When White guys speak East Asian langauges, it's amazing!
When East Asian guys speak European languages, it's not. Why?
tysstyle - Canadian guy speaking Mandarin
MrHarlequin2009 - French guy speaking Japanese
Have you ever noticed, that if White guys speak one of the big East Asian languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese or Korean), it's totally amazing. Everyone's like: Wow, impressive. Dude, you're so cool. And of course many East Asian girls would say it's so cute to see a White guy speak their native language, even if it sounds broken or the knowledge is limited. A little effort from White guys would massively increase their chances with East Asian girls.
On the other hand, if East Asian guys speak one of the big European languages (such as English, German, French or Spanish), it's not seen as amazing at all. Nobody's like: Wow, impressive. Dude, you're so cool. And of course most of White girls would not think it's cute to see East Asian guys speak their native language. If it sounds broken or the knowledge is limited, it would rather appear funny than cool. East Asian guys can put a lot of effort in learning a European language, however that won't increase their chances with White girls.
How come there's such a big difference?
[Photo by Lawel Style]
Back to the White guys, who speak an East Asian language perfectly. Do you know Mark Henry Roswell? He's probably the most famous Westerner (a Canadian) in China and he's speaking Mandarin like a native speaker. Everybody knows him under the name Dashan (大山, lit. "big mountain"), check this amazing video. Then there's Julien Gaudfroy, a Frenchman doing stand-up comedy in Mandarin. Or Pierre Deporte, the first White guy (he's also French) who starred in a leading role in a Korean drama. It was called Tamra, the Island, aired in 2009 (*video with Pierre's fluent Korean). Of course there are many more Western guys, who speak one of the East Asian languages and they're not famous. You can find a lot of them on You-Tube, such as the two funny guys on the video below. So what's your opinion on Westerners or Whites in particular learning East Asian languages. Is it for the career? Interest in culture? Looking for love or sex?
43 KAFKAESQUE COMMENTS:
Of course White guys are first and foremost guys. And most guys in this world, who realize they have an advantage in getting a beautiful girl will go for it, right? So it's no wonder, that there's more and more of us in East Asia trying to have a good career and a good life and hoping to find a good girl. Some come for true love (like in my case), some come to have fun (and they're not always the best ambassadors for the West). I'm sure, if language was the key for Asian guys to open the hearts of White girls, they could "flood" Europe, North America and Australia the same way. But the question is: Would they?
There's still a big difference between the West and East. While in the West individuality is a virtue, in the East conformity and collectivism is far more important than one's individual needs and desires.
Sure, the times are changing, but the stereotype of the Western backpacker, who travels to India by himself to do a little soul searching is as strong as the stereotype of the East Asian guy over 30 still living with their parents and obeying them. But as I said, the times are changing. For many East Asian guys (and girls) individuality became a virtue in the past two decades. People want to be unique, want to have their own style, many subcultures arose, some obscure, limited to small communities, some became big in Asia and even popular in the West (like visual kay or cosplay). And Asian backpackers are a common sight all over the world these days.
So the question was: Would East Asian guys flood the West, if there was a way to get White girls through language? I would say yes, but only to some extent. East Asia is in a huge transition recently, but not everyone's fond of the new liberal ways and individuality. I'd say the majority of East Asians still think and act in the ways of their own traditions and their conservative parents play a big role in that. Changes are done gradually and slowly. Do you agree?
July 17, 2010 5:59 PM
@Bradley: Good points. What can I add to that? :) Yes, I agree, changes in East Asian societies are slower, but it really depends where you are. In urban areas things change faster than in Europe or USA. Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, HK are cities that go through enormous changes in the recent years, but if you go to rural areas in China, Korea and Japan, the people live very traditionally.
July 17, 2010 7:08 PM
i guess i also dont know why white guys who speak asian language are naturally.cute.
for instance,the canadian guy on your first video.
He mention 'can you help me?"
it shows how humble he is.
