane nevoje per mundesi ne menyre qe te drejtojne dhe t'ja dalin mbane.
07:51
Are you ready to make the match?
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Jeni gati ta realizoni?
07:53
Because the world's problems
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Sepse problemet e botes
07:55
shouldn't be the human family's heirloom.
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s'mund te jene placke e vyer e familjes.
07:58
Thank you.
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Faleminderit
08:00
(Applause)
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(Duratrokitje)
08:03
Thank you. Thank you.
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Falemiderit. Faleminderit.
Translated by Alida Hamo
Reviewed by Valbona Bushi

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Adora Svitak - Child prodigy
A prolific short story writer and blogger since age seven, Adora Svitak (now 12) speaks around the United States to adults and children as an advocate for literacy.

Why you should listen

A voracious reader from age three, Adora Svitak's first serious foray into writing -- at age five -- was limited only by her handwriting and spelling. (Her astonishing verbal abilities already matched that of young adults over twice her age.) As her official bio says, her breakthrough would soon come "in the form of a used Dell laptop her mother bought her." At age seven, she typed out over 250,000 words -- poetry, short stories, observations about the world -- in a single year.

Svitak has since fashioned her beyond-her-years wordsmithing into an inspiring campaign for literacy -- speaking across the country to both adults and kids. She is author of Flying Fingers, a book on learning.

More profile about the speaker
Adora Svitak | Speaker | TED.com