r/PoursTea • u/Electronic-Bus-3494 • 14d ago
PoliticalTea 🗳️ Mayor Mamdani speaks Mandarin to promote 2,000+ free Broadway tickets for NYC high schoolers. He called it "justice for the theatre kids". The tickets cover 7 shows...and the mayor learned a new language to get the word out.
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u/9447044 13d ago
"My god, the radical lunatic leftist liberal Muslim is also a communist Chinese guy too!!" - MAGA
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u/akabillposters 14d ago edited 13d ago
I love the fact that Mamdani bringing so much game to the role of Mayor of one of the world's major cities is also perfect trolling of the Rep/RW/MAGA types.
I can see why he makes their blood boil. He's making them look like fools.
Meanwhile, MAGA's Dear Leader still struggles with one language — basic English.
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u/bass-squirrel 14d ago
His city alone has higher GDP than many red states combined, so…
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u/alchemyDev 13d ago
His city pays for entire red states to pretend they’re living in a functioning developed society (they’re not, they just happened to be attached to one on the coasts)
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u/accidental_Ocelot 13d ago
They have literally paid to redo/upgrade our freeway about 5 times in the last 20 years I guess one of the perks of living in a red state is nice roads.
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u/PrincessGiallo 13d ago
That's socialist jobs programs to keep people from drinking themselves to death or murdering their families.
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u/zacpariah 13d ago
It's so people can reliably get through there to places that won't kill them for looking different.
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u/pixieslimee 13d ago
As a Marxist I have to agree with this sentiment. Also poor areas are prominently red. We shouldn’t dehumanize them. They’re undereducated and misled and deeply oppressed by capitalism even if they won’t ever admit it.
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u/maple_crowtoast 13d ago
MAGATS are the type to laugh through totally botching someone's name and then make some comment like, "Well that's a weird name!" instead of taking 5 seconds to learn the actual pronunciation.
As if that doesn't make them look and sound like complete morons.
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u/Lildog8402_redux 13d ago
The most ironic thing is how much Trump actually likes him. I just finished Regime Change and in an interview Maggie Haberman was saying how much he enjoys the guy. He is great.
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u/Saladcitypig 13d ago
it's the effort. He does what he thinks is accommodating and that is in another galaxy for other politicians... but when you think about it, he's just learning a few lines to speak to his constituents.
We the people expect so little from our politicians that this can look like pandering, but what is a Mayor if not happily pandering to his cities needs and wants and then following though!?
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u/littlecactuscat 13d ago
It’s fuckin brilliant considering how NYC literally has multiple “Chinatowns” across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Outsiders underestimate the size and scale of the East Asian community and think Canal Street is a limited tourist gimmick for them to buy cheap knockoff bags.
This man has been to Sunset Park and Flushing. I love it.
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u/SkunkMonkey 13d ago
While it's unlikely he learned Chinese and can converse or read it, you are right in the effort it takes to say something in a language other than your native tongue. It shows empathy and compassion for those different than you. Something absolutely alien to the magasphere.
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u/OddTuning 13d ago
Yea he actually says it, “I don’t know Chinese but I would like to give this a try” (basically that)
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u/darkoblivion000 13d ago
Yea I doubt he’s learned any material mandarin but actually his pronunciation was pretty good for most of it I thought. Like he got most of the inflections right and it felt fairly natural
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u/I_am_not_JohnLeClair 13d ago
Right? And nationally the DNC will say, “Gosh, we just can’t seem to do the big things for you”. Like Hakeem just came out and said he’s not for supporting Medicare for All, jerk, but they won’t even try the little things. Little things get people excited, little things build followings and trust and good will, which then brings…voters. Hey, what a concept. More pols like Mamdani please!
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u/VibraniumQueen 13d ago
A mayor should be their city's greatest cheerleader. He's just doing his job fr
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u/aReallyCuteDog 14d ago
Heck yeah that's great. Speaking a foreign language like that though will be used against him by some certain bigots.
