Ever get the feeling people are talking about you behind your back even when theyโre smiling to your face? If youโre visiting another country and donโt speak the local dialect, guess what, they probably are!
American YouTuber โAnming Oriental Pearlโ taught herself to speak multiple languages and she knows exactly what people are saying about her.
You might remember that one Seinfeld episode where Elaine suspects the Korean ladies at her favorite nail salon are having a laugh at her expense. She convinces Georgeโs dad, a Korean war vet, to help translate and it does not go well.
Anmingโs viral videos of daily life as an American living in Asia are just as funny as that Seinfeld episode, but the ending is a lot different than you might think!
With blonde hair and blue eyes, Anming really stands out in countries where darker hair and eyes are the norm.
But unlike most Westerners, she can speak Chinese and Japanese fluently and is even learning some Korean.
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Anming says she used to be really shy, but learning new languages has helped her come out of her shell.
You might be wondering about her name, which doesnโt sound very American. She adopted her Chinese name of โAnmingโ for social media, which is sort of the reverse of a Chinese person who adopts a Western name to fit in after moving to a different country.
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In one of her videos, Anming poses the question, โHow likely is it that people are actually talking about you, and if so, what are they saying?โ
When she toured a small Japanese island with a group of high schoolers, all she heard all day was, โCan we sneak a picture of that Russian girl.โ
She finally confronted the teens and told them she was actually an American.
As soon as she spoke to them in Japanese, the boys instantly lit up and became much friendlier towards her!
Anming says that most of these kids are learning English in school and would love to practice with a native speaker, but theyโre too shy to ask. If she didnโt understand Japanese, she wouldnโt have been able to pick up on the clues that they wanted to talk to her.
It just goes to show that not everyone is talking smack. Some folks are honestly curious and want to learn more about you!
โLetโs stop being the paranoid idiot.โ
Speaking to people in their native tongue is a sign of respect, and theyโre more apt to open up if you take the time to learn something other than the most popular swear words.
One woman was actually surprised at Anmingโs linguistic ability, and asked, โWhy is your Chinese so good?โ
Soon after, the background chatter in the restaurant she was dining in suddenly died down because all the other patrons wanted to hear order from the menu.
As a bonus for being โthat goodโ Anming got some extra dumplings in her soup for free.
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