Sayuri Fujita Shows Strong Commitment to Her Child's Education, Even Hiring a Spanish Tutor: "He Says He Wants to Learn Nine Languages"

[Sportschosun Lee Woo-joo] Broadcaster Sayuri Fujita revealed the secret behind Zen's language education.

On the 2nd, a video titled "He Can Speak 13 Languages?! A Language Master Shares Tips for Learning Languages" was uploaded to the YouTube channel 'Sayuri Immida.'

For the first time, Sayuri Fujita watched Zen studying Spanish in his room. Zen was seen learning Spanish in a fun way, chatting smoothly with his teacher and playing bingo. The teacher also used various tools and energetically played with Zen.

Sayuri Fujita said, "I haven't seen how Zen takes his lessons. What I imagine is always the sound of pro wrestling coming from outside. It sounds like a Japanese monkey passing by." She added, "He just needs to feel that Spanish is fun. He gets so excited when the teacher is coming. He starts waiting from the day before."

Zen has been studying Spanish for three months. His Spanish teacher is a language expert who can speak as many as nine languages. Sayuri Fujita said, "Zen has changed since meeting his teacher. Because the teacher can speak so many languages, I said, 'Can you speak eight languages?' and he said he wants to speak nine. I think he found the teacher so cool and saw him as a role model. Now he's even saying he'll learn Portuguese too. The teacher should take responsibility."

She continued, "And Zen asked, 'What is the hardest language in the world?' So I said Arabic, and now he's learning Arabic too," drawing surprise.

Asked about the advantage of speaking multiple languages, the teacher said, "I don't get angry very often. As I understand different cultures, I think I naturally accept that there are all kinds of people, so I don't get angry easily."

In response, Sayuri Fujita said, "Some people say learning languages is a waste of time. I don't think so. Even if you translate something perfectly into Japanese, you still can't understand Korean culture. There are words and expressions that only exist in Korea, things that come from deep within, and there is han. That can't be fully conveyed in Japanese. Since you can learn everything from a people's emotions to their culture, I think learning languages is a very good thing, and it also means respecting that country."

wjlee@sportschosun.com