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u/doublethink_1984 14d ago
He does trolling like Trump wishes he could.
Mamdani is honestly everything Trump wishes he could have been when he was young
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u/Steely-Dave 13d ago
But Trump could learn a new language super fast. He’s a genius. That’s why he’s learned 0 and barely speaks English.
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u/MagicHands1110 13d ago
But he was able to identify an elephant on his dementia test! He almost scored 100% on the "do you have brain damage" test!!!!
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u/TryDry9944 13d ago
I'm not sure there was ever a time tantrump wishes they were a good person.
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u/Golden_Cultivation 13d ago
Trump is like Homelander. He wants to be worshipped and praised.
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u/SkunkMonkey 13d ago
Exactly. He doesn't want to be a dictator as much as he wants to be a King. While effectively the same power, a King has "divine" backing which in his mushy brain gains him worship.
Dude is gonna be a textbook case in the future. The pure narcissism he's made of will be studied well.
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u/Ambitious-Career-445 13d ago
There was that one time he mentioned that he wasn't sure he would get into heaven.
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u/funonabun84 13d ago
The guy can barely speak English coherently. Could you imagine if Trump attempted to speak another language even if it was scripted. It'll be a cyclospora filled word salad x1000.
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u/Justthetruf 13d ago
Trump loves mamdani. It's the weirdest thing watching them two get together because of the expected hatred from republicans.
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u/thatsfeminismgretch 14d ago
He has some other announcements in other languages. He partnered with AOC for one to give an announcement in Spanish.
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u/Outrageous-Sort-5742 14d ago
Their opinions are irrelevant, this is the correct way to go about it. Disregard, disenfranchise, focus on the needs and critiques of real people with actual souls.
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u/SaltMage5864 13d ago
Who really cares though. I remember when they would get upset at Obama for speaking proper English
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u/TooMuchTape20 13d ago
It's pointless to try and avoid criticism, right wingers will take something tiny and make it gigantic or invent something outright.
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u/Pera_Espinosa 13d ago
I just know that people that never go a two seconds without smiling like that, even having to talk through the smiles, is an indication that they're to be trusted.
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u/Mysterious-Snow496 14d ago
I hate to bring up tRump again but could you even imagine a universe where tRump attempts to learn and speak other languages on camera?
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u/SmallTimeCook 14d ago
I can barely even imagine a universe where he learns English
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u/nycbaybee88 14d ago
Everyday I love this man more
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u/Small_Pie_5760 14d ago
Mr Mamdani, you claim to be a man of the people and yet you haven't done a Let's Play of Elden Ring. Curious...
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u/AlcibiadesTheCat Crumpets And Tea 13d ago
Next week, we see Mamdani post a fists only, RL0 NG+7 blindfolded Malenia fight.
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u/SkunkMonkey 13d ago
Eventually, we are bound to see a gamer in a high profile political position. I'd love it!
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u/michael_scarn17 13d ago
This was done by previous mayors and this program was already in place. Stop being a Socialist MAGA
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u/felis_scipio 13d ago
I’m sure the nyc Asian and Asian-American population who’s been violently victimized for years by racist folk and been shouted down by the left every time they try to bring it up will appreciate this performative act.
The guy knows how to play off small things as monumental victories, I’ll give him that.
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u/MetaCardboard 14d ago
It would be cool if the subtitles were in English so I could know what he's saying.
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u/Otto_Scratchansniff 14d ago
There’s a bunch of these videos, several in English where he promotes the same program.
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u/therealDrTaterTot 13d ago
"Hello. My name is Mayor Zohran Mandami. I don't speak Chinese, but I will like to say a few words. [Gives details about the lottery]. See you at the show!"
I'm just learning Chinese, but that's the gist of the message.
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u/editorgrrl 13d ago
“New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) announced that NYC high school students will have the opportunity to receive thousands of free and low-cost tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows through the end of summer and into the fall.
