I Secretly Learned my Mom's Language

I learned Chinese and surprised my chinese mother. This video is about my story behind learning Chinese, the process of learning, and surprising my mother.
Fun fact: this all happened over 2 years ago; I'm glad I'm finally able to share this story.
If you want to improve your life, subscribe.

[@spadaacca]

This video brought tears to my eyes.

[@realFreshF]

my favorite comment that I ever received. Thank you for watching

[@jangAckman]

Me too.

[@williamwee866]

(Jiayou)加油！Keep it up!

[@tr1b1tur]

Aaa sweet moms! We love you soooo much 🥺!

[@xieyang100]

哈哈哈，不行，我的眼睛要尿尿了（流眼泪了），加油，兄弟。

[@cnzaqdfrut9661]

Chinese parents are not known for expressing their feelings, but her reaction showed happiness obviously. As a native Chinese speaker, I am proud of you. I definitely couldn’t have made that much progress in a month had I come from a western background. Keep up the good work!

[@ire1398]

Why oh why do people call it Chinese? It’s MANDARIN

[@cnzaqdfrut9661]

@ Thank you for making internet interesting.

[@irockys1089]

As a Chinese boy, we see family as one of the core parts of Chinese culture. We see it as almost higher than anything else. Being able to speak your mother's tongue definitely touches her heart in some way. It is just so sweet, and we are proud of you as well! Well done!!

[@realFreshF]

Thank you!

[@cmmndrblu]

你的英语写得很厉害，只是说 "speak your mother's mother tongue" 会比 "speak your mother's tongue" 更合适一些。

[@AirRBnpc]

@@cmmndrblu Definitely not. Do you realize that though saying "Mother's mother tongue" is more accurate than what he wrote, this makes the sentence seem less consistent to read and therefore in informal language, this is acceptable. 哥们这种刺就别挑了行吗

[@SAINIDE]

@@cmmndrblu absolutely nationality comes first and then maybe acknowledge out ancester's heritage

[@gamithawanasinghe4096]

That's so common in asia and southern europe including france,italy and spain! That's awesome!

[@izzuddinafif]

aww your mom seemed very happy when you spoke to her in chinese 😄

[@charlottemclay8947]

I'm also half Chinese, and currently trying to learn Chinese for my mum, so this has really inspired me that I will get there as well.

[@jorrdan.]

加油!

[@aanski]

same here! wish you the best luck

[@Christopol]

I am an half/half too, but the situation here is totally opposite when i was growing up, my dad wont reply to me unless i speak Chinese to him, which when looking back i thank him for that 😅

[@kellyjones0]

Me too, half-Cantonese. In late 2020, I decided to learn Mandarin. 4 years later, I know almost 6000 Chinese words, speaking, reading and writing. None of my three siblings know Chinese except some Cantonese foods. My mother is proud but also sad, as her mother never taught her much Cantonese.

[@sugarwater8254]

I am also chinese getting there so far, but 加油，慢慢学👍

[@mayshu1925]

As a Chinese who’s a mother of a boy who’s born and raised in the US, this brought tears to my eyes !! Can’t imagine all the joy this brought to your mom! Amazing job!!!

[@jieyuran7118]

I am a Chinese mom and living in Germany as well. Since the birth of my boy I only speak Chinese to him. He is 4 now. We could communicate with each other in Chinese very well. We had holidays in China some time. My families were in Germany as well. He has very few problems not understanding my family. So, my best method to teach my son Chinese is that I will not speak German to him. That is it. And be persistent in teaching him new vocabularies. I hope that my decision will be helpful for his future.

[@Katar1x]

*100% yes! He will learn German anyway, since you live in Germany, and knowing Chinese will open a lot of new doors for him in life.*

[@skibidi-g5e2x]

im canadian

[@nesciusplayground]

@@Katar1x Sadly living in Germyn doesn't mean you learn German anymore. So many migrants in school nowadays that don't speak German.

[@dented.aluminum]

This is how my mother went about me as well. My parents were Taiwanese who moved to the US to study after high school, and both only spoke to me in Chinese until I was in Pre-Pre-K. Then they taught me basic English at home during my Pre-K and Kindergarten years and I kind of just picked up the English language at school since everyone spoke English. To this day, I still speak fluent Chinese without an accent, though it has degraded a bit compared to many years ago.

