Sitting beside a swimming pool in a small, leafy park on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, Salik, 14, is recognised by passers-by, who ask if they can have their photo taken with him. Even the pool attendant tries to chat with him, in a variety of foreign tongues, and calls out to others that “he’s the boy who speaks 15 languages”.
Including his native Khmer, Salik speaks 16 languages, and his linguistic skills have been his claim to fame since he became an overnight sensation this month after a Malaysian tourist posted a video of him on the internet. In the video, Salik speaks in multiple languages as he tries to charm the young woman into buying a souvenir at the ancient Angkor temples complex near his hometown of Siem Reap.
