"Mark Zuckerberg's Mandarin Journey (and why it matters to you)"
10 years ago, a video of Mark Zuckerberg went viral.
It was a Q&A session held in Beijing.
The audience gasped, wow’d, and clapped when the Facebook billionaire said:
“Hey everyone, thanks for coming!”
And then he kept going and won the audience all the more.
The reason was simple: Mark was speaking Mandarin.
By his own admission, his Mandarin was "terrible" and it was a challenge to learn it because, as an English speaker, he found it very hard to speak properly — but kept going anyway.
When asked by the host why he decided to learn Mandarin…
Zuckerberg shared 3 reasons that hit close to home:
1. FAMILY CONNECTION
His wife is Chinese. Her family speaks Mandarin.
And barely any English.
So, he really wanted to get to know her family more.
And the language barrier was stopping him from doing that.
In fact, when they decided to get married, he shocked his wife's grandmother by asking for her blessing, in Mandarin!
Can you imagine her face?
This reminded me of the awkward silence in the hospital when I was alone with my grandfather and I couldn’t even ask about his day.
2. CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Mark believes China is a great country and so, he wanted to understand its culture better.
And he knew that China’s native language and culture are deeply connected. You cannot really understand a culture without really understanding its native language.
This spoke true to me, as well. I felt disconnected from parts of my own heritage when I was unable to speak or understand Mandarin.
3. PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Mark admitted Mandarin was incredibly difficult to learn…
But because he loves taking on tough challenges, nothing stopped him from getting closer to his wife’s family and their culture.
Now, here's what made me wonder the most about this story:
If a busy tech CEO with ZERO Chinese background can learn Mandarin (even "terribly") just by putting in the effort...
How easy it would be for someone like me, who:
- Already speaks some Cantonese at home
- Is familiar with Chinese sounds and tones
- Recognizes common words and phrases
And already has an ear for Chinese tones English speakers spend years developing?
In other words, even if my Cantonese was casual “kitchen Cantonese” mixed with English, I already had a MASSIVE head start Mark Zuckerberg knew he didn’t have.
Because his native language is English!
And guess what? After learning Mandarin from Cantonese (and not English), I was not only able to learn Mandarin in weeks instead of months…
I was also able to teach Mandarin from Cantonese because of how proficient I became with the language!
And if I can do it, you can too.
And much faster than me too because I’ve gone through all the trials and errors, made all the “mistakes” already, so my students don’t have to.
I’ll share more about these “mistakes” on Monday and show you how to leverage what you ALREADY KNOW to start understanding and speaking Mandarin in just a few days!
+ something special I’ve been working on that I’ve never shared before.
Something that could very well become your gateway to breaking that disconnect with your native language, culture, and family you felt for years…
Just because you don’t speak or understand Mandarin.
Canto to Mando
"Mark Zuckerberg's Mandarin Journey (and why it matters to you)"
10 years ago, a video of Mark Zuckerberg went viral.
It was a Q&A session held in Beijing.
The audience gasped, wow’d, and clapped when the Facebook billionaire said:
“Hey everyone, thanks for coming!”
And then he kept going and won the audience all the more.
The reason was simple: Mark was speaking Mandarin.
By his own admission, his Mandarin was "terrible" and it was a challenge to learn it because, as an English speaker, he found it very hard to speak properly — but kept going anyway.
When asked by the host why he decided to learn Mandarin…
Zuckerberg shared 3 reasons that hit close to home:
1. FAMILY CONNECTION
His wife is Chinese. Her family speaks Mandarin.
And barely any English.
So, he really wanted to get to know her family more.
And the language barrier was stopping him from doing that.
In fact, when they decided to get married, he shocked his wife's grandmother by asking for her blessing, in Mandarin!
Can you imagine her face?
This reminded me of the awkward silence in the hospital when I was alone with my grandfather and I couldn’t even ask about his day.
2. CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING
Mark believes China is a great country and so, he wanted to understand its culture better.
And he knew that China’s native language and culture are deeply connected. You cannot really understand a culture without really understanding its native language.
This spoke true to me, as well. I felt disconnected from parts of my own heritage when I was unable to speak or understand Mandarin.
3. PERSONAL CHALLENGE
Mark admitted Mandarin was incredibly difficult to learn…
But because he loves taking on tough challenges, nothing stopped him from getting closer to his wife’s family and their culture.
Now, here's what made me wonder the most about this story:
If a busy tech CEO with ZERO Chinese background can learn Mandarin (even "terribly") just by putting in the effort...
How easy it would be for someone like me, who:
- Already speaks some Cantonese at home
- Is familiar with Chinese sounds and tones
- Recognizes common words and phrases
And already has an ear for Chinese tones English speakers spend years developing?
In other words, even if my Cantonese was casual “kitchen Cantonese” mixed with English, I already had a MASSIVE head start Mark Zuckerberg knew he didn’t have.
Because his native language is English!
And guess what? After learning Mandarin from Cantonese (and not English), I was not only able to learn Mandarin in weeks instead of months…
I was also able to teach Mandarin from Cantonese because of how proficient I became with the language!
And if I can do it, you can too.
And much faster than me too because I’ve gone through all the trials and errors, made all the “mistakes” already, so my students don’t have to.
I’ll share more about these “mistakes” on Monday and show you how to leverage what you ALREADY KNOW to start understanding and speaking Mandarin in just a few days!
+ something special I’ve been working on that I’ve never shared before.
Something that could very well become your gateway to breaking that disconnect with your native language, culture, and family you felt for years…
Just because you don’t speak or understand Mandarin.
Keep an eye out on my next post here.
Until then,
Sheldon
8 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 57