[@ph3733]

This is the way. I also grew up bilingual and my children too. I messed it up with my mom and got really bad with her language so I did it differently with my kids. There will be phases where you want to give up as the kids just don’t want to talk in a different language but stay strong and insist. My kids tried to convince us but we stayed strong and now they love it that they can speak two languages. They are 24 and 27 now.

[@tiewhiongwoon7700]

好感动！ 你真是一个暖心的孩子 你安慰了你母亲的心 我为你母亲开心 也相信你必因此蒙福。

[@HHH-nv9xb]

Her smile on her face tells it all. That is the best gift you can possibly give to her.

[@gilapunyaorang]

I believed deep inside your mother's heart she's very proud of your effort to speak mandarin.

[@Unknown-jg4uq]

you're an incredibly handsome man and a good son! those genetics are insane bro

[@ParkerMeyer-bd1qj]

Fr

[@hoppy8019]

wasians😮‍💨😮‍💨

[@divx1001]

Fr, he's beautiful 😮

[@ragerDuane]

You made your mom so happy. Good job.

[@cryptographer3]

bro you look like dicaprio 😂

[@atakhanov7]

lol i was going write that if no one would wrote

[@XANA96]

Asian DiCaprio 😅

[@Thatboymeher]

Personally I’d say Tom Cruise

[@vivianm8174]

A more handsome version of DiCaprio

[@gula_rata]

he looks Latino or Hispanic

[@yongshenghu6013]

看到你和妈妈坐在一起的样子感觉你们好幸福，加油！

[@thebritishenglishteacher]

This is so sweet, I love your commitment to making your mum proud. She looked very happy. 😊

[@realFreshF]

Thank you so much!

[@TheMorihori]

A1 for effort. I do agree that one needs a compelling reason to learn a language and one doesn't need to be in a country where the language is spoken to learn. Your mum is so cute and lovely. And learning so much in one month is amazing.

[@Aiceee-o2q]

Your mother must be exploding in happiness inside and this must be a new chapter in both of you relationship. You're so lucky for having such an amazing parents, wish all of you all the best!

[@marianne3802]

Your mom seems like a sweetheart. Well done sir on this challenge 👍

[@ThuyTruong-u3b]

I am so proud of you too. You may live and born in the west..you still have your mum’s culture of showing the respect and love of a son toward a mother…I am so happy for your mum as she raised a very fine young man indeed. 🎉🎉❤❤

[@SaveSoilSaveSoil]

Your mother is so young and beautiful!

[@MultiTictock]

making your mom proud is the most Chinese (human too) thing you could do

[@khaleesithechill]

I love these kinds of videos. Children of immigrant parents learning their mother tongue just makes me feel so warm. God bless your mother too, she’s so cute

[@中华人民共和国台-k4h]

加油啊，學習母親的語言不僅可以讓你更加了解自己的家庭，也可以讓你更加充實，完善自己❤

[@deb681]

… so wonderful that you can honour your mom by speaking her language… ❤ am certain she is so proud of your achievement!! And while watching this vid… am proud of your accomplishment too!

[@maxyang7919]

You know that your determination was a highly appreciated quality in Chinese culture called 孝顺? You're a good son! 孝顺 in English is filial piety, kind of like a child's loyalty to his/her parents but it goes beyond loyalty. It is taking care of your parents, physically and emotionally, consistently.

[@houssamassila6274]

She suppressed her feelings at 6:08 she was about to cry. You have a great and strong mum.

[@hershmysson]

aww it’s so sad when parents don’t pass their language down to their kids, you are so incredible to bringing it into your life, good job you are awesome

[@enpan2288]

I absolutely love this video. Your mom must be so proud of you! I am native Chinese and I have a half Chinese son. I will show him this video. ❤

[@BeiZhang-x9e]

I truly encourage you to continue learning Chinese. In the future, your mother might share the book she read when she was a kid, or the games she played, streets she went to, friends or her.... When you know Chinese well, you will definitely feel stronger connection with your mom, because you would have chance to know better who she is, especially her childhood. Good luck!

