- Can you say something mean?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(low orchestral music)
- I am Vanessa.
- My name's Dae.
- My name is Lada, and I'm
a professor of anthropology, linguistic anthropology.
- [Cameraman] How many languages do you speak?
- I speak one.
I kind of know a little bit of Nigerian.
- [Cameraman] Why?
- Why?
My family's from Nigeria.
(Dae speaking Korean)
- [Cameraman] Today, you're gonna guess
which language people are speaking.
How do you think you're gonna do?
- Well, I speak seven of them,
but I also know that there's almost 7,000 languages
out there in the world, so-
- [Cameraman] Will you list the seven languages you speak?
- Ukrainian was my first.
English when I went to school.
French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and German.
Yeah, I think that's it.
- [Cameraman] We're gonna put a blindfold on you,
so that you can't tell what these people look like.
Ready?
- Guess so.
(man in orange sweater singing in a Italian)
- Boom!
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Dae imitates man in orange sweater)
- Can you say something mean?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
- Okay.
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Vanessa speaking in foreign language),
but.
Okay, I'm gonna go with, like, from Mexico.
- How much English do you know?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Dae mimics man in orange sweater), so, like, 'extra none'.
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
He's yelling at me.
- Definitely a romance language, but which one?
It's not one of the straight-up ones that I know;
French, Spanish, or Italian.
Romanian, Moldovan?
- It's definitely Guatemala or Nicaragua.
- And I feel like you probably have a mustache.
Hello!
From Mexico?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
No?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
Oh, wow, I was not close.
(Lada speaking Italian)
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Lada speaking Italian)
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Lada speaking Italian)
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
(Lada speaking Italian)
- Do Italians love or hate 'The Sopranos'?
(man in orange sweater speaking Italian)
Oh, okay.
I'd rather hang out with you than watch that, anyway.
Thank you.
Bye.
Oh, he did the 'uncle tap on the elbow'.
I like him.
(Hiba speaking Somali)
- Wow, I'm stumped.
(Hiba speaking Somali)
- How do you make that sound?
(Hiba speaking Somali)
You're not calling me a whore, are you?
Whore, whore, whore is Dae.
- I'm stumped, here. South Asia, maybe?
- I am gonna go with Indian,
and I feel like you probably
have brown skin, super beautiful long black hair.
- It kind of sounds like Southeast Asian,
but a language that I, definitely, haven't heard before.
Oh, hello.
Probably not Malaysian.
What language were you speaking?
- Somali.
Do you have any Somali friends?
- Yeah, there's actually a lot of Somali people in Seattle.
- But, do you have friends, though?
- Shit.
Yes.
- How do you say, "Hello, how are you?"
- (Hiba speaks Somali) means 'hello'.
'How are you', (Hiba speaks Somali).
(Vanessa speaks Somali)
Yes.
- She's like, "Barely."
(Hiba and Vanessa talk over one another)
(woman in pink shirt speaking Afrikaans)
(Dae imitates woman in pink shirt)
(woman in pink shirt speaks Afrikaans)
- Something cantaloupe?
(woman in pink shirt speaks Afrikaans)
Oh, man.
- Say something mean.
(woman in pink shirt speaking Afrikaans)
Okay.
That sounds very Spanish, almost, like Brazilian.
I feel like you have darker skin,
but not black.
I feel like you're laughing at me.
- Well, it's definitely germanic,
but whether it's Dutch or Afrikaans.
- Hi. - Hi.
- You were really good.
So, it's Afrikaans.
- Oh, Afrikaans?
Is that the most-used language in South Africa?
- Nope.
Afrikaans is spoken by the white people
in South Africa, which means a very small population.
- I heard there's a lot of drama-
- Yeah, that's why I'm here, you see.
- Oh, I see, I see.
Is it not that safe for people who speak Afrikaans?
- Yep.
- Do you think some of the pushback
against the white people in South Africa
is deserved or not?
- Of course.
A minority group ruled over a majority group
for many, many years,
and we knew that that could not continue.
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
- Hello.
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
- Hello.
That sounds familiar.
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
- Oh, yep.
(Dae speaking Hawaiian)
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
(Dae speaking Hawaiian)
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
- Yeah, see, I got it!
- Can you flirt with me?
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
I'm not convinced.
Tell me I'm the most beautiful woman you've ever seen.
(woman in white coat speaking Hawaiian)
Thank you.
- I know what that is, that's Hawaiian.
I'm not Hawaiian, but I'm from Hawaii.
Are you Hawaiian?
- Yes, 25%.
- And that's kind of a lot, unfortunately, nowadays, right?
- Yeah, yeah.
- And, did you learn Hawaiian in school, or at home?
- So, I learned Hawaiian in school,
but the history of the language was made illegal,
so there's a huge generation
that missed learning how to speak Hawaiian,
and then there was this renaissance
to bring back the language.
- What were you telling me when you were flirting with me?
- I said I don't want you.
- No wonder I wasn't convinced.
- Yeah, yeah, you caught on to that.
(woman in yellow shirt speaking Jamaican Patois)
- That's fucked up, man.
(woman in yellow shirt speaking Jamaican Patois)
- This sounds like some kind of language
that has some English in it and something else.
