The Universal Declaration of Human Rights from Seth Brau on Vimeo.
The complete 1948 declaration is long and a little difficult. This video shortens the text and makes it a little easier to understand by adding beautiful pictures and music.
Below is the complete text and some notes to help you understand the words in the video, You can also find links in Chinese, Russian, Spanish and French:
1
|
Every man, woman, and child on earth is
born free and equal in dignity and rights.
|
= Nobody is better than anybody else
|
|
2
|
We are brothers and sisters of this
world.
|
3
|
We have reason and conscience and should be friendly towards one another.
|
= Our conscience
tells us what is right and wrong. Hating other people is wrong.
|
|
4
|
Everyone is entitled to the rights set
forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights regardless of age, sex,
race, religion, politics, color, nationality, wealth, language, beliefs,
birthplace, traditions, economics, weight, skin, style, thoughts, feelings, hairstyle,
differences, size, lifestyle, height, preference, orientation.
|
= Your traditions
are the way people from your culture do things.
“regardless of …your traditions” = Nobody can use traditions (or any of the other
reasons) as an excuse to take away your freedom or do bad things to you.
|
|
5
|
You have the right to live in freedom and
safety.
|
6
|
Nobody has the right to treat you as
their slave or torture you.
|
= Nobody is allowed to take away your freedom, make you
work without pay or hurt you in any way
|
|
7
|
The law is the same for everyone.
|
= Even kings, presidents, the police, the army and other
important or powerful people can not break the law.
|
|
8
|
You have the right to legal protection.
|
9
|
You have the right to a fair and public
trial.
|
10
|
No one shall be arrested, put in jail, or
exiled without good reason.
|
11
|
You are innocent until proven guilty.
|
= The law should
protect everybody. If somebody says that you did something against the
law, you must be brought to a court. Public
= The court should be open to everyone (friends, family, neighbors etc.), not
just the government. Fair = In
court, lawyers, judges and other responsible people must listen to all the
facts. If the court officers find that you did not break the law, they must
let you go and not punish you.
|
|
12
|
You have the right:
|
13
|
to privacy, to move throughout the world,
|
14
|
to enjoy freedom from persecution in other countries, to a nationality.
|
privacy = the government should not watch, listen to and follow good
people
persecution = if good people say, think or do things the government doesn’t
like (but not breaking the law), the government should not make trouble for them
|
|
15
|
You have the right to marry and have a
family.
|
16
|
Your government should protect your
family.
|
= You can choose your own wife or husband, and you can
have children. The government should help keep your family safe.
|
|
17
|
You should have the right to own property
and possessions.
|
= the government cannot take your land, your house or
other things. They are yours and only yours.
|
|
18
|
You have the right to think what you want
and say what you like, to practice your religion freely, and organize peacefully.
|
practice
your religion = follow the customs and rules of your religion
organize
= meet with other people
|
|
19
|
You have the right to take part in your
country's political affairs.
|
20
|
Governments should be voted for regularly
and all votes are equal.
|
= The government is not just for rich or important people.
Ordinary people must be able to talk about and choose their government. If it
harms people or does not help them, ordinary people can change their
government.
|
|
21
|
The society in which you live should help
you to develop.
|
develop
= improve your life
|
|
22
|
You have the right to work and to a fair
salary.
|
23
|
Each work day should not be too long.
|
24
|
You have the right to expect a decent standard of living.
|
a decent
standard of living = enough money to buy food, have a
place to live and be comfortable
|
|
25
|
You have the right to go to school.
|
26
|
Education should strive to promote peace and
understanding among all people.
|
promote
peace and understanding = teach people to accept others and not hate them
|
|
27
|
You have the right to share in your
community's arts and sciences.
|
= Culture belongs to everybody
|
|
28
|
You must respect the social order that is
necessary for these rights to be available.
|
29
|
You must respect the rights of others,
the community, and public property.
|
= Yes, you have rights, but you must also let other people
have the same rights.
|
|
30
|
Nobody shall attempt in any way to
destroy the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
|
= No government can take away any of these rights
|
This declaration was adopted by the United Nations in 1948. Unfortunately, many non-Western governments do not agree with these ideas, so they made their own rules.
You can read more on Wikipedia. If your English is not very fluent, don't forget to choose another language:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights
Here are versions of the UDHR in a few common languages (Wikipedia has more)
Chinese: 世界人權宣言
What do you think of all these rules? Do you agree that people in non-western countries should have different rules? Do any of these rules bother you?
Please leave comments below.
留言者也歡迎用中文, 馬老師可是用中文回答
Tакже можете оставить свой комментарий на русском
языке. Я отвечу на английском языке
También puedes dejar un comentario en español. Mi
respuesta será en inglés.
Vous pouvez aussi laisser un commentaire en
français, mais ma réponse sera en anglais.
