How Good Is Michelle Yeoh's Mandarin Chinese? - Chinese Teacher Analyzes Michelle Yeoh's Chinese

[@johnmofula]

This is why I love learning different languages because it's easier to understand other people who are trying to learn a language you might know

[@GinnyTan]

Michelle's way of speaking is very "native" to Malaysian, Singaporean way of speaking. Malaysian and Singaporean often switches into different languages in the one sentence as a result of someone living in a very multicultural society where multiple languages are constantly being spoken and heard at the same time.

[@alandeutsch9987]

That's a good point. When I visited Singapore, everyone spoke with a mix of super malay-accented chinese and english.

[@chuifongtam4703]

Hi Shuo Lao Shi, I am also a Cantonese Speaker who grew up in America. My parents are from Hong Kong. I could not speak any Mandarin until I started learning recently in my 30s. XD

[@chuifongtam4703]

@Helehelexx ____ good for you, it's never too late and never give up. Cantonese is even harder than Mandarin because it is the original Chinese. I am proud to know both Canto and Mando and feel more connected to my family.

[@chuifongtam4703]

@Helehelexx ____ no my Mandarin is bad but still learning

[@mjlee5617]

Mchelle growing up in Ipoh Perak, Malaysia , Cantonese is widely spoken. She may be a Hakka but she has never mentioned her native dialect to my knowledge. I am very sure Michelle did not attend Chinese school in Malaysia, otherwise she would be very fluent in Mandarin. During her student days in that era most would attend missionary schools in Malaysia where English was the language of teaching for Maths and Science. So I hope everyone here could understand her background .

[@tweedy4sg]

No, she's Hokkien. At least her father is. Yeoh is Hokkien for 杨.

[@anakitiktokwi2939]

​@@tweedy4sgand she speaks hokkien too

[@thisisjeffwong]

Thanks for understanding. We cantonese speakers are sometimes just guessing and hope you don't cringe too hard.

[@ShuoshuoChinese]

🤣

[@lxtatar7773]

Hi! I'd like to ask a question if you don't mind. What language do you mostly use in education in Hong Kong (jun./mid./high school, college/university)? Is it Cantonese, Mandarin or English?

[@htan-alpha]

In my generation, we didnt learn hockien nor cantonese in school. we learned it from our parents and friends and sometimes mixed with malay words, so our dialects are not pure dialects.

[@lxtatar7773]

@@helehelexx____5924 if you can't be polite then google how to do it

[@samgyeopsal569]

@@lxtatar7773 most schools in Hong Kong teach using Cantonese, the students and teachers all speak cantonese, but they write and read standard Chinese while using traditional characters. In terms of grammar and vocabulary. This “standard Chinese” （中文書面語）is the same as the one used in China and Taiwan.

[@kail9777]

I can't believe she learned Mandarin in her 40s. When you analyzed the video I realized how truly gifted she is because if I had to learn another language and use it in an interview it would be near impossible. She is inspiring.

[@aaronl9257]

I’m not sure if you have Chinese origins, but in Malaysia where people speak multiple Chinese languages, a basic grasp of any one of them can make learning Mandarin much easier.

[@karogod]

说说，你真厉害啊！这样学习词汇非常意思。谢谢❤

[@lucymathias2568]

I always enjoy your lessons..

[@clankb2o5]

Wonderful video, thanks!

[@oystershell6864]

I found this super interesting and informative. It’s a really good tutorial on how to change style of second language mandarin expressions into more naturally expressed mandarin. I looked past the pronunciation errors and tone differences. These can be practiced by yourself. Constructing spoken sentences in a more native mandarin style as a second language learner is far harder.

[@Language-ke7lj]

你好老师 。Can I request a video about the different mandarin in china, hongkong, taiwan, malaysia and singapore?

[@kwl4829]

this is heavy

[@PaulZedd]

You can request it, and you just did

[@fyfoh]

I remember seeing parodies of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon from 20 years ago that made fun of her and Chow Yun Fat's Mandarin. It was a source of much hilarity in Taiwan apparently.