- This language sounds like something
that's made to make music.
- Oh, that is so beautiful, yes!
- When you speak, I'm already serenading.
(woman in yellow shirt speaking Jamaican Patois)
You banana.
Yeah? - No.
(woman in yellow speaking Jamaican Patois)
- Jamaican?
You said 'gal', so...
(woman in yellow speaking Jamaican Patois)
Oh, you sound like my Mother.
Are you Nigerian?
- I think you're speaking
the language they speak in Jamaica.
So, Jamaican.
- Yeah, okay, I'm gonna take it.
Jamaican, but it's called Patois.
Everyone calls it 'Jamaican'
because it's not really a language, it's a dialect.
- Can I take this off?
- Hi. - Oh, hi.
- Hi! - Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you, too.
- Teach me how to say something in-
- Okay, okay, okay.
(woman in yellow speaking Jamaican Patois)
(Lada speaking Jamaican Patois)
Yes!
Yes, that is it.
She get it.
(woman in gray sweater speaking bahasa Indonesia)
- See, we can get drinks,
but I'm not going home with you, but-
- It's got sort of Southern rhythms.
'Southern' in the sense,
I would say, Africa or South Asia.
- Singaporean.
- Indonesian.
- Oh, shit!
That was almost what I was gonna guess.
- And what language were you speaking?
- We call it 'bahasa Indonesia'.
- Okay.
- How would you say 'nice to meet you' and 'goodbye'?
(woman in gray sweater speaking bahasa Indonesia)
Okay, I think I can do the 'dada'.
(man in button-up speaking Echie)
- Very calm language.
(man in button-up speaking Echie)
- Man, I'm gonna go with some type of African.
- [Cameraman] Why?
- He's just talking so casually, like it's nothing.
- Can you flirt with me?
(man in button-up speaking Echie)
Wow, it sounds fascinating,
but I'm kind of stumped
as to which language you're speaking.
- See, I don't know if he's mumbling
or if that's just how the language sounds like.
(man in button-up speaking Echie)
All right, you definitely not mumbling.
You're from Congo.
- I'm gonna go with Ethiopian.
Are you Ethiopian?
Where're you from?
- Nigeria.
- What were you speaking?
- Echie.
- I definitely didn't think Nigeria.
There was a part that kind of sounded Nigerian,
but I only know Yoruba and Hausa, a little bit.
- It's not close to any of those.
- Yeah, that's probably why I didn't know.
(Mariann speaking Hungarian)
- Well, I think I understood one word.
The word 'kurva', which,
in Slavic languages means slut,
or something like that.
- Can you introduce yourself in your language?
(Mariann speaking Hungarian)
- Can you say 'my name is'?
- That's what I just said.
- Shit.
(Mariann speaking Hungarian)
- Okay, that didn't help at all.
Are you Russian?
- Count to ten for me.
(Mariann speaking Hungarian)
- Hungarian! - Yes.
- What were you saying in the beginning?
- Oh, here they were requesting me
to curse at you and be mad at you.
It's really hard to be mad
at someone I have no issues with.
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
- Was that a blessing or a curse?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
That started with a 'B',
so I'm gonna pretend it's blessing.
- How do you say 'shut up, bitch'?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
How do I say just 'bitch'?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
(Lada imitating man in plaid shirt)
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
(Lada imitating man in plaid shirt)
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
(Lada imitating man in plaid shirt)
- How do you say 'no'?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
(Dae imitating man in plaid shirt)
Can you say 'yes'?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
Do you think I'm gonna guess your language?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
- I'm gonna go with German, and you're a big guy.
You like beer, don't you?
(man in plaid speaking Scottish Gaelic)
- I'll go with Persian.
Dark hair, olive skin, strong brows.
- What did you eat for breakfast?
(man in plaid shirt speaking Scottish Gaelic)
That sounds good.
'O, very Godly presence, bra-han', you eat that.
It must be holy-ass food.
I'd probably think you're speaking Celtic.
Was I correct?
(man in plaid speaking Scottish Gaelic)
What?
(man in plaid speaking Scottish Gaelic)
- Nah, nah, nah, what's your language?
- Scottish Gaelic, it's a Celtic language.
- Fuck yeah, bitch!
I knew it! - I knew you were going to,
too, somehow.
- Dude, you are exactly
what I thought you were gonna look like.
- Really?
- Very omnipresent.
- You did it.
- [Cameraman] How was that?
- It was fun.
It was difficult, and humbling, sometimes,
'cause you realize just how little
you know of the world's languages,
but then I think I got lucky a little bit, too.
- [Cameraman] Raise of hands,
how many people did Vanessa get correct?
- That's not bad.
That's not bad.
Three.
- One, two, three, four.
- [Cameraman] What's the language that you'd try and learn?
- Hawaiian, because it's more realistic
for me to have a chance to go to Hawaii.
- [Cameraman] What was your favorite language?
- Personal bias, it's probably Hawaiian.
Makes me miss home.
- [Cameraman] Can I just get everybody
to squeeze in a little bit?
Say your farewells to Dae, everyone!
(everyone speaking over one another)
- That was good, that was good, I liked that.
- That was so good.