Picking up a foreign language is not exactly difficult, as long as you put in the hard work. However, what about learning over 10 foreign languages?
Two kids from Cambodia recently went viral on social media after a famous Malaysian traveller, Venus GWC shared her inspiring encounter on Facebook. Here’s what she wrote after visiting Siem Reap province in Cambodia last week (November 2018).
“I met two kids at the Ta Prohm temple in Angkor Wat. The first kid was Lisa, she is seven years old who was selling flutes all by herself. I approached her and she told me that she can sing the famous cat song on Tik Tok. We had fun playing and recording (videos).”
Source: Facebook
“What really shocked me was another boy who is so talented. He can speak more than 10 languages. He talked to me in Cantonese first and shared with me how many languages he can speak. He really wowed me,” Venus wrote.
Source: Facebook
In the video attached with the Facebook post, the bare-footed boy was selling souvenirs to Venus and confidently told her that he can speak over 10 languages/dialects including;
- Cantonese
- Mandarin
- Thai
- Japanese
- Korean
- French
- Spanish
- German
- Tagalog
- Malay
Venus conversed with the boy in French, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Thai, and the boy seemed to understand all the languages she had spoken. She also bought a few items from the kid and she was told that he had learnt all these languages from tourists.
The videos have garnered netizens’ attention with many saying that the kid is living a tough life. “Life is indeed difficult. He had to learn so many languages in order to sell his souvenirs to put food on the table,” a netizen said.
Source: Facebook
Another netizen revealed that he had met with this kid two years ago and that the kid’s father makes a living by drawing portraits for tourists.
His talent of being multi-lingual is certainly impressive. We salute him for his dedication and hopefully one day, he can break out of the cycle of poverty.
Also read: Putrajaya Mosque Guard Taught Himself 7 Languages Just to Communicate With Tourists
