Englishman Gets Chinese Green Card and More! - Intermediate Chinese | Chinese Conversation
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- čas přidán 19. 04. 2020
- What does it take to achieve a really high level in spoken Chinese?
Hear Englishman James Alexander discuss his life in China, particularly his marriage, how he got his Chinese green card and driver's license as well as explain his unique methods for studying Mandarin!
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Music: Good Start by Jungle Punks
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TIMESTAMPS:
1:57 Self-introduction
2:46 Why he came to China
4:50 First impression of Chongqing
6:25 Language problems
9:21 How he met his wife
12:08 Conflicts between him and his wife due to cultural differences
15:58 Meeting his wife’s parents for the first time
21:11 Did parents-in-law ask for a dowry?
23:09 His Chinese wedding
26:08 Talking about his four years in South Korea
31:38 Drinking culture in South Korea and in China
32:57 Learning Korean?
35:21 Raising children in China
39:29 Stereotypes people have of Englishmen
42:55 Sichuan women’s personality
43:38 How did he learn Chinese?
1:03:14 How did he get his Chinese green card?
1:12:52 How did he get his driver’s license?
1:20:48 Would he recommend foreigners live in Chongqing?
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@a
😅
Eileen, you really don't realize how famous your CZcams channel will become in the next years. I think everybody agrees to say that your channel is definitely the best Chinese learning youtube channel. You don't have the success you deserved but you surely will!
Yes, think I might start donating every month.
estoy de acuerdo... tan increible es the fact that there are English, pinyin and Chinese character subtitles.. enables one to learn very quickly.
This is one of the best channels for people learning mandarin. I wonder why it’s not more popular
Agree
I just discovered your channel and it’s the best mandarin learning channel I’ve ever found. You guys have given me the motivation to study from home and improve my Chinese while in quarantine:) I can’t thank you enough Eileen and the rest of mandarin corner!!!
Rachel Wallace 同意喔！他們很棒！
That moment when you listen to a Mandarin Corner interview without looking at subtitles and realize you understand most of it. 😭
During corona time, i watch Eileen almost everyday. I love how i can improve my chinese during this perilous time. Im going to donate. Please continue your work.
*TIMESTAMPS:*
1:57 Self-introduction
2:46 Why he came to China
4:50 First impression of Chongqing
6:25 Language problems
9:21 How he met his wife
12:08 Conflicts between him and his wife due to cultural differences
15:58 Meeting his wife’s parents for the first time
21:11 Did parents-in-law ask for a dowry?
23:09 His Chinese wedding
26:08 Talking about his four years in South Korea
31:38 Drinking culture in South Korea and in China
32:57 Learning Korean?
35:21 Raising children in China
39:29 Stereotypes people have of Englishmen
42:55 Sichuan women’s personality
43:38 How did he learn Chinese?
1:03:14 How did he get his Chinese green card?
1:12:52 How did he get his driver’s license?
1:20:48 Would he recommend foreigners live in Chongqing?
Think you mean 1:12:06 for the green card. Thanks for the video, it was great!
@@TennisGvy Yes, it was a mistake. But it's actually 1:03:14
thanks for the timestamps - could you possibly pin this at the top?
@@dnisbet71 Hi Dem! We've just put the timestamps in the "show more" area. We need to reserve the "pin" spot for other information.
Thanks for the time stamp! It must be very 辛苦 for you is not? I watched the whole video out of interest and curiosity.
我永远支持你们，你们制作的视频如此逼真,时用、有用、专业、易学、有趣。 我不会错过你的任何视频。 每个视频我都反复听几十遍甚至上百遍来背。 我已经关注你们的频道 2 年了，现在我的中文交流很流利。 非常感谢，期待新视频。我叫阿李是越南人。
This Channel is so authentic, such interesting questions, so direct and modern. Thank you!!!!
I rarely if ever spend more than 10 minutes on a CZcams video, but somehow your videos are able to hold my attention for over an hour. It’s so addictive and interesting and educational. I really enjoyed it and maybe someday I can get to his level lol. 很感謝老師😃
These interview videos are great. I’m finding my favorite way to progress an intermediate level is to go through as much content as you possible.
