Hi.
Audience: Hi.
Poet Ali. I want to ask you guys a question. How many languages do you speak?
This is not a rhetorical question.
I actually want you to think of a number.
For some of you, it's pretty easy.
Inside your head, you're like, "It's one. You're speaking it, buddy. I'm done."
(Laughter)
Others of you maybe are wondering if the language that an ex-boyfriend
or an ex-girlfriend taught you where you learned all the cuss words,
if it counts, go ahead and count it. Be nice to yourself.
When I ask myself the question, I came up with four,
arguably five if I've been drinking.
(Laughter)
[in Italian?]
(Cheers)
Cheers.
But on closer examination, I came up with 83, 83 languages,
and I got tired and I stopped counting,
and it forced me to revisit
this definition that we have of language.