Xiaomanyc | ||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Arieh Smith 1989 or 1990 (age 33–34) New York City, U.S. | |||||||||
Education | University of Chicago | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Genre | Language | |||||||||
Subscribers | 6 million [1] (November 2023) |
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Arieh Smith, better known as Xiaomanyc or simply Xiaoma ( Chinese: 小马在纽约; pinyin: xiǎo mǎ zài niǔ yuē; lit. 'Little pony in New York'), is an American YouTuber, best known for his videos where he speaks various languages with people from different cultures. [2] The New York Times credited his channel as one of the most popular YouTube channels in this category, while voicing skepticism regarding the extent of their language proficiency. [3] He has been profiled in news publications such as The Independent, [4] The Indian Express, [5] and The Daily Dot. [6]
Smith is a native of New York City and grew up speaking English [2] [3] in a Jewish family of Eastern European origin. [7] After graduating from high school, he took a basic Mandarin Chinese class during the summer before attending the University of Chicago. He attained a scholarship to study in Beijing, China, for one year, where he delved deeper into the Mandarin language. [3] He eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases. [2] [3]
Smith gained popularity on YouTube for his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, as well as Portuguese, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Yoruba, Telugu, Navajo, and various Chinese dialects at a basic conversational level. [2] Many of his videos showcase him partaking in diverse ethnic cultures while recording people's reactions to his varying proficiency in foreign languages. [5] [8] His video with fellow YouTuber Frankie Light, where they travel around New York City speaking Mandarin, received 4.2 million views. [3]
Smith has also travelled to Ireland, spending time learning Irish [9] [10] and spoke Welsh when visiting Cardiff in Wales. [11]
In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand, [12] to attend APEC Thailand 2022. [13]
The most popular of the YouTube polyglots is probably Mr. Light's friend and occasional collaborator Arieh Smith, a white New Yorker known to his millions of followers as Xiaoma (Mandarin for "Little Horse").
Xiaomanyc | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Arieh Smith 1989 or 1990 (age 33–34) New York City, U.S. | |||||||||
Education | University of Chicago | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Genre | Language | |||||||||
Subscribers | 6 million [1] (November 2023) |
|||||||||
|
Arieh Smith, better known as Xiaomanyc or simply Xiaoma ( Chinese: 小马在纽约; pinyin: xiǎo mǎ zài niǔ yuē; lit. 'Little pony in New York'), is an American YouTuber, best known for his videos where he speaks various languages with people from different cultures. [2] The New York Times credited his channel as one of the most popular YouTube channels in this category, while voicing skepticism regarding the extent of their language proficiency. [3] He has been profiled in news publications such as The Independent, [4] The Indian Express, [5] and The Daily Dot. [6]
Smith is a native of New York City and grew up speaking English [2] [3] in a Jewish family of Eastern European origin. [7] After graduating from high school, he took a basic Mandarin Chinese class during the summer before attending the University of Chicago. He attained a scholarship to study in Beijing, China, for one year, where he delved deeper into the Mandarin language. [3] He eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases. [2] [3]
Smith gained popularity on YouTube for his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, as well as Portuguese, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Yoruba, Telugu, Navajo, and various Chinese dialects at a basic conversational level. [2] Many of his videos showcase him partaking in diverse ethnic cultures while recording people's reactions to his varying proficiency in foreign languages. [5] [8] His video with fellow YouTuber Frankie Light, where they travel around New York City speaking Mandarin, received 4.2 million views. [3]
Smith has also travelled to Ireland, spending time learning Irish [9] [10] and spoke Welsh when visiting Cardiff in Wales. [11]
In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand, [12] to attend APEC Thailand 2022. [13]
The most popular of the YouTube polyglots is probably Mr. Light's friend and occasional collaborator Arieh Smith, a white New Yorker known to his millions of followers as Xiaoma (Mandarin for "Little Horse").