Wow!!!! And I really mean that!!! This video of yet another foreigner speaking Mandarin is impressive and amazing, but the most impressive part is that he has no foreign accent whatsoever!!! He sounds 100% local!!! And he can talk and talk and talk non-stop!! Where does Mandarin Corner find these jewels!!! So motivating!!!This is your best work ever, there is so much content here...
He speaks amazing, but he does have a foreign accent. It's not 100% native.
Ok, maybe a very slight foreign accent. But his grasp of the language and his vocabulary is INSANE!!!! I’m only at a third of this video and already I have added over 309 new words to my vocabulary!!
Wow !
Very impressed. :)
Eileen, keep-up the good work.
If you can, bring James back or have more interviews like this.
A definite home run.
James 的汉语说得太棒了！
This guy would NEVER say in a restaurant "我要这个"
确实😂
i set the speed at 0.75x... and paused the video while reading the chinese characters... im suprised how fast i memorised all the words now... i can read this entire video without the help of pinyin... thank you.this was very helpful!
He is so nice! Thank you so much as always, you are saving me! I really love Mandarin but I have problems speaking, your videos are just what I needed! Thank you so much
Great video! Every time James would say something in English with his British accent it would catch me by surprise! I couldn’t hear his British accent at all when he’s speaking Mandarin 🤯 Well done 👍
Great video. Really enjoyed this one. Hats off to James too. His Chinese is really incredible.
As a new Chinese learner, this channel is such a fantastic resource. I'm doing a lot of listening practice recently and this type of content is EXACTLY what I needed. 多谢 🙏🏻
Congrats man. You have bragging rights.
Carlos Vega lol who the hell would want a green card in China. He’ll probably get arrested next. Not sure if you’ve heard but foreigners aren’t so welcome in China
@@roberthardy5171 Foreigners are more than welcome, I would love a get a green card and save me from renewing my visa all the time....
@@roberthardy5171 who wouldn't? China is heaven on earth!
@@roberthardy5171 been living in Beijing for over 3 years, Chinese are generally some of the most welcoming people I've ever met in my life, and I've been to many countries
@@r0conscious it’s not so much about the people, more about the government and it’s laws and policies that result in systemic discrimination against foreigners
"So your second child was an accident?" hahahahaha
New material for practicing! Thank you great interview
Another great interview from Mandarin Corner. Eileen is such a great host. She comes up with such good questions that keeps the listener engaged. It's like after she asks a question I think, "Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to know..." And loved the long in depth to how this foreigner learned Mandarin Chinese. Had never heard of "Crazy English" 55:30 so paused the video and looked it up - so great - now I know all about it! ;).
And the effort to subtitle this three times - wow, just great. Love being a life-time member of Mandarin Corner. Best wishes for continued success.
Daniel
Mind blowing fluency mister 英国人。hatsoff and 加油 to mandarin corner 很厉害哦
Another fantastic episode, your Chinese is terrific mate. Very funny to hear you speak English for a moment, and to hear that very English accent appear from the midst of the Chinese!
Thank you so much for sharing it !
It really gives hope for foreigners which learn Chinese to improve their level ! 🙏🙏
Such an amazing interview. It took me several days to get through this and read it all out loud in Chinese myself but it was so worth it and was really interesting to learn about ChongQing too.
Would be great to have a link to his blog somewhere in the description! :)
You can also follow me and the team at iChongqing
Eileen，你的中文写得很好，不会犯与方面的错误。“的，得，地”的用法你用得没有错误。我在其他的教中文的频道经常遇到这种的问题。很多人觉得只要他们是母语者，就等于他们把握一种语言。所以他们的写作充满那种“母语者版语法错误”。你的字母没有这种的错误等于你不仅是以中文为母语的说者，而且你也主动地学习中文语法。你很专业，友好，努力。一看你的视频就看出来你花费很多时间准备问题，写出字幕... 请你继续做出这些高品质的视频，我们都很欣赏它们！希望你的频道越来越著名！
谢谢你的认可！你说得没错，其实母语者也常犯语法错误，但跟非母语者的会有所不同。所以，我虽生在中文环境，但仍需不断学习、进步。也谢谢你对我们频道的祝福！
So inspiring!!! So uplifting!!! Gongxi nimen, nimen dou tai bang le.
Eileen, thanks a lot for your videos. We love them. Super helpful.
Lot of great content here. Thanks Eileen.
