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Dear friends,
For the love of God, please stop sending me links to Xiaomanyc videos with comments like:
“Have you seen this guy? Check this out.”
Yes, I know who Xiaoma (real name: Arieh Smith) is. And no, I’ve never been impressed by his content.
Read on and I’ll explain my reasoning.
Firstly, who is Xiaoma?
If you haven’t been unfortunate enough to be inboxed by his videos yet, Xiaoma runs a YouTube channel called Xiaomanyc with a massive, 5 million+ (at the time of this writing) subscriber base.
The channel itself is in the language learning niche and is predominantly (but not exclusively) Mandarin-focused.
Arieh Smith, a young New Yorker and near-native Mandarin Chinese speaker (lived in China as a teen and is married to a Chinese woman), creates viral content with what I call “language parlor tricks”, where he goes into public places and “shocks” people by speaking (or attempting) their language.
Their reactions are often recorded without consent or secretly .
The videos are then clickbaited to great effect on YouTube with titles like:
“White Guy Stuns…”
“White Guy Shocks…”
“White Guy Surprises…”
The rest of Arieh’s content is mostly comprised of him making ridiculous facial expressions during unusual, foreign spa and medical treatments, such as getting his ear wax and dandruff removed.
I have no interest in these myself and find his reactions utterly nauseating to watch, but I will say this in his favor:
Providing an entertaining glimpse into Eastern and alternative medicine may be the only redeemable content on his channel.
I have no issue with entertaining documentary-style content, but allow me to make a few general comments on the rest of his language-focused videos and style.
Recording people without consent or secretly is unethical, and using it for profitable entertainment should be banned
In many jurisdictions around the world, including many US states, it’s totally illegal to secretly video people (justifiably so) or not get consent before filming.
Some jurisdictions make it more of a gray area.
But it’s completely legal in the State of New York to secretly record someone (as long as you’re part of the conversation):
New York is a one-party consent state. This means that only one party must consent to the recording of an in-person or telephone conversation. In other words, if you are a party to the conversation, you may record without the other person’s consent.
Source: Romano Law
So when Xiaoma walks into a NY establishment and fires off some phrases with his camera on standby and records stunned reactions, he’s not breaking NY law.
He can take that footage and make a viral, profitable YouTube video out of it.
Regardless of the law, I’ve always considered this to be completely unethical.
Imagine for a moment if you (or worse - your wife or daughter) ended up on some punk’s viral video without your family’s knowledge or consent.
Who would be happy about that?
What about when Xiaoma goes into a Chinese nail salon and eavesdrops on a private conversation between some ladies, who up until that point felt safe to disclose information privately, and then shares that conversation with millions of viewers?
I’m not okay with it.
But we’ve seen this kind of thing before, haven’t we?
Laoshu (Moses McCormick)
I was one of the first influencers back in the day to openly criticize the recently deceased Moses McCormick (Laoshu) for this exact thing.
Laoshu gained popularity by going into stores, food courts and supermarkets, speaking a few phrases of an exotic language to people, and then filming whatever ensued.
Ironically, Moses was doing the same thing Xiaoma does but in the State of Ohio, where it is actually completely illegal to film people like this.
While we’re on the topic of Moses…
Xiaoma’s R.I.P Laoshu video
This has got to be in the top 5 “worst videos I’ve ever seen on YouTube”.
Immediately following the announcement of Moses McCormick’s passing, Xiaoma put out what was clearly an opportunistic attempt at benefiting from this tragic breaking news.
He published a video titled R.I.P Laoshu, where - I kid you not - he tried really hard to pretend to cry for 8 straight minutes over the death of a complete stranger.
It’s one thing to report on a sad news story, quite another to force tears and recount online memories like he was your cousin.
I’m talking Amber Heard levels of tear-fakery, with an emotive, funeral backing track for added effect.
This is why I can’t tolerate YouTubers, Tiktokers and Instagrammers generally - no act is too low if there’s potential for virality.
Similarly, he put out a video recently that he recorded in an airplane toilet crying and saying his final goodbyes because of a mechanical issue on the plane that forced the pilot to return to the departure airport.
He was subsequently ridiculed in his comments by airline personnel for overreacting.
I would be afraid too in that situation, but who on earth prioritizes recording their tears in a plane toilet for YouTube when death may be imminent?
It’s all straight-up theatrics.
What languages does Xiaoma speak?
Arieh speaks near-native (or is it? 🤔) Mandarin Chinese.
I’m not nearly proficient enough in Mandarin to judge his ability, but it’s quite clear his level is excellent. He lived in China as a college student and is married to a Chinese woman, so it’s unsurprising that he speaks as well as he does.
