At just 14 years old, Salik Tuch, a young Khmer boy who sells trinkets to visitors at the Ta Prohm temple in Angkor, has become a global sensation. Social media and international press have been in awe of this young multilingual schoolboy, capable of communicating in 16 different languages. 

For Salik, the dream began on November 9th when a Malaysian blogger, visiting Angkor, posted a video of the young teenager on Facebook. Salik calmly displayed his polyglot skills to the amazed videographer. The video was shared more than 34,000 times!

The young Khmer explains that he learned these languages while selling various trinkets to tourists near the Ta Prohm temple in Angkor. Today, tourists seek him out to take selfies with him. He does this work to financially support his family. In the mornings, he attends school from 7 am to 11 am before heading to his place of work. The excitement around this Facebook post has resulted in his parents receiving many donations, which might allow him to stop this activity. But Salik wants to continue. His dream is to become a tour guide. And why not? Salik speaks 16 languages. While not all of them fluently, he can at least count up to ten in all 16 and can hold conversations in several of them, including French, English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Khmer, among others.  

(Facebook post from Malaysian Blogger Venus Gwc)

Global interest

Numerous media outlets and internet users quickly shared Salik’s videos online. Singaporean media outlet Channel NewsAsia has generated an incredible buzz on YouTube with a report about the young boy’s daily life. The video has nearly one million views to date !

In France the Canal+ group, through its continuous news channel Cnews, was the first to spread the news.  

In Pakistan the Saharab website shared Salik's story and the excitement surrounding the video posted by the Malaysian blogger.  

Chinese press also contributed to the boy’s growing fame. He and his family were even invited to Beijing.

Americans haven’t been left behind either. On Twitter, some users have called for Salik’s recognition across the Atlantic. They tagged American TV superstar Ellen DeGeneres, urging her to invite the young polyglot to her famous show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Stay tuned.

(Madonna on The Ellen DeGeneres Show)

Thibault Bourru