Hello everyone! Today I am interviewing a very interesting person.
Hello, Yang-yang
So, you are a television presenter and your job is to interview people.
You have interviewed many famous people.
I wanted to ask about how you started that job,
since it’s not something you can major at in college?
What did you study at college?
OK, that’s a good question!
I majored in finance in college.
My first job after graduation
was for Ernst & Young which is one of the so called “the Big Four”.
But I didn’t like my job
because it is one of those a nine-to-five jobs.
Do you understand nine-to-five?
Yes. I understand.
I prefer creative and challenging jobs.
And I like education very much and also languages.
I like combining education and languages.
At first, I taught Chinese students to speak English on the internet.
I’d use popular TV show like “Sex and City”
and “Friends”
as my textbooks to teach them
and they loved the way I was teaching.
Then I started blogging in Chinese.
I wrote articles about American and western cultures.
It seems everybody loved my blog
and many people get to know me gradually.
After that,
I think there are already many great English teachers in China,
while there are not enough good Chinese teachers in America.
I believe that I am talented and gifted in languages.
And I love languages very much,
so I have an idea that I could teach American students or westerners how to learn Chinese.
I watched your video recently,
and it seems that you are quite passionate about teaching Chinese.
Yes, I am passionate about it.
I am passionate about both English and Chinese teaching.
So, why did I get a job as television presenter?
There happened to be a production company wanted to find someone who can speak both English and Chinese very well.
And this person should have some experience in television.
They found me on the internet
because I have many videos on the internet about teaching English and Chinese.
So they thought I am adequate in both languages and hired me to do the job.
And I am based in Los Angeles and Hollywood, so it is very convenient.
You are a Chinese person living in Los Angeles while I am a foreigner living in China!
So I have to ask you what your thoughts on the differences between American and Chinese culture.
I feel you need to be very outgoing here because Chinese people are not.
They don’t come to ask you questions first.
You mean that you need to be very active in China.
Yes.
But in America, you can be either active or passive,
because Americans are more active and came to talk to you.
That’s what I mean.
I think the other reason is that you are a foreigner and look different from Chinese.
In America, they don’t have strong concept of foreigner.
They distinguish people by races like Chinese, Japanese, American, and Korean.
But all of them are not foreigners, right?
I think it is fine in China as well.
They don’t think foreigners are bad people. I never had any problem.
What I mean is that they have distinct idea
that you are a foreigner while we are Chinese. But in America,
I think people don’t have the idea that you are a foreigner while I am American.
But in China, you are called “Laowai” (Chinese slang for foreigner), right?
Yes. But in America, they think everyone is a foreigner!
For example, when I mention that I am from Ireland, many Americans say “Oh, I’m Irish too!!”
Yes, exactly.
One of the reasons I like America is that you can see all kinds of culture all over the world.
What the difference between making YouTube Videos and those for a TV Program?
OK. What is difference between YouTube Video maker and TV presenter, right?
Yes.
OK, I think there are several differences.
Firstly, when I make YouTube Videos, I speak slowly because I’m teaching the language.
But when working as a TV presenter, I speak very quickly.
So after some of my students watched my TV program, they were surprised that I spoke so quickly.
Secondly, when I speak on TV as a presenter, I need to speak perfectly.
But in YouTube, I spoke with occasional “Em, Well, Ah”.
It’s fine to have some mistakes on YouTube.
Because my students like the way I show how natural and real I am.
They spot my mistakes and have a real sense of feeling close to me.
Yes.
But on TV I can’t speak using “Ah, Em...”
If I hesitate, I have to speak again to correct mistakes.
Because it’s important to be correct in TV.
Yes.
Another issue in TV you should know that from your own experience.
A half hour interview might take only three minutes time in TV program.
Yes.
Right, so in various occasions, the interview may not go into real depth.
While on the YouTube, I can talk as long as I want,
so I can cover much more.
Yes, the last time we were talking I mentioned the 3 minute interview I had on Australia TV.
I could see that they just wanted to entertain people. They said that I’m a “genius”, which isn’t true.
I just want to encourage people.
But on the YouTube, there is no such problem.
For example, I can upload, say, 10 or 30 minutes of today’s interview; whatever I prefer.
Which interview gave you the deepest impression?
Because not long ago, I watched the video in which you interviewed Cameron Diaz.
What is Cameron Diaz’s Chinese name?.
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So who did you find most impressive?
I have interviewed many “Dawan”, which means “A-List” stars, right?
