Buying groceries in perfect Mandarin

We did a fun social experiment / prank where me and two of my white American friends who also speak fluent Mandarin Chinese and some Cantonese (and Spanish!) pretended not to be able to speak English with people in NYC’s Brooklyn Chinatown — and then switched over to perfect Chinese! It was a really fun day and we made lots of awesome connections with people, had lots of great Chinese food, and of course got plenty of funny reactions. Hopefully this can inspire some of you to try and learn other languages!

LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE WITH MY METHOD:

✉️ Join my newsletter and discover how I pick up new languages quickly(and learn how you can do the same):

📚 Check out my Street-Smart Language courses:

[HeisenbergFam]

Bro's such a comedian he makes people smile just by speaking Mandarin

[_I_was_there]

I love how she stares at his mouth to make sure he’s actually saying it and not a prank

[RazzleBloq]

That one lady was so confused and then thought it was a prank or something 💀

[bhall]

I love their reactions.
I always say "sheh sheh" to the folk at the Chinese takeout joint wen she hands me the grub. They think they misheard something for a second til they realize I said thank you in Chinese. Big smiles

[QUINTUSMAXIMUS]

I love that smile. It makes her shine.

[Domesticgoddess]

The look of amazement on their faces is PRICELESS!!!!

[AndreTheDragon]

The way that girl smiles brings a smile to my face.

[goodaman]

Her face says “is this actually happening or have I eaten too much of that lychee fruit??🤔” 🤣🤣🤣

[weebmatic]

Xiamao is pretty much a celebrity in China

[gregorygalloway]

Her smile was so wonderful it made me smile. It's better to build bridges and speaking the language of the people is a great way to do that.
I spent 6 years in Germany and was able to pick up conversational German. It really meant a lot to the people that I at least tried even though at times I know I was just brutalizing their language. Even when they giggled a little bit I didn't take that offensively because I know I probably sounded funny.😮😂❤

[edwardjohn]

Oh man, all 3 of you are bilingual af. The unsuspecting Asian public doesn't have a chance.=) I think all 3 of you guys are great in sharing your gift of languages and the hilarity that ensues, with us monolinguistic folks. Really. A big thank you. 👍

[pamelapayton]

Kudos to that young man....speaking in a foreign language which is one of the most difficult to master. RESPECT!!!

[alybe]

Her face is like why you speaking my language 🤣🤣😂

[Metaphysicalgrace]

This guy speaks multiple. Even the old fashioned traditional ways. ❤

[larsschmitz]

Langauages - der Schlüssel zur Freundschaft auf der Welt.
....ONE LOVE!

[guyunknown]

The bait and switch with his friend asking such a mundane and kinda pointless question and then him coming in fluently surprising everyone 😂😂

[leeroberts-tzsx]

I'm appreciative of the fact that some people are blessed with the ability to soak up languages and be fluent. Me, I'd forget the phrase not 10 seconds after
Talented.

[johnxsoul]

the lady was in complete disbelief.. 😂

[erickpine]

Love her reaction. So genuine and beautiful.

[ottozambrana]

The girl's smile was so cute and she's even cuter...