The polyglott next door: celebrity through many languages
The polyglott next door: celebrity through many languages
"Excuse me, where do you come from? I bet, I can guess your language." When Yuji Beleza strolls through the streets of Vienna, he not only sees crowds, but also a challenge and the chance of making contacts. In spontaneous street interviews, the Japanese-Irish polyglot surprises passers-by with greetings in their mother tongue-be it Turkish, Suaheli, Kurdish, Kazakh or Zulu.
a language genius in ascent
With his broad smile and his lightning -fast linguistic reflexes, Beleza has become a sensation in social media and has over 2,7 million follower Instagram , 3.6 million on tiktok and other 388,000 on YouTube . "When you speak at least a few sentences, that's an excellent icebreaker," says the 27-year-old. "Especially when I use phrases that surprise people - those who really play a role in their language or culture. You can immediately connect and conquer your hearts."
childhood and language love
Beleza discovered his talent for languages and the power of a simple “hello”, thanks to his multicultural education early in his life. He grew up in Kyoto, Japan, with an Irish mother who taught English and spoke four languages - English, Irish, Japanese and Spanish - as well as a Japanese father who worked as a security officer. "My sister and I learned early on to switch between languages," he recalls. "I had a very broad perspective from an early age because I was always curious and wanted to explore the world."
The search for identity
Although he attended public schools in Kyoto, was good at school, played basketball and had friends, he never felt completely accepted as a Japanese. "They always called me a 'foreigner' because I was the only mixed child at school," he says. "I had the feeling that I didn't know where I belonged." At 16, Beleza spent a formative year abroad in Tippery, Ireland to familiarize himself with his mother's culture. But here, too, he was not fully recognized as an IRE and quickly found himself in the local immigrant community.
Learnlanguages to connect
The experience in Ireland inspired Beleza to study Russian at the University of Russian and to spend an exchange semester in St. Petersburg. During his stay abroad, he immersed themselves in other languages - German, Turkish and Serbian - every new language offered him a new window in another culture. When learning new languages, Beleza combines various strategies, watching videos online to notes to practice talks with friends.
The decision for Vienna
Particularly interested in developing his German, he decided to pursue a master's degree in political science in Vienna, where he could continue to practice the language. In a district of Vienna, which is known for its large immigrant population, he constantly heard Turkish, Serbian, Arabic and Kurdish around him and had numerous opportunities to train his linguistic skills. Although he liked his life in Vienna, Beleza found himself on a crossroads when he graduated in 2023.
The turn to career
In order to realize his dream of an activity in international affairs, he applied for jobs at the United Nations or as a Japanese diplomat. While he was waiting for feedback, he returned to Japan to look for work. But after months without perspectives, he decided to return to Vienna and take a chance to take himself. There he began to experiment with videos on social media. "A good friend of mine, Suleyman, who comes from Turkey, encouraged me to post videos of me in which I speak Turkish," recalls Beleza.
of the idea for awareness
Initially, the videos focused on cultural mixtures between Turkish and Japanese culture. Together with Suleyman, Beleza turned funny comedy sketches in which he ordered kebabs, manufactured Ayran or joked through cultural stereotypes. When commentators started to encourage him to speak more Kazakh, he got involved. "Many people said I saw like someone from Kazakhstan because of my facial features, and some even thought I would only pretend to be Japanese," he laughs.
spontaneous conversations and language as a key
In the meantime, Beleza has expanded his video format to fast, spontaneous interviews in dozens of languages. He flows fluently five languages (Japanese, English, Russian, German and Turkish), but can speak about 10 other languages and greets people in many more. In the course of his videos, he recognizes and reacts to different languages with remarkable speed. Nowadays it is rare that he reaches its limits, even if he admits that the encounters with other polyglottes can be modest. "Every conversation reminds me of how much I still have to learn," he says.
The pursuit of more languages
Beleza has now learned at least a few phrases in over 40 languages, but still has to deal with some linguistic challenges. "Arabic is particularly difficult for me, especially the pronunciation. The languages of Southeast Asia such as Vietnamese and Thai are also a challenge. I still fight the sound structure with it." Despite his success on social media, he does not consider himself a natural talent. "I didn't really like learning language at school," he admits. "It was not until I traveled to Ireland that I found real motivation."
future prospects for Yuji
While he is traveling through the streets of Vienna-and sometimes Paris, Astana or Tirana-with his iPhone and a clip-on microphone, a clearer vision for his future crystallizes. Together with his current cameraman and manager, Beleza is developing a language learning platform called "Zero to Fluent", which aims to make the language acquisition more entertaining and more accessible. In the long term, he dreams of traveling the world and linguistic as well as cultures as well as cultures through short videos and deeper narrative projects.
"I want people to see that language is not just grammar and vocabulary - it's about recognition, empathy and joy," he says. "Language can separate us, but it also brings us together. And if I can only help one person feel more visible and valued - that's all."