Judy Thompson, B.A., TESL Certification, professor, author and speaker is an expert in spoken English. A student herself of French and German, Judy knows firsthand the frustrations of learning to speak a new language. Judy lived and taught in South Korea and it was there that she had the first of many revelations about spoken English and how it should be taught.

Newcomers are embarrassed about their accents and grammar mistakes and native speakers are unaware that the way they speak makes it extremely difficult for non-native speakers to understand them.

Judy leads language classes for both native and non-native speakers to foster understanding and effective communication in our diverse community.

A long time resident of Caledon, Ontario, Judy has four children and lives with her husband Richard on a beautiful ten-acre hobby farm. She is an environmental activist who enjoys hiking and skiing. In her spare time, she raises champion hunter show ponies.

In this epic Talk, Colin OBrady, explains his journey back from a tragic burn accident only to ascend to the 7 tallest mountains and two poles on earth — in world record time.

His idea is centered around mindfulness and how one can achieve anything no matter the circumstances.

With special thanks to the UNIVERSITY OF OREGON for presenting partnership, a world class stage design provided by HENRY V, an incredible legacy bound book provided by PREMIER and to the creative digital craft provided by ENJOY THE WEATHER. All of our Partners and event history can be found TEDxPortland.com

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Colin, a native of Portland, is a testament to mindfulness, setting audacious goals and achieving them despite overwhelming odds. Last year, Colin set two world records: He became the fastest person ever to complete both the Seven Summits (climbing the highest peak on every continent) and the Explorers Grand Slam (the Seven Summits skiing to the last degree of the North and South Poles). He completed the challenges in 131 and 139 days, respectively. His nonprofit, Beyond 7/2, strives to inspire kids to lead active, healthy lives and pursue their biggest dreams.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Dr. Conor McDonough Quinn is a documentary linguist, endangered language revitalization worker, and avid learner and teacher of languages. Raised in Portland, Maine, he has lived at length in Indonesia, China, and Oman, and has worked extensively with several indigenous communities of the Northeast. Learning his own familys endangered heritage language (hint: look at the name) in his early teens gave him a passion for helping others to do the same, and led him to pursue linguistics—somewhat single-mindedly—throughout his academic career. Alongside a hefty set of technical research questions in linguistics, he is currently most interested in developing tools to help speech communities carry out their own linguistic documentation and revitalization work, and in finding new ways to reduce the barriers to learning new languages.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Bilingualism makes you more cultural aware and able to communicate easier with other cultures, foreigners. Gaston has a fantastic way in explaining this to you.

As a journalist and writer Gaston has a lot of linguistic experience. But in terms of experience, he says, there’s nothing like staying abroad. In Peru and Ecuador, speaking Spanish was the best and often the only way to communicate with people who lived completely different lives. “By learning another language, you make your world bigger, more diverse and less scary.” More about the delights and surprising effects of bilingualism in his talk.

The evolution of languages is an ongoing process, and huge changes can be expected in decades to come. “Young people want to distinguish themselves from the generation before them, and changing the language is a great way to do that, especially as it annoys older people no end.” Among adults, women tend to be leading in language change. So when it comes to language, adult men are mostly followers? “Yes, we are. And often grumpy ones at that.”

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Engineering professor Barbara Oakley is co-teaching one of the worlds largest online classes, «Learning How to Learn», www.coursera.org/course/learning.

She know firsthand how it feels to struggle with math. Dr. Oakley flunked her way through high school math and science courses, before enlisting in the U.S. Army immediately after graduation. When she saw how her lack of mathematical and technical savvy severely limited her options—both to rise in the military and to explore other careers—she returned to school with a new found determination to re-tool her brain to master the very subjects that had given her so much trouble throughout her entire life.

Barbara Oakley, PhD, PE is a professor of engineering at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Her research focuses on the complex relationship between neuroscience and social behavior, and has been described as “revolutionary” by the Wall Street Journal. Oakley’s books have been praised by many leading researchers and writers, including Harvard’s Steven Pinker and E. O. Wilson, and National Book Award winner Joyce Carol Oates. Her book A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra), will be published by Tarcher-Penguin on July 31, 2014.