This man's Chinese is really good! Wow, pretty inspiring. Hope to get to a level like that in the future!
This is another great interview. James is sooo good :)
However, I have one request: if there are instances where he uses the wrong grammar or word, could you please point this out in the subtitles? Otherwise, us less advanced learners may pick up the mistakes and think they are correct. I know this is maybe too much to ask, but if you do another interview with a foreigner, this would help.
Thank you so much Eileen!! You are the best 老师 ever!! 😊😊😊
Thank you so much for the videos :) I truly learn so much with every video I'm watching! I can't wait to be fluent like this!!
James is pretty inspiring. It's hard to imagine getting to such a high level, but to see that it's possible is motivation indeed.
Eileen your channel is amazing, £10 is a snip!
太好了吧。谢谢老师。总是给我们一些新的内容，新的视频啦！❤️
Hi Guys. You’ve produced another great intermediate level video. E&J, you know I’m still one of your biggest fans. Your guest Alan is inspiring here. Thanks!
我觉这个会话很好。 让我的中文听力更加近步。 謝謝按排很多精彩的结目。 我 support 你们的结目。
我们应该谢谢您！！
真的，您让我们提高自己的听力，说话，谢谢您
这段视频很有意思!! 谢谢!! 我很喜欢你们的内容!! :)
Thank you very much Eileen! 🙏
Fantastic video. Thank you Eileen again for your smashing performance. By the way, I can also relate to Alex a bit as I have been learning Chinese for a long time and I lived in china back in 2005. I am way out of his league as far as my chinese level is concerned but I can get by and get the message across in most situations. I am french and english so sort of open minded to the world and do believe the languages are essential to get to know different people and cultures. Keep up the good work
The best quality content! 👏❤️Thank you so much! 🌹
他是一个真帅的男人啊！他不但非常好看，而且聪明得不得了, 也是成功的。。。他是理想的丈夫！
Now all our videos have transcripts with *TRADITIONAL CHARACTERS!*
Available to *Mandarin Corner Supporters* only at:
mandarincorner.org/listen-to-audio-with-transcript/
I loved watching this video. Very interesting. His chinese is so good! He speaks so fast! It must have taken so long to add in all the subs. Its funny that as soon as I saw his picture I knew he was From England. And the other two just look so American. I can’t put my finger on it. Anyway, this will keep me busy all week learning this.
Jason Eyermann I am from America and cannot tell the other 2 are from America. Americans are very diverse. As for myself, an Asian American. 😂
WingChunBoyz Agreed. This man could be American. She could be American. It’s impossible to tell who is a real American and who isn’t. When people think they can, they are just relying on stereotypes. It’s pretty offensive to a lot of people who are American and don’t look like ‘typical’ Americans.
Red Apple ok, not one hundred percent of the time but normally. Also based on clothes, hair styles. For example I normally see American with goatees but it’s not fashionable in Europe and Americans prefer baggy clothes. And America is still a mainly a white country so I think I can still make assumptions on his appearance. My intention is not to offend and I don’t think anyone is being offended.... maybe. Maybe some people will.
@@JasonEyermann There are also other aspects that are a bit hidden for example the way we look at how people carry themselves in our home countries growing up, expressions affecting the development of our facial muscles etc. again hard to measure but they must play a small role
@@DavidsonLoops yes I agree.
Suddenly CZcams recommend this channel on my homepage few days ago. I checked and suddenly realized this is THE BEST CHANNEL for learning intermediate and advance level of mandarin! Feeling so grateful I found this channel for improving my mandarin skill. Thank you very much Eileen 老師 and team for your hardwork creating this great channel and unique content! Much 💕 from 印尼
Lucky you, I only got the recommendation a few weeks ago, I postponed watching it and now that I started, I'm addicted, I dropped everything else.
The only 'problem' I have, the content is so interesting, I only read the English subtitles and keep telling myself to come back for the other two.
Good luck in your HSK exams !
Thank you for all your effort.
Link to *James Alexander's* Blog Website: chongqinglife.net
These stories are fascinating, thanks so much. I hope you profit well from your hard work; you deserve it.
very nice and informative presentation...thanks!
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I love the Chinese authenticity of asking questions. For example. In Western European countries it is not common to ask a middle aged male to sing a song. They might feel awkward and therefor it won't be asked. But Chinese people are often so curious and enthusiastic that you are happy to come out your comfort zone for them. Thanks for the video!
