The full expose on Westerners working for the Communist Party of China spreading CCP Propaganda and talking points whilst denigrating the west: th-cam.com/video/a-kjSIqcGuA/w-d-xo.html
I'm a english speaking American but I still can't remember every word very well ..... it's harder to speak English or any languages if you can't pronounce words right, as is my problem ...
I HOPE ONE day u make a GERMANY SPECIAL i SAW ON THE list Forbes merkel was AFTER trump AND xi....FEEL like south here GERMANY WE are most COMPROMISED in WHOLE eu....merkel even wear red in Photos with CCP she is a Groupies studiert Moscow and was in FDJ tue german Kommunist youth!!!
First year in China I didn't really bother with learning the language, I was so happy, thought everyone was being so nice, everything was going wonderfully, some call it the honeymoon period, true, but you can't scratch deeper than the surface when you don't speak the language, and man was I clueless about things going on around me. 5 years later and I achieved near fluency, HSK-5 at the time, the pros of learning the language is that I was able to get a real job which was not English teaching, and do business with 50-ish years old factory bosses who can't speak any English and get the best prices by becoming their drinking buddy, how business gets done in China. But I also started, way before 5 years in the learning, to notice things that bothered me quite a lot. From random racist remarks from some Chinese people, never 'in your face' but constantly and everywhere I went, there was always someone to call me 'names', I'm Black BTW but I've also heard them call names other foreigners who are White, Arab, Indian or other Asians who are visibly not Chinese. I also started to be able to read the propaganda banners at some point. I use to laugh at it first because of how blunt and North Korea level of stupid these messages were. Then I noticed that these became more and more nationalistic and anti-foreigner, they pretty much went from "love your country, love the party" to "foreigners are out to destroy us, watch out". I also started to be able to have more in depth discussions with Chinese people and become really close to some of them which led to confidences, some telling me that they hate what China is becoming under the current leader and wish they could move abroad, asking me how to bring their family to Europe or some other Western countries. Always in private settings and never to be repeated. Just a quick run down of course because I'm not going to write a novel on TH-cam, it's a lot more complicated than what I'm trying to summarize here, I got tons and tons more things that I've seen, heard, been told, that made me leave China in 2019 as I just couldn't take it anymore. Behind the facade of shiny new cars and gleamy skyscrapers, China is in fact a pretty dystopian place.
As a Chinese I have to agree with you. We call those who are badly hearted but have a smiling face "Smiling Tigers". Your another point: Chinese are very racist--Yes, this is very unpleasant.
I totally agree with what you said. I have lived in San Francisco in US 20 years. I am a Chinese, I can only stand to stay one week whenever I go back to China. I actually don't feel safe with the society. I worry about no one will offer me help when I have the accident. I got cheated from buying things there. Never happened where I live now. People are super friendly, always offer help, no cheating. Maybe because I live in a very nice neighborhood in US.
@@tomzhouschannel968 By the standard of a more inclusive society, yes almost all Chinese are racists. HOWEVER, most are not with bad intention. I think most of these incidents are somewhere between stereotype and racism. For example, one would say black people are athletic. It's stereotype and is not from a bad place but in a more inclusive society, this is frown upon. But in China, this flows out of someone's mouth like oil.
Hi Martin B. I understand you. I believe China like anywhere else, will face the "honeymoon stage" in a brand new place. But once you understand the language and culture, you will see in your own mind if it's the right place for you. Let's face it, we are all a little racist in some shape or form. But we do have the power and strength to face it the right way, so that they see we are not bad people. I have met serpentza. Let me tell you that this dude is the real deal and he is kind too. Great drinking buddy if I may add. I like Chinese people, but remember, they are smart and good with money. 🍻 And about governments? Let us be respectful and obedient to their laws, so that you focus on enjoying why you went to China the first place.
I spent 5 years in Wuhan and went through the stages as you mentioned, I came out of the tunnel with a similar point of view that you have now. Please continue, your insights help others understand China. As for the pro CCP TH-camrs, it is very self-serving for them to praise the virtues of the CCP while they are taking all the advantages of living there without acknowledging the heavy boot of the CCP.
I had the same when i lived in thailand for a year. Its called culture shock. You realize that all the smiles around you could also mean i want to steal from you , or kill you. And you only start figuring that out when you start to understand the language a bit
There you go if someone does something right and you point it out it does not make you pro anything and it someone does something wrong and you point it out it does not make anti anything. That is a spin that you are putting on this in other words if you have to spin it, it is to blur the truth and to hide the lie.
@@agungsuryapangestu2446 Kemenlu mengkategorikan Korea Utara masuk dlm 8 negara dg calling visa selain Afghanistan, Nigeria, .... mana lagi sy lupa. Due to the conditions of the countries...
I've been listening for the past couple of years from southern California. I was happy to see you made your way out here and got out safely. I spent two years as a missionary in Japan and my wife is Japanese, so I 100% understand and agree that you need to be able to speak the language to truly understand the country. Thanks for trying to speak the truth. We need truth-tellers now more than ever.
@KJ V Well, English is the official language of the US, just like Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa ECT. I’m not sure where English originated, but I think the comment meant that you should seek to understand a county’s people to better understand the country. 😊
I'm a South African living in China too. It's true. A few weeks ago some government officials came and ask me and my other friend from SA if we could write a paragraph about the city we live in, what we think of it and what our experience is. We ended up being fair, but honest. Critiqued a few things. Said that there really is nothing to do in our antique town. And that the air quality sucks. I can read and speak quite a bit of Chinese already, since I've been here for over 2 years, but what was published on the website online were our words but... Nevermind I take that back. They weren't OUR words. They changed it into something that kind of resembles a Chinese poem. We told them to take it down because we aren't happy that they twisted our comments and words but they never responded. We gave up after a week.
@@spawnkeeper999 They believe they are thinking for themselves. They believe in "free will"; as though they are the lever pullers of their beliefs (and they believe they can choose to believe things, or disbelieve things). Everyone thinks they have a have a handle on reality and that they possess the facts. Since so many beliefs & certainties contradict each other; this cannot be true.
Ya da ya da ya you are the only one capable of understanding. I will share this with you, I have and IQ of 168 and with that IQ I am able to understand that I don't know everything, I am also able to understand that everyone seems to in part or in full that they do understand. The ability to understand and understanding are two totally different things in whole or in part.
Duno your guys real lives. lol. Somepeople just never change, always impose their value and mindset to everyone around. 😂 Discussing in a small atmosphere led by a liar. This is pathetic, with these time you could have worked on problems right next to you~.If this is how your mental entertainment, feel free to cotinue~
This is exactly my experience when I returned to America and finally took Chinese!!! I just passed HSK3 and am going to sit the HSK4 exam. My western friends still do not know any Chinese that are still living there. When I came back to America I missed China so much that I got plugged into the Chinese American culture here. I found that the Chinese here are more willing to speak Chinese with you than the ones in China. I was not being treated like some English speaking boy toy but a human who was studying Chinese. I learned more Chinese in America than I did in China. You are so right. I was only there for two and a half years and I had the time of my life there. I had fun every day and was ignorant of what was going on around me. But hay Chinese also takes a long time to learn.
This is my exact experience in China. NOBODY is willing to speak to you in Chinese. Not one person (I’ve passed HSK 6 and am doing my Master’s entirely in Mandarin)
@@ejinchina4630 That's the opposite to mine - I guess you lived in a big city? Where I lived, they refuse to understand even rudimentary English, and when you used Mandarin they'd speak the local dialect back at you. On top of that they don't grade their language so they speak super fast and use slang. It's infuriating.
@@ejinchina4630 Haha I had a similar experience in Japan. Maybe if you make it seem like your Russian or Kazakh, or only talk to them online then they might talk more...
Worked in HK and Shanghai for 20 years. Did you see the true story on HKger exodus to Britain and how life turned out. Am not a HKger. Hope you read the history of HK and learn about your roots.
"If you can't understand the language you're stuck in tourist mode, living in a bubble of your own presumptions, delusions and making... " You took the words straight out of my mouth, dude. There is nothing worse than a happy go lucky hippy who thinks they understand the true meaning of life when they can't even understand the locals.
