Xiaomanyc

Last updated

Xiaomanyc
Xiaomanyc Cree.png
Smith in 2024
Born
Arieh Smith

(1990-07-20) July 20, 1990 (age 35) [1]
New York City, U.S.
Education University of Chicago
Occupation YouTuber
Years active2017–present
SpouseUnknown
Children2
YouTube information
Channel
GenreLanguages
Subscribers6.91 million
Views1.64 billion
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 小马在纽约
Literal meaningLittle pony in New York
Hanyu Pinyin Xiǎo mǎ zài niǔ yuē
Last updated: October 22, 2025
Website www.xiaomanyc.com

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]

Contents

Life and career

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]

Personal life

Smith is married and has two children. [15] [16]

References

  1. ↑ IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! To celebrate turning 34 tomorrow, I’m offering 50% OFF my Street-Smart Foundations courses in Chinese, Spanish, French, and German! All you have to do is use code 34YEARS at checkout. [ permanent dead link ]. Youtube.com (2024-07-19). Retrieved on 2024-07-19.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Hannah (March 5, 2022). "Meet the YouTuber who makes a living learning languages". EuroNews . Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Knafo, Saki (April 28, 2022). "He Made Yiddish Go Viral". The New York Times . Retrieved November 7, 2022. The most popular of the YouTube polyglots is probably Mr. Light's friend and occasional collaborator Arieh Smith, a white New Yorker known to his millions of followers as Xiaoma (Mandarin for "Little Horse").
  4. ↑ Marcus, Josh (March 2, 2021). "YouTuber Xiaomanyc explains why he spent $5K in tips at NYC Chinatown restaurants". The Independent . Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  5. 1 2 "US YouTuber speaks to New York shopkeeper in fluent Bengali, enjoys roshogolla". The Indian Express . November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ Neumann, Laiken (February 3, 2022). "'What's wrong with my clothing?': Locals talk about 'foreigner's' clothing in China—but he speaks fluent Mandarin". The Daily Dot . Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ Xiaomanyc (May 9, 2019). "This is a picture of me enjoying some delicious Uzbek food..." Facebook . Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  8. ↑ Messner, Steven (March 19, 2020). "An American surprises Chinese PUBG players by speaking Mandarin, wholesomeness ensues". PC Gamer . Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  9. ↑ O'Callaghan, Gavin (February 4, 2023). "World famous Youtuber learns Gaeilge and records Irish peoples' reactions to it". Cork Beo. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ Vaal, Danny De (April 11, 2023). "American language learner Arieh Smith leaves Dubliners stunned by speaking Irish". Irish Mirror. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  11. ↑ "YouTuber Xiaomanyc from New York stuns by speaking Welsh". BBC News . December 27, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Secretary Antony J. Blinken With Arieh Smith of Xiaomanyc on YouTube". United States Department of State. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  13. ↑ "YouTube's favorite polyglot interviewed world leaders in their native languages". Tubefilter. November 29, 2022. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  14. ↑ Xiaomanyc 小马在纽约 (May 7, 2025). Nerdy Professor Shocks High School by Speaking Gen Alpha Slang . Retrieved May 14, 2025– via YouTube.
  15. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/xiaomanyc/p/CVNqHXZLx-h/
  16. ↑ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G657SWAMZ0w&pp=ygUQI-aIt-WklumTgeadv-eDpw%3D%3D
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