A YouTube star known for his fluency in more than 20 languages died last week of heart complications.
Moses McCormick had more than 11 million subscribers to his YouTube page where he frequently showed off his language skills including fluency in Japanese and Mandarin.
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His family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay to have his remains transported from Phoenix where he lived, to his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
The fund has doubled its initial goal thanks to his many fans.
In a statement on the fund page, his family writes, “Moses Monweal McCormick was a beautiful brother, son, father, and friend. He touched the lives of so many all over the world. His dedication and passion for not only learning but, teaching a plethora of languages.”
His sister, Susan, set up the fund which has more than 2,000 donors. One donor wrote, “I’ve never donated to Gofundme before Moses. I wish I could have met this incredible Giver. Moses truly is the perfect name for a man that spreads love.”
McCormick created several videos that went viral of him surprising restaurant staff with his fluent language skills. In one, he is seen striking up conversations with strangers in a supermarket in Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic. The video was titled, “Black man making foreigners feel at home by speaking their language.”
The heartwarming video is made more touching by the reactions of the people with whom McCormick interacted and the fact that he was very kind, polite, and friendly as he told them that he was learning their language. It has garnered more than 4 million views.
McCormick also created guides for people who are seeking to learn new languages.
Fans of his videos shared their grief on social media where he was known as Laoshu.
“Every single influencer in the language learning space knows Moses because countless people started the hard road of learning a new language thanks to him,” one supporter wrote. “He was a self-taught master of a very rare craft. May he rest in peace.”
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