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Pop Culture

Watch this news correspondent switch between six different languages—fluently—in Kyiv report

Watch this news correspondent switch between six different languages—fluently—in Kyiv report

Philip Crowther reports from Kyiv in six different languages.

In many places around the world, being able to speak more than one language isn't uncommon. But being able to speak six? That's unusual just about everywhere.

Philip Crowther is an International Affiliate Correspondent for the Associated Press. He hails from Luxembourg, a tiny country nestled between Belgium, France and Germany, so perhaps it's not surprising—though still impressive—that he speaks at least Luxembourgish, French and German fluently.

But he also speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English—and can report the news in all six of those languages. (And according to fluent speakers in the comments, he does it beautifully, with just a slight bit of an accent.)


Check out Crowther in a compilation of news reports on the Russia-Ukraine situation from Kyiv:

Isn't it amazing that these are just six of the thousands of languages humans use to communicate with one another? Linguistics is endlessly fascinating.

People were rightly impressed with Crowther's polyglot abilities. With the European Union having 24 official languages in a land area only a little bit bigger than the United States, it's much more common for people from Europe to be multilingual. People from small, landlocked countries like Luxembourg and Switzerland are especially likely to speak several languages, but even for them, to be fluent enough in six of them to report in them in a live news broadcast is impressive.

Even the language learning app Duolingo weighed in on Crowther's news reports, followed by a hilarious dig from a user. (Duolingo likes to send reminders and prompts to practice or to learn another language, which may or may not be super annoying.)

While it is impressive that Crowther can speak six languages, it also highlights a big hole that humanity has yet to fill: a universal language. We live in a time when, thanks to advances in technology and transportation, our global community is growing smaller and smaller. But while we are able to connect with people almost anywhere in the world, we are still limited in our ability to communicate due to language barriers.

Imagine if everyone in the world learned their native language and a universal auxiliary language at the same time growing up. We would be able to retain the unique cultural richness of our native languages while at the same time being able to communicate no matter where we go. Our universal language could be one chosen from the existing languages, or it could be a language invented for such a purpose, like Esperanto. It would solve so many problems and make life on Earth so much easier—it's just a matter of getting all countries on the same page with the need for it (which is pretty inarguable) and with which language to use (which is definitely arguable).

In the meantime, we can simply marvel at the humans who are able to keep multiple languages straight in their minds. Well done, Mr. Crowther.


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The video was praised by a lot of parents who are tired of seeing mommy influencers with spotless homes and children in matching linen outfits. Finally, there was a mom on TikTok they could relate to.

"I'd MUCH rather see you clean your realistic house than watch another blonde clean an already clean countertop," Meghan Sanders wrote.

TikTokker Its_not_that_serious put things in perfect perspective. "Dude, at the end of the day all of their fingers and toes are attached and feeling safe and loved you’re doing fine. Someday the house will be clean," they wrote.

"Having children is mentally and physically exhausting and you don’t always have the energy to clean every day," Rose added.

But not everyone appreciated Bri's slice of reality. Some people thought that her messiness was borderline neglectful and that she was setting a terrible example for her children.

"Set a good example for your kids. Make them help," carleebocciaa wrote.

"Without children = fine, your choice. With children (especially small ones) = completely unacceptable," ACZOgirly wrote.

Shortly after posting her first video, Bri got to work on the impossible task of cleaning up the entire house. Noticeably absent from the job were her spouse and four children. She appears to clean the entire place by herself.

She showed her cleaning prowess through a series of fast-motion videos.

@themessymama4

my butt does not look flattering in these Walmart lounge pants 🤦🏼‍♀️😅

Finally, at 9:30 p.m., Bri was done with most of the job, although she still had a bit of vacuuming to do and there were still some dishes in the sink. At the end of the job, she was exhausted. But she got the job done and that’s all that matters. It’s OK to let your house fall into disarray from time to time but eventually, you have to take care of business.

@themessymama4

I'm going to bed now. 🤣🥱😴

We’ll give TikTokker Sannon Martin the final word on this story because she hits the nail on the head. “Your home is exactly like mine,” she wrote. “Some days it’s a wreck and some days it looks amazing. That’s life. You’re doing great!”


This article originally appeared on 03.05.22

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