I forget who I heard it from, but I once heard somebody say, "the problem with philosophers and intellectuals is that they spend so much time discussing what the world is like that they never have any time left to go out and see what the world is like."
@@floridferret4585 maybe modern day ”philosophers” and intellectuals but that wasn’t the case with past philosophers like the ancient greeks and the great thinkers of the renaissance and the enlightenment. They all had great insight into the world and how the human mind works.
@@KevinPhillips_kw Do you know anything about the Snake and his sidekick while in China? He can speaks a little but does he really understand Chinese. Does he knows Chinese history, and culture? No he knows just to get by and impress the girls. He also works for NED.
@@johnhoward5954 yes, indeed it is tough language but i devised a new way of learning language which makes it easy for everyone.i am thinking about creating language learning app
“You can’t understand China if you can’t understand (Mandarin) Chinese”. A strong insight Winston … but it can be taken one step further. People from two different cultures may speak the same language but do not always actually understand each other. People can often have problems when they behave as they would in their own culture while overseas and respond as if speaking their own language. The late Dell Hymes, former Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, coined the phrase: Communicative Competence. An individual may have linguistic competence, (a knowledge of the syntax, morphology and phonology), but lack social knowledge - what linguistics refer to as pragmatics.
I saw this at UPenn’s English Language Program, where we were preparing international students for U.S. graduate programs, and in my own university students, where I currently teach in Taiwan. My Taiwanese wife assures me the reverse is also true when I speak (Mandarin) Chinese but think and behave as if I still in the USA.
Not related to the video, but someone superchatted Tim Pool about inviting you to his podcast yesterday. Tim appeared pretty ambivalent about it, but his staff was quite excited about it. I think you should hit him up again.
A few weeks ago he said when people pester him about having some guest on, he doesn't want to do it, because he doesn't want to set a example and encourage his audience to order him around and demand he has certain people on. He seems to be a bit pissy and stubborn about this.
@@TrangleC Yeah, that's Tim alright. That's why I ask Winston to ask him himself again. Now that we know Tim' and his staff aren't opposed to idea, maybe we can get him in. There have been people recommended by chat on his show before, China Uncensored was one of them.
@@deldrinov Yeah. I wrote such "You should have them on!" comments too, in the beginning of the pandemic, back when C-Milk was doing his investigative stuff about the origins of the virus and about Chinese cell phone providers losing 20 million customers.
@@TrangleC I don't think meanie beanie reads comments anymore unless there's brigading going on. At this point the only way to reach him for us plebs is $5.
@@deldrinov Yes, that is the beauty of small channels that still interact with their audience. In Pool's case, I understand it even if there wouldn't be too many comments, because the comments there are under his videos are not really worth reading. It is always the same shit. Dorks posting the same historical quotes over and over under every video, till they just sound hollow and meaningless and the same, super obvious bla bla about lying Dems and dead people voting for Biden and so on. Not that I disagree with the sentiment, but the neverending sameness of it all has really taken on a bleak, depressing purgatory quality. And then there are the always barking and never biting "If they keep fucking around, they'll find out!"-dogs that keep blustering about how the American people will stand up and fight tyranny every minute now. I can't stomach all that pointless dribble anymore and I am just a guy who watches every second video maybe. I don't blame the guy for not reading this constant flood of the same shit over and over again, for the hand full of different, worthwhile comments in between.
I've been studying Chinese culture/history for the past two years and I have a pretty weird relationship with it. I personally find modern Chinese history absolutely atrocious which has brought only harm to the world as a whole but I can't help but be intrigued by the entire situation, which is why I continue to study China. I'm going to attempt Mandarin for my electives on my Bachelor of IT for two years and see how I do, after that I'll continue my study in my own time.
That’s what I always say: you need Chinese to understand Chinese. You can’t interpret them from the lens of western society or whatever your own cultures are. And this what most westerners got wrong in the first place. And two more points I would like to add. One is that knowing the language is just the first step to the Chinese world. Their cultures and mentality are a lot more deep than just the language itself. A lot of their beliefs and way of thinking are heavily influenced by their history, cultures and even geography. And just knowing the language itself won’t get you there. Their Wuxia novels by 金庸 are good example. Those novels have a huge impact on how Chinese see different variations of kung fu, body structure, medicine, etc, all the way to their movies, their daily terms and phrases, and at the mean time also reflect a lot of Chinese way of thinking and characteristics. Another good example is cultural specific terms like 马后炮, 吃了别人的车, 飞象过河, If you don’t have the concept in Chinese chess, or literally called elephant chess, you would have a hard time understand the underlying meaning, even when you understand every of the Chinese characters separately. Secondly, their geographic diversification also affects them a lot. For example, the way northern and southern China celebrate Chinese New Year could be quite different. Hence, if a foreigner only spend most of his time in a specific region of China, or only learn one Chinese language, he won’t see different things in other parts of China. The food could be very different too in different regions, even when they have the same name. A good example is 豆花, usually sweet in the southern China and savoury in the northern and mix with other ingredients. So the point is a lot of so called Chinese experts are only good at specific region of China if they only speak Mandarin Chinese or only live most of their time in specific region.
I can relate very well to this. I lived in China for 9 years and go back regularly for work (not 2020, but.....) I too studied Chinese in a university and purposely avoided spending all of my time with expats. I preferred to get to know Chinese and this helped me gain a deeper understanding of the culture. I found that many Chinese don't particularly like the party. But they don't like foreigners criticizing their leaders. I understand this..... my brother might point out a flaw in my father and I will accept it but if someone else points it out I'll likely tell him to shut up. Many westerners attempted learning Chinese but quickly gave up because they considered it too hard. They learnt how to order a beer and get a taxi and that was enough for them. Thanks for the video!
I was in China for a year, and I definitely could've worked harder at learning the language, but I was absolutely AMAZED at how little other expats knew. I told a story to a guy who'd been there for I think it was 4 years? About a "conversation" i had with a staff at a grocery story, which essentially was just me saying "How much is this? Oh, it's too expensive. Thanks." And he said "Wow, that's more Chinese than I know." I was like seriously? This is the little bit of Chinese I learned on the flight to China! I basically just know the bare minimum, numbers, how to refuse or accept, how to ask prices, a few other basic phrases, but I came to realize that a lot of expats don't even care to learn that much!
True. In my hometown Berlin (Germany), we have so many expats now. Often when you go to a restaurant or pub, the waiter will talk (only!) English to you and get upset if you don't want to reply in English. I mean, not learning the language is one thing (German ain't easy after all), but working in the service inductry and expecting the customers to speak a foreign language (just because they probably can) is just next level. I really like talking English, but nowadays I am so often forced to, it drives me nuts.
Also kinda stupid, it's like climbing in flip flops, swimming in armour or going for a walk on the frontlines. Very suboptimal >< To me it's also very unhealthy and tiresome, I'm a bit of a hermit but still not learning the language I'm surrounded with drains my energy a lot
@@tydalm.9665 >German isn't easy It's still a lot easier to learn a language from the same family (German for English speakers), especially only to the level where you can navigate your daily life. You really don't have to be able to discuss philosophy and translate medical journals to work at a restaurant...
@@Sk0lzky german has so many grammar things that english doesn't - declensions, cases, various forms of addressing, word genders - and is agglutinative
@I'm Joebama and I forget everything It gets worse with each following U.S. president. That great country's salvation lies... voting for any third parties???
This is one of the reasons why I was so impressed by your profound understanding of the PRC when I first saw your videos, I have never seen a westerner understands the PRC so much as we hong kongers do, knowing the language does contribute a lot since you can read their propagandas and see how the local people react to the issues concerned.
@serpentza nice video! I just watched your video back to back with NTD’s “Grinding America Down” everything is coming together for the Communists, it’s quite scary. I used to live in Shenzhen for 8 yrs as well, so a lot of things you say resonates with me. Keep up the good work!