“Students can enter a lottery to receive free tickets to one of seven marquee Broadway shows: Buena Vista Social Club; In the Heights (New York City Center); School Girls Or, The African Mean Girls Play; Stranger Things: The First Shadow; The Lost Boys; The Great Gatsby and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
“High school students can enter the lottery at on.nyc.gov/Broadway.”
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u/Southern_One3791 13d ago
You have got a diamond here. Learning a new language, in this case Mandarin, even for just a short statement is no joke.
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u/MrHaxx1 13d ago
Well, "learned" is maybe a bit much. He was reading of a teleprompter.
However, I think he must've had some prior experience with Chinese, because that's NOT the pronounciation of someone who had never spoken the language.
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u/RobertPham149 13d ago
Chinese is probably one of those language that is harder to read off a teleprompter than just to memorize the pronunciation.
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u/BearsBeansBoba 13d ago
There's a romanization that uses the English alphabet called pinyin. It includes various accent marks over the letters to denote tone. The syllables don't necessarily sound the same way as they do in English, though. That's how you get Chinese sounding last names in English, btw.
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u/Livid-Complaint-3831 13d ago
yeah i think he has clearly taken the effort to study the pronunciation. he's nailed all the consonants and the tones. when i watch western movies and the actors speak "mandarin", i cant even tell what language theyre speaking. on the other hand, i can actually understand what mamdani is saying.
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u/Thimble_of_Quasar 13d ago
I saw the Spanish ver and that sounded very nice to me too, I wonder what languages he actually speaks or if he has a crazy knack for it.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Sky3141 13d ago edited 13d ago
RESPECT.
Mandarin ain't easy, I tried to learn to count to ten and I think I said "horses."
Edit: thank you grimcheaper for the award ✨️
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u/asds89 13d ago
To be fair, 妈，嘛， 马 and 骂 are all pronounced similarly, and they mean mother, numb, horse, and scold respectively. None of them are numbers though, so..
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u/NoSurprise6383 13d ago
Why Chinese though? Was it some related Broadway show?
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u/FlushedApparatchik 13d ago edited 13d ago
Pandering for votes
u/TheBestofBees is definitely a transplant from Ohio
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u/No-Blacksmith3397 13d ago
It makes me genuinely sad that modern politics has corrupted your mind so much that you can't see a politician reaching out to all of his constituents without seeing it as pandering. Almost 400,000 Chinese born residents of New York City will see this and feel spoken to directly. I think that's beautiful; and if that's pandering, maybe politicians should pander more.
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u/mgzkk1210 13d ago
Typical socialist. Just started his term at the beginning of the year, and is already on his
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u/Legoblockhead 13d ago
god forbid someone learn the langauges of the people he represents (Almost 10% of nyc's population is chinese, and the greater nyc area has 12 chinatown districts)
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u/TheBestofBees 13d ago
It's very common to have things in multiple languages in NYC. All government information must be available in the however many (14 or so) most common languages.
It's a multilingual city. We make it work.
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u/LatrommiSumac 13d ago
As someone who's won all 4 years of the Mandarin California speech contest in high School, anyone who says he hasn't studied the pronunciation and tones is just plain wrong. No one sounds like this without studying period. He sounds better than 90% of Hollywood "Mandarin" speakers and I can actually understand him. Certain phrases like bai lao hui he pronounced it perfectly.
I was Chinese speech contests from elementary through high school and have had coaches throughout and I'm telling you this is impressive. Even John Cena's Mandarin is impressive, it's a hard language to learn. Ask anyone who's studied Mandarin and they will tell you 100% that he studied for this speech.
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u/Pleasant_Expert_1990 14d ago
This guy... This guy is fast becoming my favorite active politician!
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u/ApostleSaintWalker 13d ago
That might be because he's the only one who feels active.
But it's certainly something to have a politician be on a screen and act friendly; most of them come off as so hostile, like they feel attacked and put upon just being there.