The overwhelming majority of Xiaomanyc’s content is busting Mandarin Chinese out to surprise people.
Arieh claims to have learned Spanish at home during COVID lockdowns and also claims to have some proficiency in other Chinese dialects.
Other than that, it’s not really clear what other languages he’s proficient in (he did make a video titled “How I Learned to Speak 15 Languages in One Year” which he admits is false).
There are also lots of other clickbaity videos where Xiaoma claims to learn a language in 24 hours or 2 weeks which is, again, false.
Most of Xiaoma’s non-Mandarin-related language videos consist of memorizing a handful of phrases in various languages and “shocking” people in public places (true Laoshu-style).
The economy of “shock”
To get online attention in this day and age on YouTube, TikTok, IG and so on, one has to strive to be increasingly outrageous.
A decade or so ago, a blogger could say, “I’m going to learn language X in 3 months”, write a handful of blog posts or emails, and that would blow up the Internet.
How things have evolved in the age of swipers.
Now you have YouTubers like Xiaoma saying things like:
“I Learned Italian In 24 Hours”
“White Guy Suddenly Busts Out Arabic In Market, Shocks Locals”
and
“American Learns Fluent Spanish In 15 Days, Shocks Native Speakers”
This is increasingly audacious, outrageous clickbait. In terms of virality, it absolutely works (my email and FB inboxes are testament to this fact).
But other than being entertaining, what does it contribute?
Nothing worthwhile, in my opinion.
So no, I’m not impressed by Xiaoma’s content
His entertaining previews of Eastern and alternative medicine and spa treatments is potentially quite interesting (I had no idea that “professional back scratcher” was a thing, for instance 😊), but I personally find his exaggerated reactions unwatchable.
Secretly recording people (or doing so without prior consent) to make viral YouTube content is unethical, and in many places, totally illegal.
Going full blown Amber Heard over a guy who just tragically passed away that you’ve never met before to make viral YouTube content is shameful and absolutely reprehensible.
His Mandarin Chinese level is seriously impressive but also to be expected, given his time as a youth living in China and his wife being Chinese.
Xiaoma is a YouTube entertainer, not an educator and there are far more remarkable polyglots (albeit less entertaining) worth learning from.
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13 COMMENTS
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a goodwin
well said. i also lived in china many years, have chinese wife and children. it’s no big deal. i’m up to 7 languages which i use regularly, but never to entertain. many people are much more able. i speak to communicate, not to “shock”. not worth watching. he’s just memorising bits, as you say
A-Train958
You don’t think he gets permission before he posts online? His videos aren’t live so he can obviously go home, edit, and remove anything if they don’t want to be shown to the world. He’s also fluent in way more languages than Mandarin. At least 10 others, probably more. His Yoruba (Nigerian language) is especially impressive. Only part I agree with you on is the plane situation. He was 100% overreacting there.
Jake
Good and fair criticizm. Of course people can form their own opinions, but Im here to say that Xiaoma’s Mandarin isn’t impressive. It’s basic and still riddiled with unnatural speech and big errors. Even his alleged Chinese-y background is exagerrated. He did like a semester in college abroad. Years ago (before he was well known), I saw a video where he was speaking actually very impressive Chinese in multiple accents by himself to a computer screen. In recent times he reviewed that video of himself and said he re-recorded it many times and read off a script to try to appear perfect in order to gain respect and admiration. He still did a good job immitating newscaster accents and such.
As for Laoshu, yeah the ethics are questionable, I can’t argue there. I would personally say that he wasnt a total grifter like Xiaoma. He really cared about multiple languages and cultures, and actually spoke a few to several languages at a decent level. He would show what materials he used and make videos on webcam practicing languages over the course of months to years, doing his best to improve and share to help other learners.
He talked about how he had used to be shy and self conscious and overcame it by learning languages and pushing himself to talk to people and make friends, which he did for a good while before ever starting to record it and post it online. Given that, it did seem to me that at times he was getting some ego fulfillment by getting Asians and other people to compliment him when he practiced speaking their language.
But like most humans, Laoshu (Moses) was complex.
Xiaoma is just running a scam to make money with as little actual language learning effort as possible.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Moni
Though I do understand your criticism of Moses and Arieh, I disagree that this content offers no value. I’ve been extremely inspired by these videos as seeing people connect through language has inspired me to pursue my own journey in language learning. The capitalization off of clickbait or shock based titles are unfortunately what the algorithm has tended to focus priority on. I do agree with your point that recording people without their consent is wrong though, and I wish/hope they inform the individuals they’re recording that they’re being recorded and ask permission to post it off camera.
noelle
yup. i don’t like him. and his misinformation about the korean language is really annoying. he likes to pretend it’s super hard and in one video said “it’s one of the hardest languages for an english speaker to learn” sorry no definitely not. his “i learned korean in 24 hours” vid is brutalll. i think he likes to pretend it’s so hard just because he’s horrible at pronunciation or something and doesn’t have an excuse.