Having worked (and still working) in Chinese companies within the technology sector in Australia for 15 years, I initially also had the dazzle, drive and excitement of the growth of Chinese brands and how I can build a foreign brand into a Western Market. The management was all Chinese of course, and I was quite naive that working in a Western Country would mean that the company that I work for would abide by local laws. Overtime, I saw that there was heavy influence of corruption and "bamboo" ceilings, as well as questionable practices where there is clear preferential treatment of Chinese nationals vs. the 'rest of us'. I am culturally Chinese but born in Australia, and unfortunately not able to speak Mandarin (parents are from Hong Kong). I have been watching you for years Winston, you're insight on China and Chinese culture, behaviour, mannerisms is spot on, I have noticed this change over the years also within Chinese companies I have been working for. There is definitely a lot of 'smoke and mirrors' going on, where on surface level (to the unsuspecting eye) everything is going great and orderly. One needs to look beneath the surface to really understand what is really happening.
I can't speak much Mandarin, but I did live in China for a year. I think actually living there helps one understand China and the people, even if your language abilities aren't great. Living there showed me what life is like under the CCP. And that kind of life is not something I support, in America or China.
I'm still confused by it. Mexicans celebrate the "day of the dead" with skeletons. Americans carve faces in pumpkins for Halloween. Do spaniards celebrate the dead with pumpkins?
Please don't confuse the government with the people. The peoples attitudes and impressions are very controlled by the communist. You will find a very different culture and attitude in Taiwan who are also "Chinese".
For me it was like that with Russia (and I learned Russian just to be able to study sinology because they required multiple foreign languages), there's a saying - to have a soft heart you need steel buttocks. And the worst thing is that Anglosphere is deteriorating as well >
WINSTON fascinating information here. So relevant. Especially today with the mess we are all in. Did u leave a link to these guys who speak Chinese fluently.
I found Mandarin really hard. 50 is not a good age to try and lay down a new language. The brain doesn't write to long term memory the same as it had in the past. I have given it a fair shot as much as possible, learning hundreds of words, sentences, numbers, dates, times. I accepted it as a challenge. But my big problem was I could only submerge in it a couple of weeks per year . I reached a point where I sort of understood whats being said, but a good part of conversation is just too fast for me. I could shop with it, communicate with taxi drivers and buy food, but I hit a ceiling without more exposure. Not quite conversational. :( There are no training courses near me, but YoYo on You Tube helped. I'm unlikely to further improve now that the CCP is shunning Westerners. A funny story. My wife and I were guests at a big wedding in Wuhan. Maybe 150 people. We were the only Westerners. I thought Jeez...I'd better learn a few toasts and good wishes for when they splash the baijiu around the table. Nobody will care if I bugger it up a bit. Well, the host found out before the speeches began and thrust me onto the floor with a microphone. To make things worse, they made me go first. The room fell quiet and 150 pair of eyes were on me. No pressure! Somehow I got through this. I thanked the couple and their family. remembered not to call the mother-in-law a horse. Then they all downed a shot and yelled Ganbei! I felt like I had just passed through the eye of a needle. later, strangers in the room pumped my hand and back-slapped me, which I guess is better than being punched. A fun night.
When I discoverd how the Chinese language works about a year ago, I fell in love with the language. No flexion of verbs, adjectives, etc., no (real) times, no (real) plural, no complicated genders, no complicated grammar and syntax. It's basically a LEGO language. You more or less just have to learn what all the different LEGO pieces mean.
@@angelhuang4126 Grammar-wise it is, but I find the difficulty of Chinese is in its simplicity. Easy to get into, difficult to master. Especially when you get into 文言文 - which some might think they won't need to learn for fluent conversation, but will absolutely need to if they want to understand everything a native would. The sheer quantity is also more than that of most languages.
@@euphoricatheist6694 As a native Chinese speaker, I don’t think you need 文言文 to master the language. Still, you need to understand as many 成語 as possible to comprehend higher-level/education conversation.
You can’t really understand any culture fully unless you are actually from that culture. Language helps but empathy is equally important, not to mention being a student of history.
True. I would also argue that you can't understand a culture fully without understanding what it is and what it is not.. and it seems like the Chinese aren't allowed the perspective to see what their culture actually is or isn't. Hope that makes sense
This is just a snippet from your previous video, still I guess it's an important message and not everyone has time to watch your 1 hour video. Love from the uk😊
Don't worry, they'll just claim that area as being part of the homeland and that they wish to drag it back from Lithuania. It's the same story all over again. Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia...
Once heard a story about a US 'expert' on Iranian affairs who relied on two translators: one who knew Arabic who would do his best transcribing Farsi text into the alphabet, and one who only knew spoken Farsi who would read out the poorly transcribed text and attempt to translate into English so the US 'expert' could form his analysis.
I can attest. As a Buddhist. I never really knew what were the teachings, till I learned the language. Sanskrit and Pali. In PureLand Buddhism I never really knew that the practitioners(Mandarin speakers) also had no idea what they were saying. They had memorized the sounds, but not the meaning. Understanding that: I understood how vegetarian Buddhists could turn away a hungry, homeless person.
I agree. Unless you speak the language, especially when you stand out as a foreigner, you can only describe what you see. You cannot analyze nor evaluate what you see.
THIS is the stuff that makes me a proud patron! I'll never walk your shoes, couldn't if I tried as time has passed, but I'm given a glimpse into a world that matters to me but cannot be my priority. Support the people brave enough to speak truth to power y'all, there's my 50 cents
Great video. I went to Korea having studied the language, I lived and worked there for 7 years 2002-2009. I eventually became almost fluent in conversational Korean. It was very interesting to discuss the things that Korean people did not want to talk about and actually know what I was talking about.
Serpentza I really want to know something... is it worth learning Chinese? I mean with all the things you and laowhy say, I think I'd hate my life! I'd prefer going to Taiwan rather than Mainland China but what do you think? Japanese seems cool, but there is something about Chinese that takes my attention a little bit more!
Learning the language and the history is vital! I was very impressed in another video you made, commenting that the insensitive rapacious greed for food and resources of many Chinese comes from periods of starvation. Japan is right next door, and has the same problem with a very different language and culture - not just with the West, but with China and Korea as well. There are layers of problems, from half-assed language competency creating misunderstanding by some foreigners when it comes to complex situations, to (among foreigners) the attitude that older people aren't relevant and may have "gone native" and "betrayed their original value systems". Chinese people can get by in Japan, reading signs and guessing approximately at contents, without studying Japanese, which they assume is just a bastardized form of their own language and culture - and the 'favorability index" of how Chinese are seen by Japanese has steadily declined over the years with increased direct contact between the people, as a result. It is truly the Belgian in the Spanish village. At some point in the future, I hope they can reach at least a British/German level of mutual understanding that they're never going to be the same as each other, but they can work together on a personal level.
Winston, thanks for calling out Barrett and Jayoe, as you asked in your last video not to attack them personally in anyway, I heeded your advice and just unsubbed from their channels. Thanks again for the heads up. Stay awesome. 🇮🇪
@@rumrunner8019 yeah only a little he only spent 2 weeks though so very little. Unless he learned later on learned it, the man is fairly smart and lived an insane life; he went from "red prince", to pig shit farmer, to turning down reinstatement of prior rich family life, became a farmer after regime changed lifting his punishment for being part of his family (sadly a major upgrade it was low but his choice), went to college, became a chemist, got in to low government position, was quick to raise ranks, and now look at him.
Was the same for me, 5th generation Australian thrown in the deep end working in Italy (mind you, the Italian language is a piece of cake compared to Mandarin for a native English speaker). Once you've learned the language even at an intermediate level it's like a whole new dimension opens up - like going from black and white TV to full, 4k colour. And you finally get to understand what all those 'happy' smiles and laughter were about. Great content Winston, keep it up - at least until China buys the USA like they have Australia. Mandarin is my next language challenge... wish me luck!
Mostly many monolingual English speakers are impatient and rude to those trying to learn a second language. Also those people being judgmental, well maybe they just got off the boat. I've had someone say that about me in English, "Oh foreigners never learn our language." I'm just thinking, give me a break this is my third day in this country and I'm just visiting!" If you would like to be critical of someone in this regards, go live in a foreign country for a year in which you don't know the local language. Back to your original statement, likely when you heard them talking in their own language they were not trying to talk to you in the first place. And if they were, they were probably in trouble and needed help. A little empathy can go a long way, if some day you are in their same shoes I guarantee you will be greatful to those who've helped you.
