Xiaomanyc

Arieh Smith, better known as Xiaomanyc or simply Xiaoma, (Chinese: 小马在纽约, transl. "Little Pony") is an American YouTuber and polyglot, best known for his videos where he speaks various languages with people from different cultures.[1] The New York Times credited his channel as one of the most popular polyglot YouTube channels.[2] Videos of his have received coverage in news publications such as The Independent,[3] The Indian Express[4] and The Daily Dot.[5]

Life and career

Arieh Smith is a native of New York City and grew up only knowing English.[1][2] After graduating from high school, Smith took a basic Mandarin Chinese class during the summer before attending the University of Chicago. At his time in college, Smith attained a scholarship to study abroad in Beijing, China for one year, where he delved deeper into the Mandarin language.[2] Smith eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases.[1][2]

Smith gained popularity on YouTube for his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, as well as French, Spanish, Yiddish, Yoruba, Telugu, Navajo, and various Chinese dialects at a basic conversational level.[1] Many of his videos showcase Smith partaking in diverse ethnic cultures alongside recording people's reactions to his fluency in non-English languages.[4][6] He has also collaborated with fellow polyglot YouTuber Frankie Light in a video where the pair travel around New York City while speaking Mandarin, which garnered 4.2 million views.[2]

In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand[7] to attend APEC Thailand 2022.[8]

References
  1. Brown, Hannah (March 5, 2022). "Meet the YouTuber who makes a living learning languages". EuroNews. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  2. Knafo, Saki (April 28, 2022). "He Made Yiddish Go Viral". The New York Times. Retrieved November 7, 2022. 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").
  3. Marcus, Josh (March 2, 2021). "YouTuber Xiaomanyc explains why he spent $5K in tips at NYC Chinatown restaurants". The Independent. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  4. "US YouTuber speaks to New York shopkeeper in fluent Bengali, enjoys roshogolla". The Indian Express. November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  5. Neumann, Laiken (February 3, 2022). "'What's wrong with my clothing?': Locals talk about 'foreigner's' clothing in China—but he speaks fluent Mandarin". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  6. Messner, Steven (March 19, 2020). "An American surprises Chinese PUBG players by speaking Mandarin, wholesomeness ensues". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  7. "Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Arieh Smith of Xiaomanyc on YouTube". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
  8. "YouTube's favorite polyglot interviewed world leaders in their native languages". Tubefilter. 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-09-03.


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