[@lancewood1410]

We all talk like that in Mehsia :)

[@winnieloh4279]

Look this way, if everyone has to speak a language as if they’re native, no one would have bothered at all. Most people now learned additional languages from their own countries and the goal is to understand and use the language basics enough to just get around some daily conversation

[@YorgosL1]

It’s normal for HK people to use English word in their sentence. It’s not because they don’t know the word but it’s just how English work there. Also I criticize a lot of mainlander for their bad Cantonese pronunciation and use of word. It’s happen too. No big deal here

[@despro8088]

跟着 is not wrong, 跟着/紧跟着也是很多北方方言里会用到的。

[@jhonchan4770]

spot on!

[@jennifertham9333]

Michelle's accent is cute. I love to hear the way she speaks!

[@gcajaiba4910]

Could you please evaluate Luke Neale's Mandarin level?

[@lxtatar7773]

Hi! I wanted to watch your video on the difference between 经历 and 经验 but seems like it had been deleted or privated. Would be lovely if you could upload it again! thanks

[@ShuoshuoChinese]

你好，I just did, you can find the video on my channel now. :)

[@lxtatar7773]

@@ShuoshuoChinese thank you ❤️

[@alandeutsch9987]

thanks i was also wondering@@helehelexx____5924

[@SkyDarmos]

跟着 is inspired by Cantonese 跟住 gan1 zyu6, which means 然後.

[@YorgosL1]

Nobody say 然後in canto

[@SkyDarmos]

@@YorgosL1 I never said that 然後 is Cantonese. I said that 跟住 means 然後. 然之後 exists though. However, it is not true that Cantonese people never use 然後. It is used sometimes and it isn’t considered wrong at all. I am an expert in Cantonese, and so don’t try to correct me. It would end badly for you.

[@SkyDarmos]

@@YorgosL1 If you don’t even know 然之後, you obviously don’t know Cantonese very well. You are probably from Hong Kong and have never left your tiny place to see more varieties of Cantonese and enjoy Cantonese in its fully richness. I live in Hong Kong and people here use these words all the time. Of course 然後 is pronounced jin4 hau6 in Cantonese and not ran2 hou4. You obviously are a victim of some kind of derangement Syndrom where you have to pretend that Cantonese and Mandarin are totally unrelated. I really pity you. Many in Hong Kong can’t pronounce Cantonese properly. They lack gw-, kw-, n-, -ng and -k. It is a very lowly form of actual Cantonese.

[@SkyDarmos]

@@YorgosL1 As a native you should be ashamed to have such limited skills in Cantonese. Unless you live abroad. Then it is excusable. Your arrogance however is not.

[@leeleo9444]

Michelle's mother is a Cantonese speaker.

[@Naranjus]

Sorry but Hong Kong Chinese of that age are most certainly not native speakers. Most millennials even, were mostly taught by Taiwanese teachers. So they have a strong Taiwanese and Hong kongnese accent when speaking mandarin. Also HK and Guandong Cantonese have different accents. Cantonese is usually an umbrella term used for all the languages spoken in Guangdong province and not everyone on the province speaks Cantonese. I’m not a native speaker myself but my parents did teach me Hangzhou mandarin growing up. I spent many summers in China and I did my bachelors at a top Chinese university. Michelle absolutely doesn’t sound native at all. Most people of that age aren’t native speakers of mandarin. Their native language is whatever is spoken in the place their from. For example my parents are from Hangzhou. They learned mandarin in school and they don’t speak it perfectly either, sometimes I catch myself correcting them. I grew up in Costa Rica, so it means my native language is Spanish. I went to private school and learned to speak English. Just because I can speak the languages I speak “without an accent” or with what you would consider an “authentic” accent doesn’t mean I’m a native speaker. Hence, Chinese people from the south who speak heavily accented and mispronounced mandarin are not native speakers. I can tell how many Chinese immigrants in Costa Rica and abroad are also not native speakers of Mandarin. In China young people mostly speak mandarin but there are minorities that are mainly still taught in their regional native languages and speak mandarin as a second or third language. Most people in China are at least bilingual, meaning they speak their mother tongue and Mandarin Chinese is taught in school and spoken in the media and business settings. Almost everyone I knew from university could speak their “dialect” or language on top of mandarin. They spoke both perfectly because being a younger generation on the mainland they got more exposure to the language. My grandparents didn’t speak a word of mandarin but they could understand it and I could hold a conversation with them if i was spoken to in Shanghainese or Hangzhounese as both are Wu dialects. They’re not completely mutually intelligible but they are closely related. Michelle is very talented to have learned that many languages. But saying she sounds native is an absolute overstatement. Being native doesn’t mean there’s a specific accent you need to follow, but her pronunciation, lack of basic Chinese vocabulary, having to use English as placeholders for Chinese words, her level of fluency and cadence are dead giveaways that she doesn’t speak Chinese as her first language, let alone at native level.

