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Xiaomanyc
American YouTuber (born 1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Arieh Smith (born July 20, 1990), better known as Xiaoma, is an American YouTuber known for his language-oriented channel Xiaomanyc, where he speaks various languages with people from different cultures.[2] The New York Times credited his channel as one of the most popular YouTube channels in this category.[3] He has been profiled in news publications such as The Independent,[4] The Indian Express,[5] and The Daily Dot.[6]
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Smith is a native of New York City and grew up speaking English[2][3] in an Ashkenazi Jewish family.[7] After graduating from high school, he took a basic Mandarin Chinese class during the summer before attending the University of Chicago. He attained a scholarship to study in Beijing, China, for one year, where he delved deeper into the Mandarin language.[3] He eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases.[2][3]
Smith gained popularity on YouTube for his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, alongside other languages such as Portuguese, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Yoruba, Tamil, Telugu, Navajo, and various Chinese dialects at a basic conversational level.[2] Many of his videos showcase him partaking in diverse ethnic cultures while recording people's reactions to his varying proficiency in foreign languages.[5][8] His video with fellow YouTuber Frankie Light, where they travel around New York City speaking Mandarin, received 4.2 million views.[3]
Smith has also travelled to Ireland, spending time learning Irish[9][10] and spoke Welsh when visiting Cardiff in Wales.[11]
In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand,[12] to attend APEC Thailand 2022.[13]
In May 2025, Smith received an honorary doctorate at Ohio State University for his contribution to language learning.[14]
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