July 17, 2010 7:20 PM
nope. this kind of things don't impress me as much. language is just a way to communicate.
July 17, 2010 8:41 PM
Well I'm somewhat impressed, because we all know that for western people, learning asian languages is quite hard... The characters, the way the sentence is constructed, it's very different from the latin/anglo languages we have in the West...
I think the reasons east asians girls are impressed is because they're flattered people take time to learn about their culture and language.. I have been in Japan before and a lot of people asked me why would I come to their country and why did I even bother to start learning their language.
Girls in the west are not impressed because of the current immigration, it's perfectly usual to see an asian guys speaking english or french for example.
I don't know about the reasons behind it, I think the best would be to ask them directly the question... It might have all started with a cultural interest, maybe they're already in the country and have learned the language or as you said, maybe they're just looking for love (but that's a long way to go just for love I would think).
July 17, 2010 10:55 PM
Wow awesome. The canadian guy speaks better mandarin than me O.O
July 18, 2010 1:51 AM
The difference is because for European it's no great challenge to learn, write and speak an European language... it's something you learn in a couple of years, whereas to learn and above all speak fluently a language like Chinese or Russian (both with a different "alphabet" and very difficult too) is something "amazing" probably because we need only English to be understood all over the world and therefore we're quite lazy working hard to learn a language we think we will not need... anyway... I also think it's amazing. I don't know if I'd be able!
July 18, 2010 2:56 AM
I was at Cafe Havana (I know, again) tonight,drinking with friends and this French guy said a few words in Tagalog and he nailed the accent. That doesn't happen often and so my friends were swooning and I went, Whoa, your Tagalog is even better than mine, how did you do that?(because Tagalog isn't my first language). So I was impressed because I am shallow sometimes (haha) but of course, that wasn't enough to win me over. It was just sorta cool.
July 18, 2010 5:42 AM
hahaha well african who speak good would really impress me the most!! hahaha
July 18, 2010 5:57 AM
@CripsyCaiHong: Yeah, even my girlfriend said he was cute :)
@Ejann: Oh, you're so hard to get.. hmm, how could I get you? Ohhhh, I know. With a dose of sarcasm and my beating heart in my hand and saying: Would you mend my broken heart? :P
@MelodyNelson: True, it is hard for us to learn East Asian languages, especially because of the pronunciation and the writing systems. But it's still possible to master, if we put our hearts into it :) Thanks for your lovely comment.
@Chris: Haha.. he's good, isn't he.
@Daisy: Excellent points, totally agree :)
@DemiAngel: Well, at least he was cool, haha. To win you over is not an easy task, is it? :P
@FuFu: Oh, I see :)
July 18, 2010 6:20 AM
I'm always late in commenting on your posts!!! Dang!
Anyway, as a *cough* bad ass *cough* Asian, yes, I do find it cute when white dudes try to speak the Asian language. (By the way, do you know what part of Asia I am from?? :D ) They sound adorable. But I agree with the other girls, it's not enough to win us over. Haha!!!
As for the Asian guys who try to speak big European languages, yes I agree, no one finds it cool or impressive. I don't know why. It's sort of unfair in a way...?
Oh well...
July 18, 2010 11:04 AM
Looking for sex.
July 18, 2010 12:58 PM
Very interesting observation. I think Westerners are learning Asian languages mainly for interest in culture and love.. lots of White guys are marrying East Asian women these days and make pretty babies haha. Weird it doesn't happen the other way around though, for Asian guys dating White girls.
July 18, 2010 1:07 PM
I am a Spanish girl, from the Canary Islands, and I do find impressive when someone from Asia speaks my mother tongue :) even if it is just a few sentences because I realize my language can be really hard to learn for non-Western Europeans so it is something worthy of admiration that they took up the linguistic challenge.
Every guy is different. Some are probably learning it in order to chat up Asian girls, others because they are in love with other cultures & anthropology etc... one can not generalize about these things and I don't think either that all white guys like Asian girls.
