'Babel 250' aims to create new common language

The cast members of tvN’s new reality show “Babel 250” pose at a press meeting, Monday. From left are Tanon Varaya, Angelina Danilova, Matheus Oliverio da Silva Rego, Lee Ki-woo, Michelle Marie Bertolini Araque, Nicolas Portier and Chen Lin. / Courtesy of CJ E&M

By Kim Jae-heun

There are 6000 languages known to exist in the world, but only 250 languages are actually in current use. CJ E&M’s cable TV tvN wants to add one more with its new reality show “Babel 250” and strives to make it a new global language after English, Spanish and French. The television show takes its title from the biblical Tower of Babel and those 250 languages.

“Although we say Babel is our new common language, it is impossible to make one,” said program director Lee Won-hyoung during a press meeting at Stanford Hotel in Mapo-gu, western Seoul, Monday. “We wanted to show that people can communicate with a limited vocabulary like we do with English when we travel. But it was hard in the first three episodes as people had to know each other and they were not very passionate to cooperate. Starting in the fourth episode we tried to establish the Babel language,” Lee said.

The show premiered on July 11, starring seven international participants from Korea, Brazil, Venezuela, Thailand, France, China and Russia. Four men and three women who don’t speak the same language began living together in a village named Dalangyi in Namhae County along the South Sea.

The seven foreigners are banned from using English and they have to speak only in their own languages to communicate with each other. While living in the countryside town, the members work on the farm and cook their meals together.

No cast members speak Korean except for Korean actor Lee Ki-woo. Only Tanon Varaya from Thailand and Chen Lin from China have visited Korea before. For the rest, the place is totally new and strange.

Matheus Oliverio da Silva Rego from Brazil is a champion samba dancer, who is expected to join the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympics as a main performer. Nicolas Portier is a French actor who loves traveling. He decided to join the show _ despite his lack of experience in entertainment shows _ for his curiosity in Korea and his desire to study different cultures.

“I had a lot of stress because I had no clue if I will get along with new people and communicating was extremely difficult. But l learned how to treat people from diverse backgrounds,” said Portier.

Angelina Danilova comes from Russia and she agreed the members all had different characteristics, but she could not make sweeping assumptions on one culture after meeting just one person.

Varaya also added that the members’ nationalities and cultures didn’t matter too much and it was rather their personalities that gave him a new experience.

For Venezuelan Michelle Marie Bertolini Araque, food came as the biggest cultural difference.

“As friends said here, everyone has different charms and characteristics,” said Araque. “I had fun teaching my own culture and learning theirs.”

“Babel 250” airs every Tuesday on tvN.