Vince
There is nothing unethical about it. Your take is absurd and has no logical moral basis. You do not have a right to, and therefore should have no expectation of, privacy in public. Privacy is for private. Publicity is for public. You don’t get to engage in a public facing society and get mad when you’re filmed. I mean, you can get mad, but it’s dumb and nothing is going to change, so maybe don’t waste your time being mad about it.
Nobody cares that you’re not okay with it and you’re in the ubervast minority. You’re filmed, recorded, tracked 24/7 by your government, often for less-than-moral purposes. The NSA knows what you ate for breakfast 8 years ago Tuesday. But some dude speaking Chinese and filming your reaction is deeply unethical, OOOKAY PAL.
Greg
Such hate. if you don’t like him don’t watch the videos? How has he hurt you? You sound personally wounded
Lee Miller
I have a degree in Chinese Studies from UK and have lived all around China for 6 years. I don’t have a Chinese wife :P
I watched his restaurant videos where he orders stuff - his Mandarin is fluent and his pronunciation is decent. But his subtitles are embellished so it looks as though he’s saying more which he doesn’t actually speak. I’ve only just come across this guy so I need to research more. When he’s speaking to Vincent Gao, he says he lived in Beijing for a year. I don’t hear the rhotic Beijing 儿, but I’ll have to listen more to make sure. It’s unlikely he’s truthful about his learning methods but I’m not sure yet.
Obviously he’s an entertainer and may take liberties sometimes, so if this is his main job, then why not make some bank. May be cringe but hats off if he likes his job and is making a living.
NS
Facts. I feel the same with many of the ytbrs. Everything is so disingenuous and unfortunately it’s so easy for them to scheme their way to the top, that’s why it’s great, ppl like you speak up about it. Thanks
S. Davies
Your hypercritical review of Xiaomanyc’s skills and his Youtube videos is over the top nasty. I enjoy his videos for the most part and I’m impressed by anyone who has such a passion for languages and who shows much respect for the people he visits. The importance of having the ability to speak different languages is not lost on me. When I was 16 I got the opportunity to live in England for a year, during which time I spent 2 months in Denmark with my father’s sister (an aunt I had never met) and her family. When I got off the plane I went into an airport gift shop to buy some flowers for my aunt, and stood in line to pay for them with about 6 people ahead of me. While I listened to the conversation as they paid for their purchases and it got closer to being my turn, the thought suddenly came to me - what if this cashier can’t understand what I’m asking for? What if I don’t understand how much I owe and how do I count that amount out of the bills and coins I have in my hand? When I reached the cashier she said “god dag” which I’d already heard 5 times and assumed meant “good morning.” I replied with “Hello, good morning”. Without skipping a beat, she instantly started speaking English and I completed my transaction quickly and left the store. It was while I was waiting for my luggage to appear, it suddenly struck me how rude and entitled we English speakers are. We expect every other country to learn English but we don’t consider the fact that we owe them the courtesy of at least greeting them in their own language. I vowed right then that if I ever travelled to a foreign country again I would learn enough to greet people, and learn enough words to ask for directions or to ask for something in a store. That’s what first attracted me to Xiaomanyc’s channel - he has that level of respect to have basic conversations with people anywhere. Lately he’s been learning Russian which I understand is one of the hardest foreign languages to learn. Maybe some of his videos are kitschy and over-acted, but there’s plenty of Youtubers who are dreadful, disrespectful and bordering on derision of the people they come in contact with. I didn’t understand where a lot of your anger towards him comes from. I don’t know what videotaping laws are in other countries, but in the US you can videotape anything you can see while standing on public ground, and that includes other people if they happen to walk through your camera shot.
Claude
When Xiaoma says that he is a polyglot, I don’t believe it. He just learnt simple phrases to show off, he’s only good in Chinese and the various dialects, as for other foreign languages? Not at all. In my opinion, Oriental Pearl is the actual polyglot, judging by the way she speaks
Stephen
Where do you teach out of? united states?
Chenelle Hancoc
Moses did break down his learning process on his channel as to how he learns his languages. He also did it meant that there are some languages that he did study where he made a new a handful of words and phrases, etc but he actually spoke more languages to a high degree of proficiency then Zimonjic. Moses will be missed.