No way, each of them has a preference. Some like blondes, others Asians, others girls from their own country only etc...
July 18, 2010 1:48 PM
I'm really poor with linguistics. I only speak one language and I'm barely good at that haha.
That being said I have tremendous appreciation for people who really take the time to be fluent in another language - but not necessarily the way you had put it in your post. I don't think I find a white guy who speaks Chinese waaay cuter than a Chinese dude speaking French. In fact, as I mentioned before I'm really only attracted to Caucasian men. At one point in my life I was really attracted only to Asian men so it's just my preference. I made out with one Chinese guy and he was borned/raised in France. It was really sexy! And I did make out with one German guy who spoke some Mandarin (I had no idea what he was saying though) and I thought that was really sexy too. I think it's realy sexy my boyfriend speaks Russian, Hebrew and English. So I don't fully agree with one of the ideas presented in this post.
I applaud anyone who takes the effort to learn another language. I wish I had the motivation to learn another language ;)
So let me ask you?! What do you like more? A hot blonde German girl that can speak Mandarin to you or a hot Korean girl that can speak a slavic language to you? ;)
July 18, 2010 3:24 PM
Isn't it just that its more unusual for a white person (male or female, BTW) to speak an east asian language than for an east asian to speak a european language. Both are equally difficult to achieve, but one stands out more than the other and people are attracted to things that stand out.
July 18, 2010 4:35 PM
@Gnetch: Ah, comment late or early, I don't mind. Comment or not, I don't mind either. It's no obligation, it's purely fun :) My tracker tells me you're from the Philippines :P I usually "catch" all my followers, haha. It seems to be unfair, but it happens naturally, we can't affect it. It may change in the future, who knows.
@Karen USA: Oh, I have two Karens commenting now :P Since my Canadian friend Karen has been commenting first, I shall use Karen USA for you. Is that ok? :) On my trips around Asia, I've seen White girls with Asian guys and it was always a "wow" moment. It's still very rare, but it does happen. I rather see Asian guys date White girls instead of being mad at us White guys, who date Asian women :) In the end, love should matter and not the color of the skin, eh? :) Thank you for commenting :)
@armchair traveler never: Good observations and I would totally sign the remark about preference. Thanks for commenting. :)
@Karen: Good points. I guess speaking multiple languages is seen as a virtue. You look smart and charming and someone who's accomplished something. That's always admirable. And as for your question: I'd probably fall for the Korean girl speaking Slovenian, haha. But that's because my language has only 2 million speakers and barely anyone in the world knows our country and culture :)
@Mark: Well said. Thanks for the comment. :)
July 18, 2010 5:30 PM
after traveling in so many countries, i personally thinks; everyone or anyone will be impress if you learn to speak the country native language. todate, people still find it amazing for me to speak fluent mandarin despite that malaysia is multiracial & lingual. am am still impress malaysian local chinese speaks malay with malay slang.
even my relatives in indonesia impress if i speak their bahasa indonesia... i guess its the effort that we respect & applaud.
in one of my europe trip, the bus driver (paul) took us family from switzerland to france and he speaks 7 language FLUENTLY... and according to him inclusive of "rubbish" ehhehehe.....
btw, dashan joke was hilarious...
July 18, 2010 5:43 PM
Aw geez!!! You have that Live Traffic Feed thingy!! I didn't notice that!!! Argh!
;)
July 18, 2010 7:15 PM
I would be impressed if a girl or a guy, who's not from indo, speaks indo fluently. I'm actually reading a law book in Indonesia written by a westener.IMPRESSED.
July 18, 2010 10:10 PM
@Gnetch: Haha.. yes yes. I have that and many other hidden trackers and spies :P I can track down everyone who enters the premises of my blog ;)
@Andhari: Interesting.
July 19, 2010 6:13 AM
Writing system aside, I guess everyone takes the European languages (especially English) for granted and there's western expectation for the whole world to speak it.