Foreign English speakers generally come here to the U.K. speaking American English and don’t seem to understand the accents nor the slang as it can get pretty confusing for people with textbook English
Yeah this is not unique to Chinese lol. Literally it applies to every language and all its dialects. Culture is different everywhere there is no person who understands anything beyond what they were raised and loved it really. You can move and love somewhere and maybe in 20 to 30 years be native at a cultural level though.
Loving the pinstripe look mate! And Lele’s Xi Jinping accent, amazing! Love what you said about the smiling locals though, and it’s true. Deeper still, the Barrett’s of the world think “wow what nice people”, but they could well be laughing to each other about the not very nice jokes they’re telling about those clueless foreigners.
English is a second language and I learned it when I was 17 , the first thing you learn when you learn a second language is how those people think and act , their view of the world and how they process their every day experience. Thanks for the video I wish I could speak Chinese
@@bbustin1290 If you think you can judge someone's accent in a language that you don't speak yourself you are dellusional. If you think 19 TH-cam likes makes you right, you are beyond help. Waste of time.
@@martinlaoshi We are all morons I guess. And your just have to deal with our small brains... the world is full of them. I still have very good hearing ... who knows maybe the virus affecting my neurons in my brain and now is giving me a false German influence.
as a belgian guy myself i would try to find people that can talk to me there in frensh or german since our country has 3 languages and also would know that los dias de los Meurtes is Mexican :D
I have a friend who speaks about 6 languages well and three of the fluently as a native. (He was raised in one country by parents of two other countries. So as a child he spoke one language to each of his parents and another to his friends, teachers, and others.) He said until you know a language well enough to think in that language and not have to translate, you don’t fully understand the people that speak it. You can not think something you can’t say. Makes sense to me.
@@rockys7726 Try commenting without initializing WMJ (Color, Animal, Profession). Then try using the mobile app to edit or reply to your own post. It was ghosted! Doesn't show up in filtered comments either.
@@emmettturner9452 It happened a few times when I was politely commenting something on Biden. In 15 seconds the comment is gone. I got stubborn and I have post it multiple times but each time with the same result. After a while an error appeared and they refuse to post the comment. This is the reason why I think it's something with the TH-cam algorithm. Ahhh yes, I have discovered all of that because I wanted to fix a misspell and I have received error on repost. Now I'm wondering how many comments TH-cam deletes without a real reason.
For those that aren't familiar with China or Chinese culture, language is massively important to the identity. Language is inextricably linked with culture in China. I don't claim to be an expert, but I know that there are a lot of interrelated words around the character 文 (wén). Chinese language, 中文 (zhōngwén). Culture, 文化 (wénhuà). Civilization 文明 (wénmíng). Attempting to understand the language is thus viewed as an attempt to understand the culture, and you may find as a traveler or to Chinese friends that they admire or respect your attempts to learn or demonstration of knowledge because of this. As you say, you cannot truly understand China or the Chinese without at least a fundamental understanding of the language, and that would only be the beginning without more fluency. Much of this info and context comes from an ethnic Chinese mainlander that is a good friend of mine.
Winston, I noticed that you like wearing dark clothes in front of a black background. You may try a backlight. It'll bring you out of the dark background better.
Yes, that's true. There's so much culture in the language. That's why I actually learned it while living here in Shanghai. People can get away with living here for years without knowing it, but I think it makes life way smoother.
People that won't learn the language yet like to live in that country for prolonged periods of time will forever be eternal tourists. Language is deeply connected to culture and it is neccessary for understanding of a country and its people.
![ไลฟ์สุ่ม iPhone 295 บาท... โกงมั้ย?[ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.97 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gdstHEE4UUE/mqdefault.jpg)
The full expose on Westerners working for the Communist Party of China spreading CCP Propaganda and talking points whilst denigrating the west: th-cam.com/video/a-kjSIqcGuA/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for the resource
Is it Friday today?
I'm a english speaking American but I still can't remember every word very well ..... it's harder to speak English or any languages if you can't pronounce words right, as is my problem ...
I HOPE ONE day u make a GERMANY SPECIAL i SAW ON THE list Forbes merkel was AFTER trump AND xi....FEEL like south here GERMANY WE are most COMPROMISED in WHOLE eu....merkel even wear red in Photos with CCP she is a Groupies studiert Moscow and was in FDJ tue german Kommunist youth!!!
I was still able to see this on my Subscription (in reference to being shadow banned, so maybe only some vids are not showing??).
First year in China I didn't really bother with learning the language, I was so happy, thought everyone was being so nice, everything was going wonderfully, some call it the honeymoon period, true, but you can't scratch deeper than the surface when you don't speak the language, and man was I clueless about things going on around me.
5 years later and I achieved near fluency, HSK-5 at the time, the pros of learning the language is that I was able to get a real job which was not English teaching, and do business with 50-ish years old factory bosses who can't speak any English and get the best prices by becoming their drinking buddy, how business gets done in China.
But I also started, way before 5 years in the learning, to notice things that bothered me quite a lot. From random racist remarks from some Chinese people, never 'in your face' but constantly and everywhere I went, there was always someone to call me 'names', I'm Black BTW but I've also heard them call names other foreigners who are White, Arab, Indian or other Asians who are visibly not Chinese.
I also started to be able to read the propaganda banners at some point. I use to laugh at it first because of how blunt and North Korea level of stupid these messages were. Then I noticed that these became more and more nationalistic and anti-foreigner, they pretty much went from "love your country, love the party" to "foreigners are out to destroy us, watch out".
I also started to be able to have more in depth discussions with Chinese people and become really close to some of them which led to confidences, some telling me that they hate what China is becoming under the current leader and wish they could move abroad, asking me how to bring their family to Europe or some other Western countries. Always in private settings and never to be repeated.
Just a quick run down of course because I'm not going to write a novel on TH-cam, it's a lot more complicated than what I'm trying to summarize here, I got tons and tons more things that I've seen, heard, been told, that made me leave China in 2019 as I just couldn't take it anymore.
Behind the facade of shiny new cars and gleamy skyscrapers, China is in fact a pretty dystopian place.
Great comment. Learning the language definitely opens your eyes to a whole new level of understanding
As a Chinese I have to agree with you. We call those who are badly hearted but have a smiling face "Smiling Tigers". Your another point: Chinese are very racist--Yes, this is very unpleasant.
I totally agree with what you said. I have lived in San Francisco in US 20 years. I am a Chinese, I can only stand to stay one week whenever I go back to China. I actually don't feel safe with the society. I worry about no one will offer me help when I have the accident. I got cheated from buying things there. Never happened where I live now. People are super friendly, always offer help, no cheating. Maybe because I live in a very nice neighborhood in US.
@@tomzhouschannel968 By the standard of a more inclusive society, yes almost all Chinese are racists. HOWEVER, most are not with bad intention. I think most of these incidents are somewhere between stereotype and racism. For example, one would say black people are athletic. It's stereotype and is not from a bad place but in a more inclusive society, this is frown upon. But in China, this flows out of someone's mouth like oil.
Hi Martin B. I understand you. I believe China like anywhere else, will face the "honeymoon stage" in a brand new place. But once you understand the language and culture, you will see in your own mind if it's the right place for you. Let's face it, we are all a little racist in some shape or form. But we do have the power and strength to face it the right way, so that they see we are not bad people. I have met serpentza. Let me tell you that this dude is the real deal and he is kind too. Great drinking buddy if I may add. I like Chinese people, but remember, they are smart and good with money. 🍻
And about governments? Let us be respectful and obedient to their laws, so that you focus on enjoying why you went to China the first place.
“We learn from history that we do not learn from history”
~Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Great quote. 👌
"straight roads are for fast cars, turns are for fast drivers"
-Colin McRae
@@codmw2nooblet and Chinese roads are for adrenaline junkies >
"poopoo in toilet, no care, poopoo in spaghetti, everyone upsetti" - Gamer man, Batman series.
No wonder the Freemasons, like Hegel, completely twisted them.