But I think interviewing the stars is not the most interesting experience,
because they don’t actually have a conversation with you.
OK. They do not have time?
Firstly, they don’t have time.
Secondly, they are cautious about media.
They are worried to speak wrong on camera,
so they speak less and talk about boring topics to stay safe.
I like directors, writers and musicians.
When I chat and interview them, I always learn something.
Our conversation could be in greater depth.
There are two interviews that impressed me the most.
One is a Chinese director named Jinglei Xu, I don’t know whether you heard the name before.
She is very famous actress and director in China.
She shot many movies, being the director and actress as well.
Then she wrote movie script by herself, and I think she is a fantastic woman.
When I asked her: Could you tell me about your secret for success?
Ah yes, because the others wouldn’t tell you their secrets!
What she told me made me a great impression.
She said to me: Just remember that there are no shortcuts in the world.
Do you know what is shortcut?
Yes.
Yes. There are no shortcuts in the world, so you have to try your best to do anything.
The first video I saw you in, was where you tried to improve a woman’s Chinese accent in just two weeks,
because she needed to perform in the film “Shanghai Calling”.
So I want to ask you about your experience,
although I know you have already made a video for that.
For example, is it possible for one to improve Chinese accent in short time?
You want to know how to improve Chinese accent.
I think there is an essential way to do it.
In the video you mentioned I taught a Hollywood actress Eliza Coupe to learn Chinese.
In my teaching, I have a special method.
You know there are different tones for each Chinese character, right?
Yes.
And the tones have no connection with their meanings, so they are very hard to remember.
So my way is try not to remember each character’s tone,
and to rather take the entire sentence as one unit.
What I mean is that you need to imagine Chinese tones as a melody.
For example, I speak the sentence: Benny, you are very smart.
OK, I think you don’t have to remember Ni3, Shi4, Yi1, Ge... and there are too many to remember.
You can remember the sentence as MM..MM..MM..MMM, DaDaDaDaDaDaDaDaDa or LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa.
I know it seems long and hard, but I think if you can speak the sentence out as you are singing it helps.
Actually the tones are the same as singing.
If you can sing DaDaDaDaDaDaDaDaDa or GaGaGaGaGaGaGaGaGa,
then you can speak the sentence “Benny, you are very smart.”
How to start learning Chinese? Do I need to read some books? Do I need to go to China?
What are the most import methods for learning language?
OK. I think it is various for learning different languages
Yes.
As for Chinese, I think you need to know several things first.
Chinese grammar is very easy.
The other thing you may want to learn is Chinese Pinyin because it is an important tool.
Yes.
After learning Chinese Pinyin,
you can learn new characters from dictionary, as if someone tells you how to pronounce them.
So I think Pinyin and basic understanding of grammar are the starting contents.
As for me, I think writing Chinese characters are not very important,
because I use my cellphone to spell out Pinyin to input the characters I understand.
I can type out “Hello... what are you doing?” bla bla bla.
I think it is not a good idea to learn the spoken Chinese language at the same time as Chinese characters.
You can just wait for a while. I don’t know... wait a year or three months,
but learning Chinese characters at the beginning is not a good idea.
Benny, I couldn’t agree with you more!
When you begin to learn Chinese, you should know how to say “thank you” or “sorry”, right?
But those characters are very hard to write.
So words that are easy to speak might be very hard to write.
So I think it would be a good idea to learn to speak first,
and learn writing after 3 months, 6 months or 12 months.
I think your way of learning Chinese is right.
There are many people think learning Chinese is hard, right?
I think it is hard mainly because writing Chinese characters is hard.
But if you avoid writing at the beginning, learning Chinese could be easier.
I think you have a very good habit of using language purposefully.
When you learn something, you go out to talk with others.
And you are very brave.
Yes.
So I really admire you!
Using the language is very important to learn it.
I have some students who keep on studying continuously.
You may as well be trying to swim when learning by reading books.
You should be in the water to learn swim at last.
So it is very important to speak with others while learning, just like you did.
So yeah Benny. Good job.
I have to work hard to improve my Chinese and there is a lot left to learn.
However, I am happy because I can use my Chinese to get to know someone interesting.
When I began to watch your video...
When I watch the video in which you speak 8 languages,
I was sad because Chinese is not one of them.
But I become happy that you decided to take on Chinese,
because you have a great influence.
If you tell others Chinese is not difficult to learn,
many people might think Chinese is not so bad because they trust Benny when he says it.