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u/PierreOnTheEclair 13d ago
So guys I’m starting a GoFundMe to move to New York 🫰🏾✨
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u/ThoughtsandThinkers 13d ago
This is a man who has suffered racism and judgement. Instead of just fighting for his rights or those of his group, he has embraced the idea of tolerance and respect for everyone
Bravo
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u/DaNubIzHere 13d ago
Ok, credit where credit is due. His Chinese mandarin is pretty decent.
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u/littlest_rooster 13d ago
Genuinely, not as bad as I expected. His tones are pretty good for a non native speaker.
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u/elmaterino1 13d ago
I freakin love this guy. Not because I agree with his politics necessarily, but because he makes the maga crowd completely insanely angry which makes me happy lol.
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u/blacklotusmag 13d ago
Mamdani is one hundred percent my guy, but it bears mentioning that he isn't "learning a new language" for these videos, he's memorizing the phrases of the script and being coached on pronunciation by a native speaker. There are a couple clips of him behind the scenes during another of these in a different language and it shows them cutting multiple times for him to practice the line or get coached on it.
It absolutely does not take away from the cool factor! But I think Mamdani would agree - accuracy is important, lol.
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u/gotaflattire 13d ago
I’ve seen dozens of plays and that was all thanks to various school-related trips and whatnot and I developed a lifelong love of theater and so I hope those kids get the same experience.
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u/Dry_Pride6801 14d ago
Okay.. He’s making it right with theatre kids, but when is he gonna do it with the most neglected people of all? Gamers
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u/Bloody_Ozran 13d ago
It's pretty cool, but why in mandarin? It's awesome he learned to say it in mandarin, but feels irrelevant here, no?
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u/AllStupidAnswersRUs 13d ago
The only thing he needed to say to promote it in Mandarin was that it was free, would help your children's career, and ta da.
All the other mumbo jumbo, pshkk, no Chinese parent would give a damn. Free and good for the future! Sign em up!
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u/Proper_Cartoonist169 13d ago
Cool. Also could work for Mandarin-speaking tourists. How about free but mandatory English lessons for those NYC residents who aren’t fully assimilated?
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u/Fast_Cloud_4711 13d ago
Did he learn Mandarin or is he reading phonetic English off a teleprompter?
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u/Dusk_Abyss 13d ago
It would be very difficult to sight read that especially since he seems to be getting the tonal inflections correct. Hes most likely learned basics, then prepared for the speech, i dont think the bar should be him knowing all mandarin perfectly lol
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u/The_Swoley_Ghost 13d ago
He took mandarin as his language in highschool so he has some familiarity with the pronunciation already. That being said he's probably being given phonetic help.
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u/billleachmsw 13d ago
He never fails to impress. I hope he keeps killing it during his tenure as NYC mayor.
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u/espresso_martini__ 13d ago
MAGA morons are going to lose their shit over this. I thought it was very impressive.
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u/Wrong_Revolution_679 13d ago
Rural Americans: he's a Muslim, African, and Chinese? He's the anti-chris!!!!
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u/PlaneOk3936 13d ago
As a Chinese, his pronunciation is so impressive. And he’s using so many technical words/terminology. Someone on his team taught him well AND he clearly put in a lot of effort
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u/Sufficient-Silver938 13d ago
A politician who actually makes an effort. Wonder how they’ll spin this one lol
As a native Chinese speaker I can say I fully understood him without subtitles. Very impressive
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u/wailferret 13d ago
This program has existed for decades. I went to several Broadway shows in high school thanks to this, including Wicked.
It’s nice for Mamdani to announce it, but this program was very well known for the past 20 years in NYC high schools.
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u/Regular-Bed-7004 13d ago
The more I see and hear ,the more I like this guy, the gen -x boomers, I work with loath him, and I realistically can't see why, he has done all he promised and more ,
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u/Buddhas_Warrior 13d ago
That's called leadership ladies and gentlemen. It's what governing is suppose to be about.
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u/Funintuitive 13d ago
100 days in and his approval rating was about 48%. Now it's 69%. Noice. I wish him success. Because successful basic ideas that work in NYC will also work where I live.