Landsmann, Hegel ist kein Deutscher, sondern Amalek! Offenbarung 3:9
I spent 5 years in Wuhan and went through the stages as you mentioned, I came out of the tunnel with a similar point of view that you have now. Please continue, your insights help others understand China. As for the pro CCP TH-camrs, it is very self-serving for them to praise the virtues of the CCP while they are taking all the advantages of living there without acknowledging the heavy boot of the CCP.
I had the same when i lived in thailand for a year. Its called culture shock. You realize that all the smiles around you could also mean i want to steal from you , or kill you. And you only start figuring that out when you start to understand the language a bit
7 years n I learnt how fake n illogical the place and many pole are, met very few real genuine golden hearts but they’re there
Enjoy the coronavirus in US, embrace the love of your Democratic boot
@@sagitta2012 what the hell has this got to do with it .. 🙄 you won a balloon 🎈congratulations
There you go if someone does something right and you point it out it does not make you pro anything and it someone does something wrong and you point it out it does not make anti anything. That is a spin that you are putting on this in other words if you have to spin it, it is to blur the truth and to hide the lie.
I’ve seen a lot of North Koreans smiling in the presence of Kim ..... They must be happy 😊
🤣
You are witty
@@gutsikkyamo8426
Kim's sister is charming....
Psychopatic beauty....
Oh wait did you not mention Ak 47 behind their back point to their heading not smile and cry
@@agungsuryapangestu2446
Kemenlu mengkategorikan Korea Utara masuk dlm 8 negara dg calling visa selain Afghanistan, Nigeria, .... mana lagi sy lupa.
Due to the conditions of the countries...
I've been listening for the past couple of years from southern California. I was happy to see you made your way out here and got out safely. I spent two years as a missionary in Japan and my wife is Japanese, so I 100% understand and agree that you need to be able to speak the language to truly understand the country. Thanks for trying to speak the truth. We need truth-tellers now more than ever.
@KJ V Well, English is the official language of the US, just like Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa ECT. I’m not sure where English originated, but I think the comment meant that you should seek to understand a county’s people to better understand the country. 😊
@KJ V English, Swedish, Spanish, Turkish, Irish, Scottish, Danish, Polish, Finish, Jewish!
@KJ V English = Angle ish= Angel ish = Anglican = Anglican church. English may have predated Latin.
Are you Mormon?
I'm a South African living in China too. It's true.
A few weeks ago some government officials came and ask me and my other friend from SA if we could write a paragraph about the city we live in, what we think of it and what our experience is.
We ended up being fair, but honest. Critiqued a few things. Said that there really is nothing to do in our antique town. And that the air quality sucks.
I can read and speak quite a bit of Chinese already, since I've been here for over 2 years, but what was published on the website online were our words but... Nevermind I take that back.
They weren't OUR words. They changed it into something that kind of resembles a Chinese poem. We told them to take it down because we aren't happy that they twisted our comments and words but they never responded.
We gave up after a week.
Imagine having to make a video to point out the obvious. Crazy situation we are in.
Unfortunately its because the majority of the human population cant think for themselves.
@@spawnkeeper999 yep. That's why we are in our current situation
@@spawnkeeper999 They believe they are thinking for themselves. They believe in "free will"; as though they are the lever pullers of their beliefs (and they believe they can choose to believe things, or disbelieve things). Everyone thinks they have a have a handle on reality and that they possess the facts. Since so many beliefs & certainties contradict each other; this cannot be true.
Ya da ya da ya you are the only one capable of understanding. I will share this with you, I have and IQ of 168 and with that IQ I am able to understand that I don't know everything, I am also able to understand that everyone seems to in part or in full that they do understand. The ability to understand and understanding are two totally different things in whole or in part.
Duno your guys real lives. lol. Somepeople just never change, always impose their value and mindset to everyone around. 😂 Discussing in a small atmosphere led by a liar. This is pathetic, with these time you could have worked on problems right next to you~.If this is how your mental entertainment, feel free to cotinue~
They don't need chinese. They just have to read a script given to them. In English.
😂 👌
This is exactly my experience when I returned to America and finally took Chinese!!! I just passed HSK3 and am going to sit the HSK4 exam. My western friends still do not know any Chinese that are still living there. When I came back to America I missed China so much that I got plugged into the Chinese American culture here. I found that the Chinese here are more willing to speak Chinese with you than the ones in China. I was not being treated like some English speaking boy toy but a human who was studying Chinese. I learned more Chinese in America than I did in China.
You are so right. I was only there for two and a half years and I had the time of my life there. I had fun every day and was ignorant of what was going on around me. But hay Chinese also takes a long time to learn.
Exactly my sentiments and experience as well. 😊
This is my exact experience in China. NOBODY is willing to speak to you in Chinese. Not one person (I’ve passed HSK 6 and am doing my Master’s entirely in Mandarin)
@@ejinchina4630 That's the opposite to mine - I guess you lived in a big city? Where I lived, they refuse to understand even rudimentary English, and when you used Mandarin they'd speak the local dialect back at you. On top of that they don't grade their language so they speak super fast and use slang. It's infuriating.
这就对了，现在的中国只看外表不管人家的心声。这里马来西亚的华文与华人的传统还比中国也更容易吸收。我是马来西亚华人，这里已经有很多各种种族学好华文 (我们不习惯用这两个字中文)。虽然马来语是国家的最主要语言，其实我英文比较好。
@@ejinchina4630 Haha I had a similar experience in Japan. Maybe if you make it seem like your Russian or Kazakh, or only talk to them online then they might talk more...
I am a Hong Konger. I am so so glad that you see through how evil CCP is and how the Chinese people suffer under the corrupt regime!
Worked in HK and Shanghai for 20 years. Did you see the true story on HKger exodus to Britain and how life turned out. Am not a HKger. Hope you read the history of HK and learn about your roots.
Joe Wong the ccp man
"If you can't understand the language you're stuck in tourist mode, living in a bubble of your own presumptions, delusions and making... "
You took the words straight out of my mouth, dude. There is nothing worse than a happy go lucky hippy who thinks they understand the true meaning of life when they can't even understand the locals.
@@orbitalpotato9940 How so? Would you care to clarify? That will determine whether I decide to crush you with logic or not.
I forget who I heard it from, but I once heard somebody say, "the problem with philosophers and intellectuals is that they spend so much time discussing what the world is like that they never have any time left to go out and see what the world is like."
@@floridferret4585 maybe modern day ”philosophers” and intellectuals but that wasn’t the case with past philosophers like the ancient greeks and the great thinkers of the renaissance and the enlightenment. They all had great insight into the world and how the human mind works.
@@KevinPhillips_kw Do you know anything about the Snake and his sidekick while in China? He can speaks a little but does he really understand Chinese. Does he knows Chinese history, and culture? No he knows just to get by and impress the girls. He also works for NED.
Chinese is such a fricking difficult language. How did Winston learn it?
I've been to countries before and after learning the language.
It's literally a world of difference.
Mandarin is a difficult language.
@@johnhoward5954 yes, indeed it is tough language but i devised a new way of learning language which makes it easy for everyone.i am thinking about creating language learning app
“You can’t understand China if you can’t understand (Mandarin) Chinese”. A strong insight Winston … but it can be taken one step further. People from two different cultures may speak the same language but do not always actually understand each other.
People can often have problems when they behave as they would in their own culture while overseas and respond as if speaking their own language. The late Dell Hymes, former Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, coined the phrase: Communicative Competence.
An individual may have linguistic competence, (a knowledge of the syntax, morphology and phonology), but lack social knowledge - what linguistics refer to as pragmatics.
I saw this at UPenn’s English Language Program, where we were preparing international students for U.S. graduate programs, and in my own university students, where I currently teach in Taiwan. My Taiwanese wife assures me the reverse is also true when I speak (Mandarin) Chinese but think and behave as if I still in the USA.
Not related to the video, but someone superchatted Tim Pool about inviting you to his podcast yesterday. Tim appeared pretty ambivalent about it, but his staff was quite excited about it.
I think you should hit him up again.
A few weeks ago he said when people pester him about having some guest on, he doesn't want to do it, because he doesn't want to set a example and encourage his audience to order him around and demand he has certain people on.
He seems to be a bit pissy and stubborn about this.