Prior to her academic career, Oakley rose from private to captain in the U.S. Army, during which time she was recognized as a Distinguished Military Scholar. She met her husband, Philip, when she was working at the South Pole Station in Antarctica. Her experiences with well-intentioned altruism were shaped by her work as a Russian translator on Soviet trawlers on the Bering Sea during the early 1980s. Oakley was designated as an NSF New Century Scholar—she is also a recipient of the Oakland University Teaching Excellence Award (2013) and the National Science Foundation’s Frontiers in Engineering New Faculty Fellow Award. Oakley is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Karina Chapa speaks to the power of bilingualism and its ability to revolutionize education. In America, over 5 million students speak a language other than English at home, but regardless of the diversity of languages, only 20% of people are bilingual. Karina sheds light on the history of bilingualism in the United States and how we can move forward in today’s educational system.

Karina’s talk also looks into the neural science behind bilingualism and its positive effects on cognitive flexibility, creativity and problem solving skills. Karina Chapa is a courageous bilingual advocate who proudly serves more than 160,000 bilingual students in deep South Texas. She is an Ex-A-Tec originally from Monterrey, Mexico. She is currently the Language Proficiency, Biliteracy and Cultural Diversity Director. She is also the Legislative Chair for the Texas Association for Bilingual Education and the Parliamentarian for RGV-TABE. She has dedicated 18 years of her professional career to empowering bilingual education students, teachers, and administrators in the deep South Texas border. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

A vision-driven change agent with a career-long record of community outreach, leadership development, marketing, and communications success for leading organizations. Mr. Darryll Stinson seeks to use rejection as a powerful tool with which we can discover our true and complete identity based on a variety of healthy and holistic influences. Darryll’s theory is that by understanding who we are and what we are uniquely gifted and created to do, we can more healthily process the sting of rejection and turn the initial pain into strength to become a better version of ourselves. A vision-driven change agent with a career-long record of community outreach, leadership development, marketing, and communications success for leading organizations. Mr. Darryll Stinson seeks to use rejection as a powerful tool with which we can discover our true and complete identity based on a variety of healthy and holistic influences. Darryll’s theory is that by understanding who we are and what we are uniquely gifted and created to do, we can more healthily process the sting of rejection and turn the initial pain into strength to become a better version of ourselves. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.\t

Brad Blanton Phd. is a psychotherapist, trainer and american writer, author of the «Radical Honesty» bestseller, a book and a theory that challenges a fundamental and almost unchallenged belief of our society. In a truly honest talk, maybe brutally honest, Mr. Blanton convinced the audience that honesty, and not politeness or political correctness is the essence of human relationships and a fulfilled life. Maybe being radically honest all the time is difficult to accept, maybe it is even an idea that a lot of people cannot digest but it is surely an idea that at least has to be intellectually entertained.

-عندما تنصاع المدن لشروط الريف في هندستها الاجتماعية والجغرافية والاقتصادية ، وتصبح وسائل ومنظمات المجتمع المدني _ بدلاً عن كونها وسائل لخلق ولائات جديدة اكثر حداثة ومواكبة _ تصبح رافعات للولاء القبلي ومرسخة له ، كما تقف عائقاً أمامنا وتجعلنا نواجه الكثير…
— خالد محمد نور في حديث مليء بالشجاعة والقوة ، لمواجهة مجموعة من المفاهيم المجتمعية الخاطئة.

‏When cities comply with the conditions of the countryside in their social,engineering geographical, and economic, civil society means and organizations — rather than means of creating new and more modern and aligned loyalties — it may become upgraders for tribal loyalty and anchor it down.

Speaker: “ Khalid mohammed Noor in A- speech full of courage and strength to confront a set of misconceptions.
Khalid mohammed Noor This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

اذا كنت ممن يشعرون بالملل في الإجازة، فهذا الخطاب لك!
صانعة المحتوى علياء عصام الدين تشرح لنا سبب ذلك الملل والطرق المختلفة لعلاجه من خلال تجربتها الشخصية. لذلك سيكون خطابها متمثلاً في جملة "انهض و اترك الكسل!!"
An influencer on social media who is interested in doing a lot of things talked about after graduating depression and how can we set goals for our lives so we dont fall in that depression This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx