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Xiaomanyc
American YouTuber From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Arieh Smith, better known as Xiaomanyc or simply Xiaoma (Chinese: 小马在纽约; pinyin: xiǎo mǎ zài niǔ yuē; lit. 'Little pony in New York'), is an American YouTuber, best known for his videos where he speaks various languages with people from different cultures.[3] The New York Times credited his channel as one of the most popular YouTube channels in this category.[4] He has been profiled in news publications such as The Independent,[5] The Indian Express,[6] and The Daily Dot.[7]
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Smith is a native of New York City and grew up speaking English[3][4] in an Ashkenazi Jewish family.[8] 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.[4] He eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases.[3][4]
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.[3] Many of his videos showcase him partaking in diverse ethnic cultures while recording people's reactions to his varying proficiency in foreign languages.[6][9] His video with fellow YouTuber Frankie Light, where they travel around New York City speaking Mandarin, received 4.2 million views.[4]
Smith has also travelled to Ireland, spending time learning Irish[10][11] and spoke Welsh when visiting Cardiff in Wales.[12]
In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand,[13] to attend APEC Thailand 2022.[14]
In May 2025, Smith received an honorary doctorate at Ohio State University for his contribution to language learning. [15]
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