@@TrangleC Yeah, that's Tim alright. That's why I ask Winston to ask him himself again. Now that we know Tim' and his staff aren't opposed to idea, maybe we can get him in.
There have been people recommended by chat on his show before, China Uncensored was one of them.
@@deldrinov Yeah. I wrote such "You should have them on!" comments too, in the beginning of the pandemic, back when C-Milk was doing his investigative stuff about the origins of the virus and about Chinese cell phone providers losing 20 million customers.
@@TrangleC I don't think meanie beanie reads comments anymore unless there's brigading going on. At this point the only way to reach him for us plebs is $5.
@@deldrinov Yes, that is the beauty of small channels that still interact with their audience.
In Pool's case, I understand it even if there wouldn't be too many comments, because the comments there are under his videos are not really worth reading.
It is always the same shit. Dorks posting the same historical quotes over and over under every video, till they just sound hollow and meaningless and the same, super obvious bla bla about lying Dems and dead people voting for Biden and so on.
Not that I disagree with the sentiment, but the neverending sameness of it all has really taken on a bleak, depressing purgatory quality.
And then there are the always barking and never biting "If they keep fucking around, they'll find out!"-dogs that keep blustering about how the American people will stand up and fight tyranny every minute now.
I can't stomach all that pointless dribble anymore and I am just a guy who watches every second video maybe. I don't blame the guy for not reading this constant flood of the same shit over and over again, for the hand full of different, worthwhile comments in between.
I've been studying Chinese culture/history for the past two years and I have a pretty weird relationship with it. I personally find modern Chinese history absolutely atrocious which has brought only harm to the world as a whole but I can't help but be intrigued by the entire situation, which is why I continue to study China.
I'm going to attempt Mandarin for my electives on my Bachelor of IT for two years and see how I do, after that I'll continue my study in my own time.
That’s what I always say: you need Chinese to understand Chinese. You can’t interpret them from the lens of western society or whatever your own cultures are. And this what most westerners got wrong in the first place.
And two more points I would like to add. One is that knowing the language is just the first step to the Chinese world. Their cultures and mentality are a lot more deep than just the language itself. A lot of their beliefs and way of thinking are heavily influenced by their history, cultures and even geography. And just knowing the language itself won’t get you there. Their Wuxia novels by 金庸 are good example. Those novels have a huge impact on how Chinese see different variations of kung fu, body structure, medicine, etc, all the way to their movies, their daily terms and phrases, and at the mean time also reflect a lot of Chinese way of thinking and characteristics. Another good example is cultural specific terms like 马后炮, 吃了别人的车, 飞象过河, If you don’t have the concept in Chinese chess, or literally called elephant chess, you would have a hard time understand the underlying meaning, even when you understand every of the Chinese characters separately.
Secondly, their geographic diversification also affects them a lot. For example, the way northern and southern China celebrate Chinese New Year could be quite different. Hence, if a foreigner only spend most of his time in a specific region of China, or only learn one Chinese language, he won’t see different things in other parts of China. The food could be very different too in different regions, even when they have the same name. A good example is 豆花, usually sweet in the southern China and savoury in the northern and mix with other ingredients. So the point is a lot of so called Chinese experts are only good at specific region of China if they only speak Mandarin Chinese or only live most of their time in specific region.
I can relate very well to this. I lived in China for 9 years and go back regularly for work (not 2020, but.....)
I too studied Chinese in a university and purposely avoided spending all of my time with expats. I preferred to get to know Chinese and this helped me gain a deeper understanding of the culture. I found that many Chinese don't particularly like the party. But they don't like foreigners criticizing their leaders. I understand this..... my brother might point out a flaw in my father and I will accept it but if someone else points it out I'll likely tell him to shut up.
Many westerners attempted learning Chinese but quickly gave up because they considered it too hard. They learnt how to order a beer and get a taxi and that was enough for them.
Thanks for the video!
I was in China for a year, and I definitely could've worked harder at learning the language, but I was absolutely AMAZED at how little other expats knew. I told a story to a guy who'd been there for I think it was 4 years? About a "conversation" i had with a staff at a grocery story, which essentially was just me saying "How much is this? Oh, it's too expensive. Thanks." And he said "Wow, that's more Chinese than I know." I was like seriously? This is the little bit of Chinese I learned on the flight to China! I basically just know the bare minimum, numbers, how to refuse or accept, how to ask prices, a few other basic phrases, but I came to realize that a lot of expats don't even care to learn that much!
Go to live in any country in the world, you learn the language. Anything less in rude and disrespectful.
True. In my hometown Berlin (Germany), we have so many expats now. Often when you go to a restaurant or pub, the waiter will talk (only!) English to you and get upset if you don't want to reply in English. I mean, not learning the language is one thing (German ain't easy after all), but working in the service inductry and expecting the customers to speak a foreign language (just because they probably can) is just next level. I really like talking English, but nowadays I am so often forced to, it drives me nuts.
Also kinda stupid, it's like climbing in flip flops, swimming in armour or going for a walk on the frontlines. Very suboptimal ><
To me it's also very unhealthy and tiresome, I'm a bit of a hermit but still not learning the language I'm surrounded with drains my energy a lot
@@tydalm.9665 >German isn't easy
It's still a lot easier to learn a language from the same family (German for English speakers), especially only to the level where you can navigate your daily life. You really don't have to be able to discuss philosophy and translate medical journals to work at a restaurant...
@@Sk0lzky german has so many grammar things that english doesn't - declensions, cases, various forms of addressing, word genders - and is agglutinative
@@BichaelStevens pretty irrelevant to being understandable and conversing tho
I agree that you need to speak the language to understand the culture and situation.
Sending love from California🙌✨
it kinda sucks we got alot of covid cases.
@I'm Joebama and I forget everything yeah unfortunately. And its very frustrating
@I'm Joebama and I forget everything the unhinged schizophrenic hipocracy of the radical left never ceases to amaze me
@I'm Joebama and I forget everything It gets worse with each following U.S. president. That great country's salvation lies... voting for any third parties???
@@KishorTwist i voted libertarian but it's fruitless, most people here are brainwashed.
A special gift, from Wuhan.
Is that called grey warfare?
"I will explain it to you in the form of an analogy: money"
It is called the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
And that pandemic started long before Corona
@@jangelbrich7056 It is also a much larger problem and far more dangerous.
This is one of the reasons why I was so impressed by your profound understanding of the PRC when I first saw your videos, I have never seen a westerner understands the PRC so much as we hong kongers do, knowing the language does contribute a lot since you can read their propagandas and see how the local people react to the issues concerned.
I love your content, greetings from Morocco.
Germany too
我也
@विहान सिंह please mind your own business, thank you.
@विहान सिंह what you said is disrespectful
@विहान सिंह When are your letters going to finish drying?
@serpentza nice video! I just watched your video back to back with NTD’s “Grinding America Down” everything is coming together for the Communists, it’s quite scary. I used to live in Shenzhen for 8 yrs as well, so a lot of things you say resonates with me. Keep up the good work!
Having worked (and still working) in Chinese companies within the technology sector in Australia for 15 years, I initially also had the dazzle, drive and excitement of the growth of Chinese brands and how I can build a foreign brand into a Western Market. The management was all Chinese of course, and I was quite naive that working in a Western Country would mean that the company that I work for would abide by local laws.
Overtime, I saw that there was heavy influence of corruption and "bamboo" ceilings, as well as questionable practices where there is clear preferential treatment of Chinese nationals vs. the 'rest of us'. I am culturally Chinese but born in Australia, and unfortunately not able to speak Mandarin (parents are from Hong Kong).
I have been watching you for years Winston, you're insight on China and Chinese culture, behaviour, mannerisms is spot on, I have noticed this change over the years also within Chinese companies I have been working for. There is definitely a lot of 'smoke and mirrors' going on, where on surface level (to the unsuspecting eye) everything is going great and orderly. One needs to look beneath the surface to really understand what is really happening.
Can you speak cantonese?
I can't speak much Mandarin, but I did live in China for a year. I think actually living there helps one understand China and the people, even if your language abilities aren't great. Living there showed me what life is like under the CCP. And that kind of life is not something I support, in America or China.
