Comments on: The “Lingo Kid” http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/ All that flavorful brownness in one savory packet Sat, 30 Nov 2013 11:11:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Writer Keeda http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-272247 Writer Keeda Thu, 20 May 2010 10:54:49 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-272247 <p>I choked when the interviewer asked him if he went to school........ and the kid replied with an embarassed grin saying No.... everything i learnt here...I have seen the hunger in such street kids to pick up anything in their daily lives to make up for lack of schooling. Like stare at a newspaper, try to decipher words...</p> I choked when the interviewer asked him if he went to school…….. and the kid replied with an embarassed grin saying No…. everything i learnt here…I have seen the hunger in such street kids to pick up anything in their daily lives to make up for lack of schooling. Like stare at a newspaper, try to decipher words…

]]> By: Juju http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-212001 Juju Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:20:10 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-212001 <p>Previous poster was right... he is gonna get a lot of tail!</p> <p>BTW, how much of this is just memorized, versus actual fluency?</p> <p><i>22 · <b>sunzari</b> <a href="http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005320.html#comment211624">said</a></i></p> <blockquote><i>20 · <b>sunshine</b> <a href="http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005320.html#comment211472">said</a></i> <blockquote>I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug! </blockquote> Me too! He's so adorable I wanna marry him. </blockquote> Previous poster was right… he is gonna get a lot of tail!

BTW, how much of this is just memorized, versus actual fluency?

22 · sunzari said

20 · sunshine said
I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug!
Me too! He’s so adorable I wanna marry him.
]]> By: sunzari http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211624 sunzari Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:44:11 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211624 <p><i>20 · <b>sunshine</b> <a href="http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005320.html#comment211472">said</a></i></p> <blockquote>I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug! </blockquote> <p>Me too! He's so adorable I wanna marry him.</p> 20 · sunshine said

I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug!

Me too! He’s so adorable I wanna marry him.

]]> By: Amsterdamguy http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211617 Amsterdamguy Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:01:04 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211617 <p><i>19 · <b>skp</b> <a href="http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005320.html#comment211423">said</a></i></p> <blockquote>"hyaku-gojuu-nin" (nin = suffix for a person) and not "hyaku-gojuu-en." </blockquote> <p>Watashi mo omoimasu, kore ga zenzen nihongo benkyo oshimashita. Tabun, kore, hanamisu arimasu ;)</p> 19 · skp said

“hyaku-gojuu-nin” (nin = suffix for a person) and not “hyaku-gojuu-en.”

Watashi mo omoimasu, kore ga zenzen nihongo benkyo oshimashita. Tabun, kore, hanamisu arimasu ;)

]]> By: sunshine http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211472 sunshine Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:44:06 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211472 <p>I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug!</p> I almost choked after seeing this! I wish I could give him a hug!

]]> By: skp http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211423 skp Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:25:18 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211423 <p>Like Amsterdamguy said, I was amused that when he was selling fans in Japanese, he said "hyaku-gojuu-nin" (nin = suffix for a person) and not "hyaku-gojuu-en." One fan for 150 people, not for 150 yen! ;)</p> <p>That, of course, isn't at all meant to fault him. I'm truly astonished by the raw talent he possesses, and it breaks my heart that this is his lot in life, that he can't put his bright mind to work in a scholastic setting and go somewhere with his life. He has such a sweet smile and disposition.</p> <p>It's also funny that we, in positions of relative privilege, feel so sorry for his lot in life, but he seems perfectly content. People who've never had much and don't know what it is to have these things feel happy with what they have, while more privileged people are the unhappy ones in comparison.</p> Like Amsterdamguy said, I was amused that when he was selling fans in Japanese, he said “hyaku-gojuu-nin” (nin = suffix for a person) and not “hyaku-gojuu-en.” One fan for 150 people, not for 150 yen! ;)

That, of course, isn’t at all meant to fault him. I’m truly astonished by the raw talent he possesses, and it breaks my heart that this is his lot in life, that he can’t put his bright mind to work in a scholastic setting and go somewhere with his life. He has such a sweet smile and disposition.

It’s also funny that we, in positions of relative privilege, feel so sorry for his lot in life, but he seems perfectly content. People who’ve never had much and don’t know what it is to have these things feel happy with what they have, while more privileged people are the unhappy ones in comparison.

]]> By: Kev http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211418 Kev Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:02:18 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211418 <p>Very impressive, and a bit sad in some ways. It’s such a pity he has not gone beyond being a street vendor selling fans after those many years. There probably are many such bright kids there who never have the opportunity to go to school and rise above that level. (Not that schools should be limited to bright kids only)</p> Very impressive, and a bit sad in some ways. It’s such a pity he has not gone beyond being a street vendor selling fans after those many years. There probably are many such bright kids there who never have the opportunity to go to school and rise above that level. (Not that schools should be limited to bright kids only)

]]> By: Amitabh http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211326 Amitabh Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:52:01 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211326 <p>Wow...this video left me with mixed feelings...great to see such a bright, charismatic kid, who has the raw intelligence to pick up reasonably proficent English without having gone to English-medium schools or moving in elite (or even middle class) social circles...however sad to see the brains and talent go to waste and be strangled by lack of opportunity. Hopefully he'll keep his charming and happy persona going for the rest of his life.</p> Wow…this video left me with mixed feelings…great to see such a bright, charismatic kid, who has the raw intelligence to pick up reasonably proficent English without having gone to English-medium schools or moving in elite (or even middle class) social circles…however sad to see the brains and talent go to waste and be strangled by lack of opportunity. Hopefully he’ll keep his charming and happy persona going for the rest of his life.

]]> By: Johnny Valker http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211307 Johnny Valker Wed, 06 Aug 2008 03:10:04 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211307 <p>Kids like him are fairly common around tourist sites in the Third World. This kid's English is actually quite good, especially for someone who doesn't go to school,and is not that different from many of those who're "convent school" alumni. He may not be fluent in the numerous languages that he pitches in, and may have a thick accent, but I'm sure he manages to do business just fine with different nationalities, or else his boss would have gouged out his eyes and sold him to the traveling circus long ago.</p> Kids like him are fairly common around tourist sites in the Third World. This kid’s English is actually quite good, especially for someone who doesn’t go to school,and is not that different from many of those who’re “convent school” alumni. He may not be fluent in the numerous languages that he pitches in, and may have a thick accent, but I’m sure he manages to do business just fine with different nationalities, or else his boss would have gouged out his eyes and sold him to the traveling circus long ago.

]]> By: AR http://sepiamutiny.com/blog/2008/08/05/the_lingo_kid/comment-page-1/#comment-211295 AR Wed, 06 Aug 2008 01:51:22 +0000 http://sepiamutiny.com?p=5320#comment-211295 <p>I met a kid like this in Brazil. He spoke French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and a handful of other languages (none Indian) and spent his days selling bracelets.</p> I met a kid like this in Brazil. He spoke French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and a handful of other languages (none Indian) and spent his days selling bracelets.

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