July 19, 2010 2:23 PM
That's a really good question...your question about why Asian girls are more impressed by white guys who speak Asian languages than white girls being impressed by Asian guys who speak European languages. I'm going to try and take a shot at it. I think it might have something to do with the Western world being the concentration of global power. Being economically and socially well off, regions like Europe, Australia, and North America are flooded with immigrants every year. These immigrants probably try hard to learn the language of their host country in order to survive within the country. With so many non-whites speaking Western languages around, a lot of Westerners tend not to get so impressed if they see a non-white foreigner speaking their language. They get used to it. Also, being a global power, everyone wants to learn European languages, not just immigrants, but those in non-Western countries too. I heard in some Third World countries, schools even offer French, Russian, English, German, etc...as second languages. So most whites get used to the idea of their language being spoken by a non-white foreigner.
On the other hand, seeing a white person speaking any language that's not European is extremely surprising, because it's not really necessary for them to learn non-Western languages. They can still succeed in life without knowing any non-European languages. So if a white guy starts speaking in...for example...Chinese to a Chinese girl, she would be impressed by the thought that he would put in the time and trouble to learn her language even though he didn't have to. Learning the girl's language would reflect well on him as well, as it would hint to the girl that he either respects her culture quite a lot in order to learn her language or that he really wants to show her how much he likes her. Putting it in another way, it's like having a wealthy guy agreeing to live in a less wealthy part of town just to be with his gf even though he doesn't have to (and it's probably inconvenient for him). So the girl would be very impressed.
White guys speaking Asian languages have the same impact on Asian girls for similar reasons. Whites come from the very rich and powerful west, whose languages and cultures everyone wants to adapt to. The Asian continent...not so well off, with Asian languages not being seen as important as European languages. You know how it goes. Seeing a rich guy going to the poor side of town is very unusual but seeing a poor guy going to the richer side of town is fairly common. So the former is almost always more of an impressive action :)
July 19, 2010 2:41 PM
@Van: You totally nailed it. :) I had something similar on my mind, but I wanted to see what my readers say. Thanks for your great comment :)
July 19, 2010 2:58 PM
@Nashe: True.
July 19, 2010 3:11 PM
Hmmm... It's kinda impressive for anyone to speak a language that is not their native tongue. But somehow it doesn't do it for me when ppl speak French or German. Then again I got wowed when I met a Swiss backpacker who spoke at least 5 languages.
Oh no! Lizzy has confused herself :(
July 19, 2010 4:28 PM
I need to agree on the canadian guy speak better mandarin than I am but than again I don't learn my mandarin from China like he does. still he is very lucky!
I don't mind to fall in love with a western female and move to the west start a family and earn a living there! the chances of success undoubtedly, slim. I don't think (my conscious tell me) I will be given the opportunity unless a special circumstances.
But I did fall for one gal over the internet and she fall for me too... and ahhh long story... we lost contact 10 years ago... Internet is hard to get those day.
Well it just to proof the point, it's not easy for a normal asian guy to get a western female gf.
July 19, 2010 8:49 PM
@Pinknpurplelizard: Speaking multiple languages is a very impressive skill.
@Netster: Ah, you almost got a Western girl? Wow, 10 years is a long time. Those were different times, bro. I think in 2010 you could get many Western girls. Just sing for them, you're amazing. They will love you :)
July 20, 2010 6:50 AM
LOL I like that :)
You're probably right, 10 years ago a long time. Hehheeh
Now I can charm them with my voice! Wooo
July 20, 2010 8:12 AM
Most of the commenters above have already hit the nail on the head but being a speaker of Chinese myself, I thought I'd just reflect on some of the others.
For me, there are so many things about the Chinese language that makes it about 10 times more difficult than learning any other language:
1. The characters. Ok, yeah - they are beautiful and usually the number 1 thing that attract people to learn the language. The hard part is remembering them all! Learning to recognise them is difficult enough but trying to recall and then write the characters. ARGH
2. The tones. So, not only does Chinese have characters that the foreigner has to deal with, but four different tones that can make a single syllable have 4 different meanings!? holy baloney
3. Grammar. There is hardly an comparison between Chinese grammar and English. In fact, some Chinese idoms cannot be translated directly into English and can only be understood on a contextual basis.