[@Leo-54ly]

I realize it's really not easy to learn a language even with early access to it in childhood. But compared to people who start to learn a language from absolute zero, reaching B1 in a month reaylly shows how much the advantage you have contributes to the fast progress. Thought provoking. Now I'm looking forward to your spanish.😊

[@civilianemail]

I don't intend to be a wet blanket, but you should seriously doubt anyone making the claim of B1 in a month. I would bet every single dollar I have and max my credit card to bet he wouldn't pass a B1 exam. I'm taking the time to say this because all too often people see these kinds of claims and feel disadvantaged or a failure in comparison.

[@timbradshaw5481]

He's not B1 lol. 1000 words is like A2 at best. And look at what he said. "I like watching movies, listening to music." Spoken very slowly. This is A1 level.

[@Leo-54ly]

@timbradshaw5481 You are too harsh about what is shown and assume too little about what is possible.

[@gianellagolfieri]

​@@timbradshaw5481he can hold conversations in chinese so he is not A1, i wouldn't say he is b1 either bc he can't read nor write characters. He learned pretty fast nevertheless

[@timbradshaw5481]

@@Leo-54ly It's not being too harsh, it's just calling out incorrect information. Claiming to be B1 level when you only know 1000 words is just impossible. Also claiming to have a 10 minute conversation, while only showing a short clip of an A1 level conversation just looks like an unjustified claim in an effort to get more views.

[@광동아재廣東大叔]

(Ich hab dir gesagt dass ich eine kleine Überraschung für dich habe)👍 Bin mir sicher dass deine Mutter sehr stolz auf dich sein muß weil sie jetzt weißt wie viel Mühe du dir gegeben hast um ihre Muttersprache zu lernen. 我來中國27年了，以前在北京留學，後來搬來深圳了。 跟你父親一樣我老婆也是中國人，是廣州人。我兒子在韓國首爾讀書，還有我女兒在香港。兩個孩子早已掌握我的母語，即韓語。我是韓國人。 希望你的中文得到更大的發展，學業有成！

[@C.C-q6x]

I just want to let you know that you did the sweetest thing for your mom. If one day my daughter can do the same thing to me, I will think I am in heaven.

[@tamerlan2677]

Amazing video! You're mom is so cool and reaching B1 in Chinese is a real achievement, takes much longer then in any other language.

[@MarieLesher]

You're such a sweet son to do this for your mom! 💖

[@surayamysara]

你学中文很好吧啊 ，讲话也很好 ，祝你们身体健康呀 ， 加油一起努力吧

[@alexanderfield3935]

你是外国人吗

[@surayamysara]

@@alexanderfield3935 华人

[@alexanderfield3935]

@ 知道咯

[@yanlingwei2109]

I'm so proud of myself I'm not a native chinese speaker (immigrant chinese parents) and I especially suck at reading but I could read 100% of this comment thread. (This is very random I was just happy and wanted to share that)

[@alexanderfield3935]

@@yanlingwei2109 good job

[@hteekay]

She might not looked impressed, but she looked extremely happy and touched.

[@annietoh3857]

V intelligent b hardworking! Mum must be so touched. U simply hv the genes fr mummy! 🎉🎉

[@tommyNilvy]

Crazy guy. A wonderful son of his mother. I am proud of your insistence

[@Luper1970]

Dude, Spanish is a piece of cake. I've been studying Chinese and that's really hard. You really did a good job. I'm sure your mom were really proud. Chinese people are very kind and they feel very happy when they see people from west trying to speak their language. Nice video, good tips.

[@josebaez7116]

The smile on mom’s face said it all! I grew predominantly speaking English. I spoke very little Spanish and really only communicated in English with Mom. She left us in Argentina for a couple months and I learned some more. Years later, I lost most of it. I took a position where I am required to speak Spanish only. It was a massive struggle. I was forced to adapt. I am now pretty fluent and can watch movies and listen to Spanish music and finally understand.

[@kimahmad332]

It’s a great gift for your mom. She is real proud of you. Very filial!

[@hlqaq4045]

看到你和你的妈妈这样子交流真的很开心! 加油继续学中文!

[@languagelearningdabbler]

How sweet! I love that you did this for your mom 😍🔥👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

[@maxi40789]

The way she didnt express her feelings, but showed it is fantastic.

[@TY-wi1ou]

Dude you are such a good boy. Any mom would love to have you. Your mom is lucky.

