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7 October, 2009



   
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The Lingo Kid captures the genius spirit of Mumbai street sellers

Mumbai's loquacious illiterate linguist peddles peacock feathers in a mother tongue twister
 
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Ravi, a young Gujarati boy, now known as the Lingo Kid all over the internet, sells the peacock feathers his grandmother makes to tourists at Mumbai's Hanging Gardens.

He was eight when he started selling feathers and could not speak English. In a few years Ravi could rattle off a sale in more languages than the Pope -- and with a faster tongue and sharper accent. He's full of fun facts too, such as the seasons in which various nationalities prefer to travel. Spaniards and Italians he says, love to visit Mumbai in the monsoon.

This year, at age 15, he was interviewed again by the same Englishman named Sammy, going on record to say that he didn't want to go to school, because there he could learn just English, whereas out on the street he's picked up 10 different tongues.

If the ingenuity of Mumbai's street hawkers and pavement peddlers needed a poster boy, Ravi the Lingo Kid would be it.

 

For some more super smart kids, check out Child prodigies: Very young, extraordinarily gifted.





   
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Tags: video, street sellers, Mumbai hustle
user comments and reviews (5)
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katelyn7689
28 February, 2010
Coming from an American's point of view, the fact that he picked up so many languages in this particular way really speaks to the power of the human mind. He has more knowledge and more talent with world languages than most American, westernized children ever will, and yet he probably has never had the western "education" required to implement this talent to the furthest extent. To me, this is a demonstration of the prevalence of human ingenuity beyond cultural and opportunistic boundaries. Bravo, Lingo Kid. I hope you achieve everything you set out to acheive.
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katelyn7689
28 February, 2010
Coming from an American's point of view, the fact that he picked up so many languages in this particular way really speaks to the power of the human mind. He has more knowledge and more talent with world languages than most American, westernized children ever will, and yet he probably has never had the western "education" required to implement this talent to the furthest extent. To me, this is a demonstration of the prevalence of human ingenuity beyond cultural and opportunistic boundaries. Bravo, Lingo Kid. I hope you achieve everything you set out to acheive.
Sashaandzoe
6 February, 2010
His German is OK. (my German is not fluent, but conversational) Accented, but OK. Wish I could speak his language as well as he does mine. Love the American "Dollar!"
thesacredone
3 February, 2010
I didn't understand what the hell he said in Russian (I'm fluent), it is complete gibberish. I assume the rest of the languages aren't much better. His English is pretty decent, though.
Karivara
6 November, 2009
A street smart kid.
riders
13 October, 2009
Unbelievable for a street kid with no formal education or proper parental guidiance.I myself have learnt a lot about "BUSINESS MANAGEMENT" by just watching this video-clip. India might be having a lot of untapped geniuses in various fiels of knowledge,"LINGO KID" is a genius in "Languages".
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