How far can your Korean vocabulary take you? For 21-year-old researcher Daryl Ang Nepomuceno, it brought him all the way to social media virality. Close to 1 million views on Facebook, in fact.
You see, Nepomuceno is the guy featured in the now-viral video that shows him speaking in “Korean.”
Mind the quotation marks because for the most part, he was speaking in Filipino, only with a cadence similar to Korean and a few Korean words thrown in.
The video was posted by Nepomuceno’s co-worker Gely Borela earlier this month but just started to go viral, with TV presenter Korina Sanchez even sharing the video on her Instagram on Monday.
In the video, Nepomuceno can be seen talking to his eomma (mother) about where he is and what time he plans to go home. His co-workers, including Borela who took the video, can be heard laughing out loud in the background.
In a Facebook message to Coconuts Manila today, Nepomuceno said that he also works part-time as a video editor and voice talent — which is probably why he has a knack for imitating accents.
He said he’s been copying how different nationalities speak since he was 4 years old by watching Chinese, Japanese, and Korean TV channels.
“I always speak like that. Sometimes, If I’m stressed already or at random times I just suddenly talk like that. It automatically comes out then. I’m just happy doing that because I make other people happy too,” Nepomuceno said.
Netizens found him hilarious too, with the video now at 18,000 shares, 10,000 reactions, and 58 comments.
“It really [sounds] real,” Facebook user Jazmin DadiZon said in Filipino.
Tonie Tiongson wondered why she couldn’t stop laughing.
While Icy Sarangina said she wants to do the same thing in her office.
Jayson Vergara Casupang quipped that the guy has been “eaten up by the system,” slang for those who are part of the Korean pop culture obsession.
Many Filipinos, like Nepomuceno, love Korean culture. Apart from the Tagalog-dubbed Korean dramas on national television, many are up to date with the latest Korean shows through various streaming platforms.
A lot are also fans of K-pop. Earlier this month, Korean girl group Momoland even performed at a private event and met up with boxer-senator Manny Pacquiao.
Nepomuceno was shocked when he found out that the video had gone viral.
“I feel chills all over my body that can turned (sic) into high fever,” he joked. “I am very happy and flattered because that simple video made many people happy. I didn’t expect that it will be such a hit in (sic) the social media.”
You do you, Daryl. Fighting!
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