Japanese woman speaks in fluent Bengali, desis stunned | Photo Credit: Facebook

Key Highlights The video, uploaded on Facebook by a user called Apurba Das, shows Sakura speaking in fluent Bengla In a 7-minute conversation with a Bengali man, Sakura shares information about her educational background, her profession, and hobbies among many other things

Language is a beautiful thing. It can connect people in various ways and sometimes surprise them with words spoken or written.

What happens when you hear a foreigner speaking flawlessly in your native language? You are almost immediately taken by surprise. The next question that comes to mind is how did a non-resident pick-up an unknown language so easily.

Well, that exactly what thousands of desi netizens, especially Bengalis, on social media are currently experiencing after watching a video of a Japanese girl speaking fluently in Bangla.

The video, uploaded on Facebook by a user called Apurba Das, shows Sakura speaking in fluent Bangla and Hindi. In a 7-minute conversation with a Bengali man, Sakura shares information about her educational background, her profession, and hobbies among many other things. Impressively, she picked up the language after spending only seven months in Kolkata.

Watch the video:

Video: Facebook/Apurba Das

"My name is Sakura and I work in TCS, Japan," the woman introduces herself in Bengali. She then goes on to say she learnt the language in Jadavpur University’s Bengali Department and resided in Gole Park during the course.

"I liked studying Bengali in Jadavpur and decided to pursue it long term after. I lived in Kolkata from February to August before shifting to Delhi to learn Hindi," Sakura says in Bengali.

When the interviewer asked whether she liked Hindi or Bangla, she said Bangla is a rich language with a lot of expressions, whereas Hindi is comparatively easier to learn. If that is not impressive enough, she has also read Feluda stories that were written by legendary director Satyajit Ray.

Sakura said she has seen 'Pather Panchali' read Rabindranath Tagore's Postmaster.

Coming to Bengali food, Sakura put on a bright smile before saying she liked Ilish (Hilsa fish). She compared the taste of Ilish to Saba, which is very commonly consumed in Japan. Sakura says that shorshe (mustard seeds) is not used in Japanese recipes, but she really liked eating it while in Kolkata.

She also liked home-cooked food that she had at her teacher's place, Mochar Ghonto (Banana Blossom Curry) being one of them.

Towards the end of the conversation, Sakura says there are many similarities between Bengali and Hindi and also cites a simple example to prove her point.

The video has now garnered over 3.93 lakh views and 10,000 shares. Unsurprisingly, netizens were both surprised and happy with Sakura’s language skills.