They are just 3 of the main things that I find scary about learning Chinese!
Thanks for the post, great to get a conversation started on such a topic.
July 21, 2010 1:10 AM
I forgot to add that that was in response to your question as to why Westerners would bother to go to the effort of learning an Asian language. For the challenge! I mean, I think that's why I took it. A lot of people in Europe speak a few European languages but how many speak Chinese? Or Japanese? Or any other Asian language for that matter.
It sets us apart. :)
July 21, 2010 1:14 AM
Might have repeated what everybody else said. But I guess since English is considered the language of the world, you dont actually get any points for being able to speak it :D
July 21, 2010 7:11 AM
Looking for sex. *Evil smile*
July 21, 2010 12:58 PM
@Luke: Thanks for sharing your views. It is a big challenge indeed :)
@FloatingCamera: Yes, true :)
@Stefanie: Haha.. some do :)
July 21, 2010 7:45 PM
I think asian languages still seem a bit more "exotic" and "different" in some ways and that's why it's of neat/unique when a white guy/girl can speak it with some fluency.
The ability to speak a couple or several other languages, whatever they may be, is kind of "attractive" to me...probaby because I greatly regret that I am only fluent in English.
Knowing even one other language opens up a lot of interesting opportunities.
...Maybe I can combine my spattering of Latin, French, Mandarin, Korean and Russian into a complete language that I could claim to be "fluent" in. :P ...No? it was worth a try.
July 22, 2010 6:38 AM
Regardless of the reason for learning Asian languages, I always have deep respect for these guys for taking their time to learn and understand.
July 22, 2010 1:11 PM
@Becks: Haha.. you're fluent in tiny bits of many languages. Cool :P I'm somewhat same. I speak a lil Swedish, Italian, Croatian, Malay and Chinese. It's far from fluent, but hey, all these together must be worth something, right? :P I'm only fluent in 3 languages, but I really hope I will master Mandarin on a conversational level.
@Shingo: Well said, bro :)
July 23, 2010 5:53 AM
Most Western countries are flooded with people from foreign descent. (Be they Asian, Africans, Arabs or otherwise etc.)
An Asian speaking English is simply something we've seen before, a million times. Not just in movies, but in pretty much every street of every big city. Whereas a white-dude speaking mandarin is, at least for now, not as common.
Of course this doesn't mean that a Asian-born Asian speaking fluent English isn't cool, I think it's just as impressive, it's just less of a surprise.
July 27, 2010 3:13 PM
@Anonymous: Thanks for sharing, you make good points.
July 27, 2010 4:17 PM
I'm [obviously] an Asian girl, and I do find Western guys attempting my mother tongue in a sincere manner cute and funny! I'm usually distant towards strangers, but I'd stop by and help under such circumstances. =P
October 29, 2010 11:26 PM
@Joan the Black Iris: That's kind of you. I'd also help foreigners, who attempt to speak my language. I think it shows they have respect for my culture :)
October 29, 2010 11:36 PM
it is true how asian get bashed while they speak english or other western language,i am white,but its also a true that if you wish to be a clown,go talking to that same asians in their language,in short,you talk much of myths,none of the guys you mentioned is perfect in those languages,if he were,he would have been mistaken for asian or bein played as a clown,its not rewarding to speak to asians in asian language,if you do it master way,then you ll be clown to them.i speak asian languages as native,if your bald white guy or just a white guy,go for asian gal!if your non white guy or white guy who loves asia and speak asian language perfect,then step back,and think if you really want something so drama like.
July 29, 2011 1:51 AM
@Anonymous: Are you ok?
July 30, 2011 12:14 AM
Post a Kafkaesque comment!