A journalist had social media users absolutely floored for reporting his coverage on the developing invasion of Ukraine by Russia in six different languages.
Philip Crowther, an international affiliate correspondent for The Associated Press, compiled various clips in which he reported on the Ukraine crisis to various news organizations around the world, speaking flawlessly in English, Luxembourgish, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.
You can watch the viral clip, here.
Six-language coverage from #Kyiv with @AP_GMS. In this order: English, Luxembourgish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.pic.twitter.com/kyEg0aCCoT— Philip Crowther (@Philip Crowther) 1645444876
The video that was posted on Monday racked up over 1.8 million views by the end of the day.
Online sources indicate Crowther was born in Luxembourg to a British father and German mother, who spoke to him in English and German, respectively.
He was educated in Luxembourg at the Athénée de Luxembourg, where he became fluent in French, German, English, and Luxembourgish.
At the age of 14, he decided to learn Spanish out of interest in Spanish football.
During a gap year in high school, Crowther traveled to Barcelona, where he learned Catalan; and in college, he studied Portuguese as part of his education at King's College London.
The 41-year-old polyglot was given major props, and he also gained a few admirers online.
Jealous AF, I can only do three unless you count Latinhttps://twitter.com/PhilipinDC/status/1495730338315841539\u00a0\u2026— reydelaplaya (@reydelaplaya) 1645490010
Oh my God is this man married?? If he\u2019s not where can I submit my application?— Jennifer Thurman (@Jennifer Thurman) 1645495016
Damn impressive. \n\nSo damn impressive.\n\nI have the utmost respect for those who speak multiple languages. But 6, yes SIX\u2026 I\u2019ve not witnessed that before.— Legitimate Political Discourse (@Legitimate Political Discourse) 1645496845
Damn, that is sexy as hell.— SeekingCommonDecency (@SeekingCommonDecency) 1645490497
And the owl was too stunned to speak.— Duolingo (@Duolingo) 1645536565
My entire life I\u2019ve been humble about speaking 4.5 of the 6 \u2014 plus a couple more... In this day & age, I guess I should feel some pride. Bravo for reminding the world how it\u2019s done when we don\u2019t let exceptionalism or xenophobia get in way. #language #multilingual #linguistics— Mindy Diane Feldman (@Mindy Diane Feldman) 1645492962
I\u2019m in love Ech si verl\u00e9ift Estoy enamorado Eu estou apaixonado \nJe suis amoureux Ich bin verliebt \n\u00c9pouse-moi— \ud835\udcd2\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcea\ud835\udcfb\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcf8\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcee (@\ud835\udcd2\ud835\udcf1\ud835\udcea\ud835\udcfb\ud835\udcf5\ud835\udcf8\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcfd\ud835\udcee) 1645521760
Philip I speak five of those languages (not Lux). Your accent for the languages I understand is fabulous. I applaud you.— Maya Manning (@Maya Manning) 1645520968
Bravo! I've always been impressed, when I travel on Europe,by how many languages people can speak. It's usually no less than 3, so impressive. In Canada we argue about 2 languages it's silly and self limiting. Knowing more than 1 language automatically gives you an advantage.— SlyKap (@SlyKap) 1645541573
This guy speaks spanish with a better accent than half of the population of Spain. Me myself included!— 999977775555 (@999977775555) 1645468060
Meanwhile, an American stereotype became the butt of a joke.
There\u2019s this joke that goes \u201cSpeak two languages, you\u2019re bilingual, speak multiple languages, you\u2019re polyglot, speak one language, you\u2019re American.\u201d— H Incandenza (@H Incandenza) 1645499198
I know English, some Italian, and hardly any French. Americans do language study wrong.— \u2640\ufe0f \u267f MS Laurapalooza (What's the craic?) (@\u2640\ufe0f \u267f MS Laurapalooza (What's the craic?)) 1645500494
After majoring in Broadcast Journalism as a graduate student at the University of the Arts, London, Crowther worked as a reporter for France 24 from 2008 to 2011.
He has been based in Washington D.C. since June 2011.
Clips of him traveling to different regions and countries to cover major breaking news can be seen on his YouTube channel showcasing his multi-lingual reporting.