[@brandibucko]

You absolutely love your mom. Look at what you did for her!

[@kesleropera]

This is too lovely that you did this for your mom. Heart warming. Great job, dude! It's quite amazing what you did and went thru.

[@realFreshF]

Thank you so much!

[@KenNanthapisal]

Your mom must be proud of you!! Love this clip.

[@ClaytonBryington]

I am confident that your dear Mom is always proud of you but I also believe you proved to her just how important she is to you.

[@georgepetrin1334]

I'm proud of you too and we're not even related. Yours was a noble goal and a big part of why you were successful.

[@chrischnaification]

Ich finde das als einen so großen Liebesbeweis gegenüber deiner Mama, dass du ihre Landessprache lernst. Vor allem aber auch zollst du ihr Respekt gegenüber. Ich denke jetzt fühlt sie sich innerlich nicht mehr ganz so einsam, wo sie sich jetzt mit dir in Mandarin unterhalten kann. Und was euch beide vielleicht jetzt noch mehr zusammenschweißt ist, dass ihr jetzt sowas wie eine "Geheimsprache" gegenüber den Geschwistern und dem Papa habt. Bezüglich der Aussage, dass Mandarin bekanntlich die schwerste Sprache der Welt ist. Nun ich finde, dass das Schwierigkeitslevel beim Erlernen einer Sprache individuell zu betrachten ist. Wenn ich im Mindset habe, dass die Sprache, die ich erlernen möchte, schwer zu lernen ist, dann werde ich mir definitiv schwer tun und viel mehr Zeit investieren müssen. Wenn ich der Fremdsprache jedoch offen begegne und mir klar mache, dass auch jedes Kind Jahre gebraucht hat seine Muttersprache zu erlernen, nehme ich mir damit schon mal sehr viel Druck und Stress raus. Ich habe aus Neugierde vor ca 1,5 Monaten begonnen Mandarin zu lernen inklusive dem Schreiben der vereinfachten Charaktere. Ich mach es nur für mich als Hobby und zum Entspannen und es macht richtig Spaß. Ich bin überrascht wie leicht es mit mit meinen 47 Jahren fällt, obwohl ich nebenbei noch Thai und Koreanisch lerne. Warum mach ich das? Weil mir diese Sprachen gefallen und ich auch verstehen möchte, was gesagt oder gesungen wird. Umso offener man der Fremdsprachen gegenüber steht, desto einfacher lernt man sie. Und das Schöne dabei ist auch noch, dass man sehr viel über die Kultur und Traditionen des jeweiligen Landes mitlernt. Also gib nicht auf und lernen fleißig Mandarin weiter und viel Spaß beim Spanisch lernen!

[@scarlets4024]

this is really good, im also learning chinese right now and i can understand the struggle if learning new language, i really like the way that you keep going, your motivation to make your mom proud is really admirable honestly i have been losing motivation, this video keeps me think back what is my motivation when i learn language

[@realFreshF]

Glad you like it!

[@MacrosFTW]

Keep up your effort

[@scarlets4024]

@@MacrosFTW thank you

[@emi62507]

Your mum seems so happy to go on this journey with you. I’m sure you’ll learn alot more about your Chinese heritage as your Chinese language improves because there are some things that are difficult to translate to another language. Well done. I was the same, only started learning my native tongue at 19, but now you would never guess that.

[@jrthiker9908]

What a great video. Our stories are similar, my mother was from Shanghai, my dad was American military (German/Scottish background) and I grew up in Asia during the Vietnam War period and moved to the US for the first time when I was 16. My mom spoke Shanghainese, Mandarin, and Cantonese, but was learning English when she met my dad so she pretty much only spoke English with us kids. I took a year of Mandarin in university but never really got proficient (I speak Italian and French in addition to English.) I'm 65 now and lost my mom 8 years ago, so watching your video was very emotional. Thanks for posting.