Chinese people are used to performing and reciting things on the spot since theyre kids. Even at a year end adult work party a lot of places might expect you to do a performance that would make most of us westerners fairly awkward/uncomfortable.
Also, their tv game shows have people singing on the spot all the time, and your average person goes to ktv very frequently so this kind of thing is very normalized in china
@@EzekielDBarrett yeah you are absolutely right. Funny and interesting how this impacts things as easy as a question.
@@EzekielDBarrett- It took me a while to understand this, at the Chinese school I'm attending, to be asked to sing as an adult who never sang in front of an audience is as normal as anything. I only mentioned my love for Chinese music and, the next thing I knew, I was invited to sing ! Very nervous first time, now I can do it in front of anyone, anywhere, it's no biggie. By the way, I'm an oldie, nobody cares.
That’s a great and helpful video to learn conversational mandarin. Thanks 🙏
I'm just finishing this video and I will come back here later to learn each sentence of it. Your channel is amazing 😍😍😍
Great content as always!
謝謝你跟我們分享你的經歷！很特別，很有意思！我現在住在台灣。我很佩服你對學中文一直有上進心！我也要進不到你的水平喔！措詞很貼切！好羨慕啊
Damn, what the f? Lol, I learned sooooo much from this short video. I learned tremendously from this video and all of the subtitles and pinyin. Keep up the Awesome work and I sent a donation, since I find these videos are a hidden gem!!
Thanks a lot..
This particular video has made me even more determined and really inspired me to work even harder at studying Mandarin. It is such a difficult language to learn fluently and I know this first hand. I have been a student of Mandarin for over 6 years and I CANNOT HOLD A CONVERSATION IN MANDARIN TILL THIS DAY!!!! So I can tell you from my own experience that it is really difficult. Just imagine how much effort he must have put in to become so fluent. The fact that I STILL CANNOT speak Mandarin after all these years of studying makes me even more determined when I watch these videos. Others have done it, so why can’t I? That is the question! Obviously I’m not going to give up. Giving in is NOT an option. So far I have only completed one video on Mandarin Corner and I know there is A LOT of content, pretty much hundreds of videos. So my solution is here. I just need to work that much harder
You really should consider finding language exchange partners online to practice speaking Chinese. This will help you develop your ability and confidence in speaking Mandarin. We would venture to guess that you ALREADY have the basic foundation needed to eventually speak at a proficient level - you just need practice. You can find people to practice here: conversationexchange.com/
And... the service is free!
really enjoyed the interview was interesting
Loved James interview. I feel much better about my rate if progress and slowness there of after seeing the work he puts into learning this language. Only recent months have I come to realize the more words I learn the more words and terms sound and look similar and trip me up. And those 成语 idioms popup everywhere. I can't understand kids book much less basic chinese media without learning much more idioms. Eileen maybe you want to make a series about 成语 with examples and maybe history behind them? Just an idea to toss out.
Oh yes, new Mandarin Corner upload. My day has been made
谢谢您的精彩视频
Wow, awesome! Congrats!
His Chinese is incredible!
Amazing channel!
太好了吧。谢谢老师
您好，我叫马赛罗，来自巴西。我原来在中国呆了差不多8年了（武汉1年多，西安6年多），目前在祖国。我特别喜欢你的频道，你让我的中文水平进步了很多。非常感谢您。我建议你办一个微信群让各个国家的汉语学生来沟通分享自己国家的文化等。
thank you Eileen
By far the best learn Chinese you tube channel.
Eileen it's an excellent teacher and so so cute,
Eileen if you tell me come I will leave everything .
你好，我叫白玮琦。虽然在我看来我中文已经蛮好的，我还是觉得看看你的视频之后它提高了很多。因此多谢你 ！
哇塞哥哥你的词汇量太厉害了！佩服佩服
Gracias.
Definitely enjoy the interview format.
The style and content of translations at bottom are perfect!
Longer interviews great for depth.
Love the "job" / "career" interviews.