[@ericloo6576]

The largest Chinese language in Singapore and Malaysia was Hokkien until it was replaced by Mandarin starting in 1980.

[@dennistang4977]

In HK, we say 時間 in most cases instead of 時候

[@YorgosL1]

We don’t use anything that mandarin use

[@arnoldong8900]

Da best important Speak n write Chinese Mandarin ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@louong93]

It doesn't matter. Because she is Malaysian born Chinese. She can speak fluent malay eventhough she has been living in Hong Kong for a long time.

[@arnoldong8900]

Michelle yeoh is my idol karate movie ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@kennySg101]

KL and Ipoh speak cantonese like HK. Not all chinese live in these areas can speak fluent chinese. Their Chinese have strong cantonese influence, I would not clasify them as native speakers. Michelle english is perfect, on the hand, I would rate her as english native speakers more than native chinese speakers.

[@toranaga1969]

I believe that although she is ethnic Chinese, she grew up speaking Malay as well as english. I am not sure if Malay is a version of cantonese or not. I do know that the native Malay people are not ethnic Chinese.

[@tweedy4sg]

She also speaks Cantonese, albeit only colloquially. That's bcs Ipoh, the town she grew up in is predominantly cantonese-speaking.

[@Robin-u5n]

Malay is definitely not related to Cantonese

[@SkyDarmos]

I prefer to speak Cantonese, most of the time.

[@Ndai]

AM FIRST HERE, YEEEAH

[@James-hs3tu]

Sounds good to me

[@cdobe]

我也想要鸡蛋里挑骨头 😉: I’ve noticed in some of your videos that you pronounce ‘feeling’ like ‘filling’. That’s one of the things you could work on. I say that in the spirit of helping you to improve your already good pronunciaton. Thank you for the interesting video.

[@ShuoshuoChinese]

哈哈哈谢谢！我很难发对这个音！

[@Mic_withMac]

Good shot

[@jaimemaglasang2414]

I would like to meet you...

[@ColonelMarcellus]

Who cares how good her Mandarin is? She's one of the most beautiful, classiest, sweetest-smile women on earth. Makes me wish I was about 30 years younger.

[@King_Baldwin_IV_777]

Cantonese forever 🐺🔥🔥🔥🥶

[@colinlim9537]

I think as long as we can communicate with each others effectively , is fine . When you speak English , you also have an funny accent which I think is OK !

[@jaimemaglasang2414]

Good pm i am jaime maglasang.

[@michaelmartin1848]

在我们gay圈里，我们也经常用“爷们”或者直接说“man”表示男人的意思，他说so man我感觉也很地道😂

[@ShuoshuoChinese]

哈哈是的我们也会说man

[@meb114]

So she basically learned Cantonese while making those Jackie Chan films I grew up watching. I never knew that...

[@tweedy4sg]

No... she learn formal (or studied?) Cantonese making films in Hongkong. She already speak colloquial Cantonese in Malaysia while growing up bcs Ipoh, where she grew up is a predominantly Cantonese-speaking city.

