Cambodian boy wows tourists by speaking over 10 languages and dialects

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‍Learning a language can be really difficult, but for this talented Cambodian boy, mastering several languages simultaneously seems to be an easy task.

A video clip of a Cambodian boy showing off his linguistic talent while trying to sell souvenirs to a tourist in Cambodia has gone viral on social media, gaining over 1,100,000 views and more than 85,000 likes.

Facebook user @Venus Gwc posted the video of the talented Cambodian boy on her account and soon went viral. /Screenshot from Facebook

The video was first posted on Facebook by user @Venus Gwc. In the video, a 10-year-old boy in his barefoot was seen talking to the female tourist in Chinese and trying to ask her to buy some souvenirs.

The boy told the woman confidently that he could speak over 10 languages and dialects, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, French, Thai, Malay and Filipino, and showed off his linguistic talent by switching back and forth different languages.

Surprisingly, he even sung a popular Chinese song called “We are different” and successfully moved the tourist to buy his souvenirs. When asked about how he picked up so many languages, he said he learned it from other tourists.

The video clip of the boy singing a popular Chinese song went viral on Tik Tok. /Screenshot from Facebook

Amazed by the boy's extraordinary talent, Gwc shared the video on her Facebook with her friends, but it soon went viral out of expectation.

"I met him at Ta Prohm temple, which is the famous Tomb Rider filming location," said @Venus Gwc in the post.

“I feel grateful that his video gone viral, it might create more awareness to people there are kids still struggle to live their life every day,” said @Venus Gwc.

Many netizens are impressed by the boy's talent, but some are saying that the boy has to develop this skill in order to survive.

“Interest is not the ultimate factor that drives someone to pick up a language; it is driven by the pressure to survive,” commented a user @youshuaigekan on Weibo. /Screenshot from Weibo

“Interest is not the ultimate factor that drives someone to pick up a language; it is driven by the pressure to survive,” commented a user @youshuaigekan on Weibo.

Meanwhile, some netizens are seeing the negative impact that the video could possibly bring to the poor kids living in Cambodia, especially in a way that deprives them from receiving a proper education.

Facebook user @Janet Lam expressed her concerns about the viral video. /Screenshot from Facebook

“I'm kind of feeling bittersweet for this because I've been told not to support them selling souvenirs because once we create the demand, it deprives them from receiving a proper education because it seems like the more money making option in the short run. But it just makes me wonder why this has never been mentioned when the video went viral,” commented Facebook user @Janet Lam, expressing her concerns about the viral video.

The boy posed for a photo with Venus Gwc. /Photo via Facebook

Xiong Bingqi, vice principal of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, told China Daily that the protection of children's rights is highly valued on social media and the viral video of the Cambodian boy has helped to raise public awareness on this issue.