Contents like this are why i become a Patreon
谢谢您
他的中文优秀，没有遇到其他的老外比他说好。非常恭喜！
哈哈哈他的口语真差🤣
Hi Eileen, congrats! another nice video :=) 很羡慕James，我在中国已六年了，但是我没有他说的那么好。虽然他还有外国人的口音，但是对我来说算非常的流利。每次上youtube都期待你新的video. Saludos.
继续努力学习，相信你也很快能达到James的水平。加油！
So happy for him. Where I live, a green card is a public transport pass.
#CCTV someone get this woman her own show!
Good timing just when I was feeling lost with my mandarin.Once again in trying to pin down my problems ,it's not lack of vocabulary ,it's the phonetic issue with Chinese-(so many similar sounds) and to some extent word order but not as difficult.I think this video will help me get back on track....love seeing Eileen
Jack Uzzi you are not alone in this. Daily Listening and speaking practise is the only way out of this. Hang in there!
He’s so good at chinese.
Its awesome
太棒了
Great video! Is here still an English teacher? Once this pandemic is over, I'm going back to China. Liaoning Province, here I come!
No, I was a teacher in my earlier years in China. You can find me now on iChongqing, such as the social media platforms and website www.ichongqing.info
Excellent videos here.. I found he very frequently use the word "jiushuo (就说)" i thought people say "jiushi" but didn't know that
Hi! I kind of say that as a shortened version of 就是我, like 'I mean to say...' Technically, I don't think it's correct, but it's probably a Chongqing colloquialism I've picked up locally after all these years. Don't forget to follow us at iChongqing!
Another great video Eileen!
Can I ask.. I notice James said jiushuo more than I'm used to hearing. When can/should this be used?
It is a filler word and you don't need to use it in your talk.
In fact it’s the mistake he always made. But you can also consider it as a filler word.
I finished another viedo on my way towards learning Chinese! Hour plus straight!. Xie Xie Ni.
Ni hao, Very interesting Video about James and his wife, i see he comes from Leicester which is my home city, i have been to Beijing and i loved it there, the people were lovely, and the City is very interesting. I am learning Chinese also, but i need to learn quicker as i find myself repeating the same thing over and over again or i lose them from my short term memory. I will see if James has any learning tips. Thankyou for posting this, xie xie.
BenGunns 老乡你好！
@@jimboa6186 你好金宝你好吗
哇！他的中文真好！我从来没看到一个那么好会说中文的外国人！
我希望我未来会能达到他的水平。
然后可以被Eileen面试！
我爱Eileen！:) 她很厉害！
Huh! James, I overlapped with you in Guri the years you were there, and my daughter is just a year or two older than yours. (사실 우리와이프는 (한국시민) 토평고등학교에서 영어를 가르치고 있었어요. 你在什么高中教英语? ( 중국말을 너무너무 잘 하시네요 - wow!).
If i am super rich, i will totally donate a lot of money to Chinese Corner! Too bad i’m only a college student :(
No one better than SerpentZA
James: getting th permanent foreign residence permit isn't that hard
Also james: got married for at least 5 years, owns a house with his wife, saved up 100,000rmb, went through difficult paperwork, and lived in China for 5 consecutive years
Haha. I suppose that does sound very contradictory on the face of it, but it ultimately depends on your personal circumstances. It really wasn't that big an ordeal for me.
I've been studying this for my reading practice... I never noticed before, that Eileen didn't understand the French part. I always say I learned nothing in 4 years learning French at school, but this made me laugh because I understood it (only basic phrase, but didn't require any effort to understand, I think it's amazing how much we pick up when young and don't realise., I wish I had Chinese lessons at school!) - This is such a good film Eileen, and Mandarin corner. I think the best channel on youtube... I use a lot, but come here to find interesting topics, and films, at all levels.
Ok so I’m a bit confused about sentence 547, particularly this part -> ‘Bǎ tāmen jiē dào jiā lǐmiàn péi tāmen wán’ which in English should translate to ‘take them home and play with them’ but the translation in the video doesn’t say ‘play with them’. I wonder why the full translation was shortened ha ha. Still such a great video!
Hi Dakota! Even though in Chinese we say "玩" a lot, it doesn't necessarily have the literal meaning "to play". In this case, the grandparents are just 陪他们玩, which means, they accompany the kids while they play so that they're not alone.
Ayyy I'm only 30 mins down the road from Leicester haha nice one.
Woow....amazing…真了不起，您 说得跟中国人一样好。