New York City — A Dear World Project — #how2iluvu
We spent four days traveling around New York City to see if there is anything we have in common. It turns out, we do. Love.
A Letter
Sometimes it seems — if you turn on the TV or open your browser — that we're divided.
We spent 4 days traveling around New York City, to see if there is anything we have in common. It turns out, we do. Love. From Bay Ridge to the Bronx, Chinatown to Jamaica Bay. Everywhere we went, we asked people on the street to tell us one thing: How do you say, I love you.
This Valentine's Day, we aim to add a little to your vocabulary, but more importantly, show that we all have our own beautiful way to express love. We hope you text and call the people in your life. Tell them you love them. Now you can do it in 35 different ways.
Love,
Robert
Founder, Dear World
35 Ways · One Feeling
From Bay Ridge to the Bronx, Chinatown to Jamaica Bay — strangers wrote love on their skin in their mother tongue. Here are 35 beautiful ways to say the same thing.
Mandarin
(wǒ ài nǐ)
我爱你
Dutch
(ĭk how von yow)
Japanese
(ah-ee-shee-tay-roo)
愛してる
Thai
(chǎn rák kun)
Vietnamese
(em ew ahn)
Tamil
(naan unnai kathalikkireen)
Malayalam
(enniku ninne ishtam anu)
Cabo Verde Kriolu
(nta amabo)
Russian
(ya tee-BYAH lyoo-BLYOO)
Я тебя люблю
Korean
(sarang hae)
사랑해
Portuguese
(eiu chee AH-moe)
Eu te amo
Norwegian
(yay ehelsker dey)
French
(jeh-tem)
Je t'aime
Wolof
(dama la buga)
Romanian
(teh yoo-besk)
Te iubesc
Ukrainian
(ja tebe kochaju)
Я тебе кохаю
Bengali
(ami apnake bhalobashi)
Turkish
(see-nee see-vee-your-dum)
Seni seviyorum
Australian
(love ya mate)
Arabic
(ana uhibbuki)
أحبك
Fujian Hokkien
(góa ài lì)
Tibetan
(nga kayrâng-la gawpo yö)
Tagalog
(mahal kita)
Greek
(se agapó)
Hindi
(maiṅ tumse pyār kartā hūṅ)
Hungarian
(én sair-rět-lěk téged)
Én szeretlek téged
Hebrew
(ah-nee oh-hev ot-akh)
Armenian
(sirum em kez)
Cantonese
(ngóh oi néih)
我愛你
Albanian
(të doo-ah)
Te dua
Twi
(meh peh woh)
Ga
(misumo bo)
Spanish
(teh-ah-moh)
Te amo
Italian
(tee-ah-moh)
Ti amo
Urdu
(mein ap say muhabat karta hoon)
The Most Diverse City on Earth
Of Manhattan's 1.63 million residents, 49.1 percent (2013) of them speak a language other than English in the home. According to a report released by the United States Census Bureau, more than 192 languages are spoken in the New York metropolitan area, however some experts believe upwards of 800 languages are spoken on the island on any given day, making Manhattan the most diverse 23 square miles in the world.
Brooklyn is New York's most populated borough and the second largest in size. In fact, if Brooklyn were not a borough, it would be the fourth largest city in the country. In Brooklyn, the most common language spoken after English is French, due in large part to the borough's thriving Caribbean community centered in Flatbush — the largest West Indian community outside of the Caribbean after Toronto, Montreal, London and Miami. Brooklyn also boasts more than a dozen other ethnic neighborhoods, from Arabic to Spanish, Ukrainian to Greek.
Queens is home to one of the most diverse zip codes in the country, in Queens Village, not to mention the thriving multinational community that is Astoria. Basically any language you can imagine, and some you may never have heard of, are spoken in Queens — making it something of an “urban United Nations.”
In recent years, the rise of African languages spoken in the Bronx has been substantial, with more than 16 different African languages being spoken in the borough — a number experts believe to be low compared to the daily reality of life in the Bronx. In addition to this growing African-speaking community, others, such as Italian, Spanish, and Albanian speakers, continue a heritage that finds its roots in the Bronx for generations.
Credits
Director / Executive Producer / 2nd Photographer
Robert Fogarty
Sound
Jonah Evans
Director of Photography
Jeremiah Fry
Producer / Editor / Creative Director
Tori Gene McCarthy
Production Assistant
Bryant Gilmore
Aerial Cinematography
Viewing NYC
Music
"Antlers" by Lights & Motion
Special thanks to the city of New York and its citizens for sharing their stories of love and language with us. Share how you say I love you using #how2iluvu and tag @dearworld.
Let’s talk about what your moment requires.