Ever get the feeling people are talking about you behind your back even when they’re smiling to your face? If you’re visiting another country and don’t speak the local dialect, guess what, they probably are!
American YouTuber “Anming Oriental Pearl” 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 George’s dad, a Korean war vet, to help translate and it does not go well.
Anming’s 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 doesn’t sound very American. She adopted her Chinese name of “Anming” 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, “How likely is it that people are actually talking about you, and if so, what are they saying?”
When she toured a small Japanese island with a group of high schoolers, all she heard all day was, “Can we sneak a picture of that Russian girl.”
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 they’re too shy to ask. If she didn’t understand Japanese, she wouldn’t 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!
“Let’s stop being the paranoid idiot.”
Speaking to people in their native tongue is a sign of respect, and they’re 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 Anming’s linguistic ability, and asked, “Why is your Chinese so good?”
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 “that good” Anming got some extra dumplings in her soup for free.
Watch the video below to see the rest of this story.
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