[@v23v]

Aww this is the sweetest ❤ I learn Chinese Mandarin as well, gotta find a motivation to speed up the process 😄

[@realFreshF]

good luck! Find a way to make it personal;)

[@v23v]

@realFreshF Thank you 😊 Keep inspiring! ✨️

[@reisschancellor9753]

Tears from your sweet gesture to mom. ❤ My son is mixed race and speaks fluent Dutch and English. I never taught him Chinese bc it it too difficult. Im so touched by your dedication for this special surprise for your mom 🥲🥹. You worked so hard! Mommy is proud of you!!! I wish my son could learn one day bc it will open a whole new world to him as it did for you. Bravo ❤🎉

[@LivingTheSpoonieLife]

I'm currently trying to learn Mandarin. I love Chinese culture, food, media, music, etc. Thank you for the tips to help with learning. My Cdrama viewing is going to be amazing!

[@collinhalverson4681]

It's definitely all about mindset, motivation, and dedication. That's how I became fluent in Japanese. My journey isn't over yet though, since there are still awkward parts of the way I speak and words I want to master. But if you keep working on your Mandarin, you'll be amazed how far you can go. Especially with such a lovely mother by your side. Keep it up!

[@kenaidiun3736]

Good job, young man. You made your Mom happy and proud.👍👍👍

[@RuihanLiu-sj8mp]

This is such an amazing video! All of us are very proud of you! Please keep learning chinese because it only gets easier!

[@realFreshF]

Thank you, I will

[@YourRegularBrit]

its so heartwarming to see her look so proud, this is the first of your videos i have ever seen and the fact you learned so much in a month is crazy!!

[@JoshVanSaigon]

definitely a proud mother. She looked and sounded super happy.

[@littlebubbly8909]

i think your mom looked so happy.. she can talk to you more comfortably..❤

[@Coco-g6d8i]

His mom seems sooooo happy 😊❤❤ Good job!!!

[@thesincitymama]

I’m studying Chinese & Spanish too! In my adult life, I’ve lived in China and Central America, so I want to know both languages. The raging fury to please your mom sounds so much like the passion I see in Chinese students, when they study English! Seems like learning Chinese was one of the Chinesiest things you’ve ever done 😂 subscribed 👍

[@問路]

you are a very good son, have a wonderful Mom! God bless you! 加油🎉🎉

[@fan1388]

I had to laugh on “it is extremely hard to impress Chinese mom” 😆🤣😆 exactly what I felt abt my mom, and what my kids are feeling too 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@atlee3910]

Genius (only 30 days to become fluent)! It's cute seeing how giddy Momz was at her child speaking Mandarin fluently. 🥰

[@Mar-enfrance]

Bravo! 👏👏👏 A very proud and happy Mother indeed!

[@hopelessblromantic8069]

It's very heart warming to see someone work hard to connect with their mother in her native tongue. I've seen some other youtubers who did that as well. Motivation seems to be the key to success. I recently started an audiobook series designed to teach Mandarin, and I'm excited with how much I remember after only 13 thirty-minute lessons. I work with a number of Mandarin speakers and they seem impressed with my pronunciation. I hope to continue and to have some level of fluency one day.

[@sarakim5349]

Its very touching, i remembered my mum was in tears, when i given her a Red Packet for the first time. she had given me all along since birth. if you havent, you should. Any reason, or just "I love you mum."

[@justafiable]

Videos like this are so inspiring! I used a similar method to learn Japanese. it's called AJATT (All Japanese All The Time) and now I've taken on Indonesian! I look forward to your next video! 😎

[@realFreshF]

thank you!

[@languagebestie]

This is so precious and heartfelt 💖

[@Kh-47M2_Kinzhal]

I wish I could make my mum this happy...

[@ThePipton]

I am very happy for you, I have a Chinese exam coming up and this has motivated me to pick up the flashcards again today. However, I do want to rectify one thing. Not to demotivate you at all, but from the Chinese you spoke, the amount of words you learned and in the timespan, you are at comfortable A2 level instead of B1. Which is still really amazing after just one month of learning a language, let alone one as hard as Chinese! Good of you for making your mother proud and honouring your ancestral culture 😊

[@D2Hang]

Haha, you are absolutely right. It's pretty hard to impress a Chinese mom. In fact, I am sure that she's very impressed and proud of you. The way a Chinese mom show thier love to thier children is very different to European or North American culture.

[@christinegerard4974]

Fantastic project ! Very emotional .Thanks a lot from France .