Great vid like always! I life in China by myself and wondering what kind of content this TH-camrs do! Just confetti and far away from reality.
I have returned to wish you the best and thank thee for thy content. How was the beer?
Beer was awesome!
@@serpentza move to Malaysia mate
I like your Analogy,
Greetings from Belgium 🤣
I'm still confused by it.
Mexicans celebrate the "day of the dead" with skeletons.
Americans carve faces in pumpkins for Halloween.
Do spaniards celebrate the dead with pumpkins?
I understand China and the Chinese,sadly the more deeper I get into the Chinese Culture and learning more I dislike the country and system more.
I get ya bro. Its an abusive relationship, but i just can't leave
Please don't confuse the government with the people. The peoples attitudes and impressions are very controlled by the communist. You will find a very different culture and attitude in Taiwan who are also "Chinese".
@@rockys7726 They are different
@@nopeyoudontknowmyname9153 How do you mean? There are Chinese in Taiwan that originally came from China.
For me it was like that with Russia (and I learned Russian just to be able to study sinology because they required multiple foreign languages), there's a saying - to have a soft heart you need steel buttocks.
And the worst thing is that Anglosphere is deteriorating as well >
WINSTON fascinating information here. So relevant. Especially today with the mess we are all in. Did u leave a link to these guys who speak Chinese fluently.
So So true! There are words where no English words can replace therefore can only be explained and broken down with some background w proverbs
As a belgian i can only say that i would go to that spanish party any time 😂
I found Mandarin really hard. 50 is not a good age to try and lay down a new language. The brain doesn't write to long term memory the same as it had in the past. I have given it a fair shot as much as possible, learning hundreds of words, sentences, numbers, dates, times. I accepted it as a challenge. But my big problem was I could only submerge in it a couple of weeks per year . I reached a point where I sort of understood whats being said, but a good part of conversation is just too fast for me. I could shop with it, communicate with taxi drivers and buy food, but I hit a ceiling without more exposure. Not quite conversational. :( There are no training courses near me, but YoYo on You Tube helped. I'm unlikely to further improve now that the CCP is shunning Westerners.
A funny story. My wife and I were guests at a big wedding in Wuhan. Maybe 150 people. We were the only Westerners. I thought Jeez...I'd better learn a few toasts and good wishes for when they splash the baijiu around the table. Nobody will care if I bugger it up a bit. Well, the host found out before the speeches began and thrust me onto the floor with a microphone. To make things worse, they made me go first. The room fell quiet and 150 pair of eyes were on me. No pressure! Somehow I got through this. I thanked the couple and their family. remembered not to call the mother-in-law a horse. Then they all downed a shot and yelled Ganbei! I felt like I had just passed through the eye of a needle. later, strangers in the room pumped my hand and back-slapped me, which I guess is better than being punched. A fun night.
When I discoverd how the Chinese language works about a year ago, I fell in love with the language. No flexion of verbs, adjectives, etc., no (real) times, no (real) plural, no complicated genders, no complicated grammar and syntax. It's basically a LEGO language. You more or less just have to learn what all the different LEGO pieces mean.
So you think chinese is easy to learn?
Sounds much like the Thai language.
Yeah ive heard that
@@angelhuang4126 Grammar-wise it is, but I find the difficulty of Chinese is in its simplicity. Easy to get into, difficult to master. Especially when you get into 文言文 - which some might think they won't need to learn for fluent conversation, but will absolutely need to if they want to understand everything a native would.
The sheer quantity is also more than that of most languages.
@@euphoricatheist6694 As a native Chinese speaker, I don’t think you need 文言文 to master the language. Still, you need to understand as many 成語 as possible to comprehend higher-level/education conversation.
Hello sir! Hope you and your family is doing well in the states!
You can’t really understand any culture fully unless you are actually from that culture. Language helps but empathy is equally important, not to mention being a student of history.
True. I would also argue that you can't understand a culture fully without understanding what it is and what it is not.. and it seems like the Chinese aren't allowed the perspective to see what their culture actually is or isn't. Hope that makes sense
This is just a snippet from your previous video, still I guess it's an important message and not everyone has time to watch your 1 hour video. Love from the uk😊
I agree 100%.
I am starting my journey into learning Vietnamese ..This inspires me more too!
The same with those who don’t speak russian 😉or you’re Russian live in Lithuania and don’t speak lithuanian 🇱🇹 😑
Don't worry, they'll just claim that area as being part of the homeland and that they wish to drag it back from Lithuania. It's the same story all over again. Crimea, Ukraine, Georgia...
So are you and Laowhy86 going to start up a new channel to teach us Mandarin? I’ll jump in.
Once heard a story about a US 'expert' on Iranian affairs who relied on two translators: one who knew Arabic who would do his best transcribing Farsi text into the alphabet, and one who only knew spoken Farsi who would read out the poorly transcribed text and attempt to translate into English so the US 'expert' could form his analysis.
My Face is Chinese but My Tongue is English!!! I'm Asian Banana 😀😁😀
Hi fellow banana!
Bananas are delicous!!!! =)
@@Hairymuffin2010 Hello Fella!!! Have a Nice Banana Day 🍌🍌🍌
@@stadtbekanntertunichtgut Yay I Love Banana with Honey Sauce!!! 😋😋😋
@@evelinecarolinelienhuaming1184 what
I can attest. As a Buddhist. I never really knew what were the teachings, till I learned the language. Sanskrit and Pali. In PureLand Buddhism I never really knew that the practitioners(Mandarin speakers) also had no idea what they were saying. They had memorized the sounds, but not the meaning. Understanding that: I understood how vegetarian Buddhists could turn away a hungry, homeless person.
I agree. Unless you speak the language, especially when you stand out as a foreigner, you can only describe what you see. You cannot analyze nor evaluate what you see.
THIS is the stuff that makes me a proud patron!
I'll never walk your shoes, couldn't if I tried as time has passed, but I'm given a glimpse into a world that matters to me but cannot be my priority.
Support the people brave enough to speak truth to power y'all, there's my 50 cents
“You gotta UNDERSTAND China...”
One also could say one doesn't know China if one doesn't know chinese.
And "understanding means never having to apologize" (or criticize?) Sometimes understanding deeply doesn't have that effect.
Great video. I went to Korea having studied the language, I lived and worked there for 7 years 2002-2009. I eventually became almost fluent in conversational Korean. It was very interesting to discuss the things that Korean people did not want to talk about and actually know what I was talking about.
Was waiting for Gweilo60 to get a serve!
Great video as always hope you Sasha and the little one are living life to the full in America. Stay safe and awesome
“The girls, the booze, the partying” dude, what about that hair! 🖤
I am a Chinese Canadian who lives in Japan. I just subbed! Keep up the excellent work!
Serpentza I really want to know something... is it worth learning Chinese? I mean with all the things you and laowhy say, I think I'd hate my life! I'd prefer going to Taiwan rather than Mainland China but what do you think? Japanese seems cool, but there is something about Chinese that takes my attention a little bit more!
Hey Serpentza! Just saying hello and keep up the good work. I love having an inside track to my favorite Asian country.
oh.. I have already watched the full version!
Same here. I have hesitated a little because I don't tend to watch long videos on this channel but in the end was worth it.
First to thumbs up your video. I love your content. Keep up the good work.
I saw this in the longer video and I watched it anyways.
Good stuff
Learning the language and the history is vital! I was very impressed in another video you made, commenting that the insensitive rapacious greed for food and resources of many Chinese comes from periods of starvation. Japan is right next door, and has the same problem with a very different language and culture - not just with the West, but with China and Korea as well. There are layers of problems, from half-assed language competency creating misunderstanding by some foreigners when it comes to complex situations, to (among foreigners) the attitude that older people aren't relevant and may have "gone native" and "betrayed their original value systems".
Chinese people can get by in Japan, reading signs and guessing approximately at contents, without studying Japanese, which they assume is just a bastardized form of their own language and culture - and the 'favorability index" of how Chinese are seen by Japanese has steadily declined over the years with increased direct contact between the people, as a result. It is truly the Belgian in the Spanish village. At some point in the future, I hope they can reach at least a British/German level of mutual understanding that they're never going to be the same as each other, but they can work together on a personal level.