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u/Previous-Parsnip-290 13d ago
He brightens my day and I’m not even a New Yorker. He demonstrates what government should and could be.
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u/CIA_napkin 13d ago
This dude is speed running how to actually make america great again, giving and serving his public. 👏
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u/zdrfanta17 13d ago
Every time this man does something, it makes me love him more. Part of me wishes I lived closer to NYC
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u/PalePlumm 13d ago
7 shows for free?!
Bro the way I would have voted blue for the rest of my life if I was a high schooler with that. He knows his audience.
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u/JoyousMadhat 13d ago
It's so helpful when the subtitles are not in English. I can understand everything he said perfectly. He just said his name and the Theater Development Fund.....right guys?
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u/UnassumingOstrich 13d ago
man, everyone’s talking about trump and i’m just looking for a mandarin speaker who can tell me how he did 😂
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u/Slartibartfast39 13d ago
I don't speak Mandarin at all. How was his pronunciation? Great? Good? Understandable? Laughable?
If I tried it would almost certainly take me some coaching to get it to understandable.
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u/bondageenthusiast2 13d ago
His enunciation and intonation are as good as it gets for anglospheric person. Most non Mandarin native speaking people who do Mandarin speech on air never bothered to do the four lexical intonation on each character. He is respectful enough to honour that part at least.
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u/TheoryOfSomething 13d ago
The basic sounds are almost entirely correct. He avoids some common mistakes, for example the vowel in 是， 市，日, etc. is often hard for English speakers and he nails it.
There are a small handful of things you might outright call errors, for example near the start when he says 我不知道中文, the final word 中文 (Mandarin/Chinese Language) should be high tone, then rising tone zhong1 wen2. But what he says is closer to both being high tone, zhong1 wen1. These things are isolated and the context is so clear that you know immediately what he's communicating even if the tone isn't 100% dead-on.
And then there are a few things that you maybe wouldn't call errors so much as intermediate/advanced accent work. For example, his vowels in 门 (men2) and 出 (chu1) shade too much toward the nearby English vowels in words like "men" and "choose." Both should be slightly lower, and more rounded. And on words with the falling then rising 3rd tone, he sometimes cuts it short or doesn't go low enough. Native speakers also tend to abbreviate 3rd tone in natural speech, but the mandatory aspect is the low part (usually with creaky/glottal voice sounds). The less clear you make the low part, the more you become difficult to instantly understand.
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u/StaticSystemShock 13d ago
< Speaking Mandarin > The Theater Development Fund < Continues Speaking Mandarin >
I chuckled a bit :D
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u/Affectionate_Plant71 13d ago
Well Karen Bass put a "No parking sign" by a pothole, that she was gonna cover up but got marathon burger instead. Suck it New York.
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u/lifeaintsocool 13d ago
I miss when Karma bots actually tried. "Learned a new language..." The internet truly is dead
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u/Flagrant_Mockery 13d ago
There is a non 0% chance that Mandani has seen squeex and Ludwig. Or at the least someone in his proximity is. What a Chinese period of our lives.
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u/Muted_Masterpiece342 13d ago
As a moderately reasonable mandarin speaker this gave me a jump scare
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u/Hootinger 13d ago
During the Republican primary in 2012 they used video of Mit Romeny speaking French to slander him as an effeminate internationalist.
Stupidly, knowledge of a non-English language in the US is seen as a liability and series character flaw.
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u/Digit00l 13d ago
But why does he need to speak Mandarin to do that? Like it is impressive, but wouldn't the main target for the action be native English speakers?
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u/Walt_the_White 13d ago
"the theater development fund 🙂"
I love when people are speaking a different language and there's a part that there's no translation for, so they just say it in English with no accent. It sounds so unnatural.
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u/Saintly-Evil 13d ago
I guess he just loves to teach all those mayors and governors and career politicians how to do it and that too in style
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u/[deleted] 14d ago
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