[@XRos28]

Ni Hao, Ni Hao Ma? Wo Bu speak Zhonguoren, just the basic of the basic level, as you see. I am 50 years old, is it too late for me to learn? (Michelle Yeoh is only 40, and she is not fluent.) Jaitien. 😀 P.S. Sorry that my keyboard has no tones in it. P.P.S. Great video!

[@Mic_withMac]

Michelle is a Malaysian who once married to a Cantonese speaking husband and she developed her career in HK then in Hollywood. Why picked on her accent? In Cantonese this act is called 抽水 Well, anyway, it’s legal to 抽水

[@victorcummings9181]

Wanna meet her as soon as possible

[@HappyDIY9]

How come you speak Thai that good? :D

[@ericloo6576]

Michelle Yeoh can't read Chinese. Her last name Yeoh is Hokkien pronouncian of Yang in Mandarin.

[@sunny-pe2uo]

Great video! A little suggestion- you can back up the camera a little.

[@ShuoshuoChinese]

我的脸太大了吗😩

[@ArmyK9]

鸡蛋里挑骨头 - Balut! Except Balut is duck egg.

[@PrincessSakuno]

I was brought up with both as an ABC but I’m really just an ABC w basic Mandarin now 😂 I gotta say it’s more cringe hearing Mandarin accented Cantonese than the overway round 😅 but it’s still a bit awkward the other way too 😂

[@jeremycacho-lim957]

What does Mandarin accented Cantonese sound like? Could you mention an example? Thank you.

[@PrincessSakuno]

@jeremycacho-lim957 like a native Mandarin speaker, speaking Cantonese, the tones will sound like Mandarin

[@SkyDarmos]

Yeah, mixing up 時候 and​ 時間 is pretty bad.

[@phil20_20]

Isn't she from Malaysia? 😅 Plus, aren't there like 13 major dialects in China? Oh my... 😮

[@SkyDarmos]

“So man” is Cantonese. It is “好man”.

[@XkaliburJ]

Hou Man Ahhh!!!

[@anakitiktokwi2939]

She speaks hokkien not Cantonese

[@victorcummings9181]

She married

[@hellohi1925]

It’s the worst I’ve ever heard, her mandarin

[@pokerfacelagoon]

And you have a very strong mainland Chinese accent when conversing in English? 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@bobbyrayewing]

Remember there might be others that cringed at your English. Cantonese is Chinese also, so is Mandarin, hakka and many more spoken differently but written the same. Stop testing others Chinese, nothing better to do?

[@ericloo6576]

Chauvinistic Chinese only recognise Mandarin as the only Chinese language. Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka and others aren't considered Chinese.

[@greatndit]

she can't speak malaysian even though she is malaysian

[@wolger]

It is Malay or Bahasa Melayu. She can speak it well. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYfcZmqiqbZ4jNk

[@licomelano8482]

It's really easy to understand but speaking it fluently took forever

[@greatndit]

Okay Sho she can speak malay

[@SkyDarmos]

Sound more natural, not sounds more natural.

[@jamilatanbinselamathardajo2626]

She's a Malaysian Banana

[@MasterCorneilous]

I hope Michelle Yeoh moved out of China. And hope she's ok from the grasp of the vial discusting gasslighting chinese government. Also I hope she wasn't brainwashed. Or anything

[@wolger]

Duh She is Malaysian and just ethnically Chinese in origin like me. and her hometown is Ipoh, the capital of Perak state in Malaysia. And she is holding Tan Sri the second highest honorific title in Malaysian bestowed upon her by King of Malaysia and also holding 2 state level titles by Sultan of Perak. We say Chinese doesn’t mean we are are citizens of China (chinese nationals). It is ethinically Chinese.

[@mjulia9361]

​@@wolger chinese is not a ethnically!

[@covekitten]

ProNUNciation, not proNOUNciation. CanTENesse, not CanTOHnesse. DisCUSS, not disguss. MIStake, not meestik. FILLer, not FEEler. ViDEO, not viRio. I can go on.....