Winston, thanks for calling out Barrett and Jayoe, as you asked in your last video not to attack them personally in anyway, I heeded your advice and just unsubbed from their channels.
Thanks again for the heads up.
Stay awesome.
🇮🇪
Thank you for your always educational episodes.
This was excellent.
Xi Jinping Doesn't Understand English and look where that got us....
Anyway, Great content!
I think he actually can at least a little. He did study agriculture in Iowa during his youth
@@rumrunner8019 yeah only a little he only spent 2 weeks though so very little. Unless he learned later on learned it, the man is fairly smart and lived an insane life; he went from "red prince", to pig shit farmer, to turning down reinstatement of prior rich family life, became a farmer after regime changed lifting his punishment for being part of his family (sadly a major upgrade it was low but his choice), went to college, became a chemist, got in to low government position, was quick to raise ranks, and now look at him.
Xi Jinping is reported to speak and use English words with his family though.
@@EzekielDeLaCroix but why would he speak english with his family which is chinese?
makes no sense.
@@QWERTY-gp8fd He has american friends from Iowa though.
Was the same for me, 5th generation Australian thrown in the deep end working in Italy (mind you, the Italian language is a piece of cake compared to Mandarin for a native English speaker). Once you've learned the language even at an intermediate level it's like a whole new dimension opens up - like going from black and white TV to full, 4k colour. And you finally get to understand what all those 'happy' smiles and laughter were about. Great content Winston, keep it up - at least until China buys the USA like they have Australia. Mandarin is my next language challenge... wish me luck!
"If you are living in a country you kind of need to know ." Meanwhile in every English speaking country people refuse to learn English. :P
Mostly many monolingual English speakers are impatient and rude to those trying to learn a second language. Also those people being judgmental, well maybe they just got off the boat. I've had someone say that about me in English, "Oh foreigners never learn our language." I'm just thinking, give me a break this is my third day in this country and I'm just visiting!" If you would like to be critical of someone in this regards, go live in a foreign country for a year in which you don't know the local language.
Back to your original statement, likely when you heard them talking in their own language they were not trying to talk to you in the first place. And if they were, they were probably in trouble and needed help. A little empathy can go a long way, if some day you are in their same shoes I guarantee you will be greatful to those who've helped you.
It's true, me too I was ignorant and naive about China until I started to fully understand their language.
You can say the same thing for any language. Heck, there is *so much* nuance in American English that non-native speakers can't pick up on.
Foreign English speakers generally come here to the U.K. speaking American English and don’t seem to understand the accents nor the slang as it can get pretty confusing for people with textbook English
Yeah this is not unique to Chinese lol. Literally it applies to every language and all its dialects. Culture is different everywhere there is no person who understands anything beyond what they were raised and loved it really. You can move and love somewhere and maybe in 20 to 30 years be native at a cultural level though.
Loving the pinstripe look mate! And Lele’s Xi Jinping accent, amazing!
Love what you said about the smiling locals though, and it’s true. Deeper still, the Barrett’s of the world think “wow what nice people”, but they could well be laughing to each other about the not very nice jokes they’re telling about those clueless foreigners.
I have a feeling I've seen this video before. Is this a re-upload, or am I having deja vu?
There was a 1 hour version. Maybe it's on his other channel
@@sevenstargoal Wait... he has another channel? You're not talking about AVChina?
Your videos are getting better and better. Thanks!
WHy is this being re-uploaded? Feels like De Ja Vu from yesterday? :S
Yes I thought that as well!
Haven't watched your channel in a while, just noticed the awesome hair!
I have yet to watch it and I wholeheartedly agree.
English is a second language and I learned it when I was 17 , the first thing you learn when you learn a second language is how those people think and act , their view of the world and how they process their every day experience. Thanks for the video I wish I could speak Chinese
Agreed
I lived in Beijing 4+ years and you are pretty much totally on point.
I want to show your videos to some people here asking things about China..
I start Chinese class today...first?
Another excellent video Mr S! Doing well these last couple of months!
I don’t speak Chinese. But I can hear the German accent with his spoken Chinese. Lol
That's a ridiculous statement and if you could actually speak Chinese you would know why.
@@martinlaoshi well, your 1 of the 20 responses who didn’t get it. But maybe you take it personal. I don’t
@@bbustin1290 If you think you can judge someone's accent in a language that you don't speak yourself you are dellusional. If you think 19 TH-cam likes makes you right, you are beyond help. Waste of time.
@@martinlaoshi
We are all morons I guess. And your just have to deal with our small brains... the world is full of them. I still have very good hearing ... who knows maybe the virus affecting my neurons in my brain and now is giving me a false German influence.
as a belgian guy myself i would try to find people that can talk to me there in frensh or german since our country has 3 languages and also would know that los dias de los Meurtes is Mexican :D
plz button your shirt all the way.
YES
I have a friend who speaks about 6 languages well and three of the fluently as a native. (He was raised in one country by parents of two other countries. So as a child he spoke one language to each of his parents and another to his friends, teachers, and others.) He said until you know a language well enough to think in that language and not have to translate, you don’t fully understand the people that speak it. You can not think something you can’t say. Makes sense to me.
I guess you cannot make anti-China comments anymore without receiving an " error " alert from youtube.
really? I do it constantly.... lol. all I get are stupid comments back from the wumao army.
@@rockys7726 Try commenting without initializing WMJ (Color, Animal, Profession). Then try using the mobile app to edit or reply to your own post. It was ghosted! Doesn't show up in filtered comments either.
@@emmettturner9452 Idk I just comment from my pc and it always shows up.
@@rockys7726 It shows up... for you. That's why we call it "ghosted."
@@emmettturner9452 It happened a few times when I was politely commenting something on Biden. In 15 seconds the comment is gone. I got stubborn and I have post it multiple times but each time with the same result. After a while an error appeared and they refuse to post the comment. This is the reason why I think it's something with the TH-cam algorithm.
Ahhh yes, I have discovered all of that because I wanted to fix a misspell and I have received error on repost.
Now I'm wondering how many comments TH-cam deletes without a real reason.
Serpentza should b a battle rapper because he taking off heads, fearless!
He’s very outspoken here.
it's amazing how stupid he sounds saying that at the same time he's thinking he sounds smart XD
For those that aren't familiar with China or Chinese culture, language is massively important to the identity. Language is inextricably linked with culture in China. I don't claim to be an expert, but I know that there are a lot of interrelated words around the character 文 (wén). Chinese language, 中文 (zhōngwén). Culture, 文化 (wénhuà). Civilization 文明 (wénmíng). Attempting to understand the language is thus viewed as an attempt to understand the culture, and you may find as a traveler or to Chinese friends that they admire or respect your attempts to learn or demonstration of knowledge because of this. As you say, you cannot truly understand China or the Chinese without at least a fundamental understanding of the language, and that would only be the beginning without more fluency. Much of this info and context comes from an ethnic Chinese mainlander that is a good friend of mine.
Winston, I noticed that you like wearing dark clothes in front of a black background. You may try a backlight. It'll bring you out of the dark background better.
Yes, that's true. There's so much culture in the language. That's why I actually learned it while living here in Shanghai. People can get away with living here for years without knowing it, but I think it makes life way smoother.
Me being a bilingual Spanish speaker I guess I can highly see where you're coming from
Just wanted to share that you and LaoWhy86 got a shout-out on the TimCast IRL yesterday!
Oh dear I'm so fedup with those foreigners who can't speak Chinese but constantly talked about Chinese / China issues etc...
So true.
Thank yo for another excellent episode.
Wishing you & your family all the best.
Stay safe please.
I live in Quebec, Canada where people literally get pissed at people who don't learn French. I refuse!
I am really fortunate to have found your channel prior to covid
it saved me from so much of the propaganda
This goes for alot of cultures but especially the CCP(China).
People that won't learn the language yet like to live in that country for prolonged periods of time will forever be eternal tourists. Language is deeply connected to culture and it is neccessary for understanding of a country and its people.
These guys are ignorant. Maybe they'll start asking questions once someone they know get "disappeared"
Keep up the Good Work Serpentza!