At only 27-years-old, Yuji Beleza can strike up a conversation with nearly anyone he meets, regardless of what language they speak. This Japanese-Irish influencer is a polyglot, collecting skills in Turkish, Swahili, Kazakh, Zulu and dozens of others.

Tokyo

Yuji Beleza, a 27-year-old Japanese-Irish influencer, has gained widespread attention online for his ability to speak and understand numerous languages. He describes himself as a language enthusiast and estimates he can converse in around 30 languages. Among the languages he speaks fluently are English, Japanese, Russian, German, and Turkish.

Beleza grew up in Japan in a bilingual household, with an Irish mother and a Japanese father. He has said that he did not always feel fully accepted as Japanese, and during his time in Ireland, he related more to immigrant communities. His interest in languages was sparked during high school in Ireland when he befriended members of the Polish and Lithuanian communities, who often spoke Russian.

During college in Japan, Beleza began formally studying Russian. He later pursued a master’s degree in Vienna, where his interactions with Turkish immigrants motivated him to learn Turkish. Encouragement from friends led him to start creating social media videos where he interviews people in their native languages.

Beleza has built a significant following on social media platforms, with nearly four million followers on TikTok and close to three million on Instagram. He interviews people from around the world in their languages, including Kazakh, Swahili, Zulu, Arabic, Kurdish, and Persian, among others. He also expresses particular enjoyment in conversing with older generations, who he believes have valuable stories and knowledge.

According to Beleza, one effective method for learning languages is to move beyond the classroom and actively use the language in real-life situations. He also suggests that learning one language often opens doors to others, noting similarities among languages such as Hungarian, Finnish, Turkish, and Japanese.



Multilingual influencer goes viral

Where are you guys from? Do you speak? Where are you from? I think I can speak your language, bro. I interview people from all over the world, speaking their language, and putting smiles on their faces. This is Yuji Beleza, and he calls himself a wannabe polyglot, a.k.a. a language enthusiast, someone who speaks and understands multiple languages fluently. I'm from Congo. You're from Koloboka, Lingala? Koloboka, Lingala. Oh, Nazameka, Koloboka, Lingala. Where are you from? I'm from Kanye. He says he can speak in around 30 languages conversationally, and he's only 27 years old. I speak fluently in English, Japanese, Russian, German, and also Turkish. Excuse me, if I speak your language, I'll give you Kazakh chocolate. Do you know him? Yes, he's on TikTok! I have, right now, nearly 4 million followers on TikTok, and nearly 3 million followers on Instagram. Say your language, trust, trust, trust. Wow. Yuji grew up in a bilingual community in Japan with his Irish mother and Japanese father, but says he never felt completely accepted as a Japanese person. In high school, he went to Ireland for a year, and says he felt like an immigrant there, too. I made more friends with, actually, the Polish and Lithuanian community. That's one of the reasons I became friends with them. And basically, they were speaking Russian. That was the moment that kind of, like, sparked my interest in languages. In college, in Japan, he started studying Russian. Next, he got a master's in Vienna, where he felt more comfortable with Turkish immigrants. Then I also realized that I need to learn Turkish to become more friends with them. I want to really learn this language to understand the people and communicate with the people, so that made it easier. It was one of those Turkish friends who encouraged him to start making videos. Do you speak Arabic? Yes, I speak Arabic. Do you use TikTok? No, no, no. Where are you from? Japan, Iraq. Iraq? How are you? I'm good. What's your name? My name is Maqdam. Now, he speaks dozens of languages and interviews people from all over the world, speaking their native tongue. Where are you from? Where are you from? I'm from Austria. What languages do you speak? I speak many languages. What languages do you speak? Arabic. How are you? Kurdish. Kurdish? Are you Kurdish? Yes, I'm Kurdish. Persian. Do you speak Persian? I really enjoy talking to the older generation because they're really wise and they have knowledge, like super, super interesting stories to tell. Yuji says he thinks that anyone who wants to learn a language should try to step out of the classroom, forget the nerves, and just use it. Another secret to languages? One is a doorway to the next. Hungarian language is similar to Finnish grammatically, and also Hungarian is very similar to the Turkic grammar, which is Turkish language, and also Turkish language is very similar to Japanese language. So every language is kind of connected in a way.

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