[@user-pc8dl4cy3i]

So touching. You are a wonderful son. 👑

[@Johnnydoenyc]

Well done! Your mom is proud of you :) My kids didn’t express any interest in Chinese when they were little. Now in college, they have both taken up learning Chinese on their own. They are now at an age where they appreciate Chinese culture

[@krabi200]

you make me miss my mom... but you are cool, your mom must be very proud of you.

[@jakedamus111]

Thats so great! Well done and a great appreciation for your mum's heritage. It was touching and it was a dream of mine to do this with my mum before she passed away suddenly in her native language. So I was living the moment with you haha Don't worry my mum would have reacted the same way she is part Chinese! 😅

[@realFreshF]

thank you. Sorry you didn't get this chance. I'm glad you could enjoy the video

[@kuramaUnique]

Haha this is so heartwarming; I'm eurasian but grew up in the US and in France, and my current goal is to learn chinese to be able to speak with my grandma. So far I'd say that I'm at a HSK 1-2 level, which is probably towards A2... So thanks for this video, it's really inspiring and now I'm even more motivated to learn 汉语! 🔥

[@yaq3398]

that's so sweet and heartwarming! I was expecting your mom to be utterly surprised and happy but then I remembered her Chinese roots which meant she probably won't have any exaggerated reaction, especially in front of a camera. But I can definitely sense her happiness and proud :D

[@miabantian2186]

this is the first comment i left in any youtube video - I'm Chinese who live abroad - I can really tell the cultural difference of giving compliements - I kind of get to know how your mom feel this beforehand and know your mums reaction towards this - and it really brought tears to my eyes and I do think you mum gives the best reaction, she must be so proud of you!! well done!! really appreciate the efforts you made for learning chinese

[@nnnuke]

Your pronunciation of the characters were so good omg- Also the backstory was so wholesome ❤

[@AITHU-77]

Aww your mom seems really sweet and happy

[@Joe-lr3gp]

I’m not Chinese but I have lived there basically my whole life it’s so moving that you did that for your mom.

[@xXArapackXx]

This is SUCH AN INSPIRING VIDEO THXSM!!!!

[@Najia_tanha.]

You're really a good son✨️

[@realFreshF]

thank you:)

[@Neyobe]

❤❤❤ amazing! Such a difficult language yet you pushed through for her

[@wanlingtain5262]

😀😀😀😀 學習母親的語言，您十分孝顺，也十分值得稱讚，十分值得鼓勵 😀😀😃😀

[@devangeill]

You have earned my sub for sure. I am in Germany and my kids are born in Germany. I speak to them in English and my wife speaks to them in Cantonese. I know how hard they will be in growing up in Germany and this speaks to me.

[@jilll282]

Just the motion that I needed. I've been slowly learning Chinese so that I can make my son proud when I go visit him in Taiwan. I have 2 months until my trip which means I better pick up the pace.😅

[@199primin]

You give me the courage to learn German.My mom has a very good friend in Germany,3 months ago we visited her.I was very curious about what she was talking about with her husband.They are so nice,just like my family,and I love them.I wanted to learn Germany to surprise her,but it was so hard to me.And I gave up after 1 week,because I couldn't see any progress on me😓.(I am not good at learning language at any time)When I see you speak Chinese SO fluently just after two month,I realize I didn't put in enough time and effort.Even though I am weaker in language,I shouldn't give up so fast.😊

[@ListerTube]

I'm very sure your mum was extremely joyful to learn that you took great effort to learn the language to 'be closer' to her. I'm sure she misses speaking mandarin and now that you could speak to her in her native language it makes a world of difference to her.

[@sabrinalim5746]

Pls do more video with your mom, she’s seems lovely and nice 😊

[@Avalee06]

This is so amazing oh my gosh!! I'm pretty fluent in my mother's first language, which is Spanish, but would love to learn even more. This low-key inspired me to keep going with it!

[@meiliank7269]

Wow, you are an incredible young man, so thoughtful.

[@ruskee3415]

You're adorable for doing that, all power to you! :)

[@KeyboardJumPer]

Bro I'm so happy for you! Language bonds people in a magical way and some expressions can only be communicated in that language. Also, you should consider learning some Shanghainese (which is different but related to Mandarin Chinese). Let me tell you, even some very simple Shanghainese expression will lighten your mum's day nothing else will! Good luck to your Chinese learning journey and hope you could master Chinese one day!