Chinese Language Youtube Channels - Recommendations Thread

[Flickserve]

On 1/19/2021 at 11:22 AM, Leslie Frank said:

sorry for a bit of self-promo here

 

I looked at your channel before. Took another look. To be honest, I find it rather creepy to watch picture of an old lady's mouth moving like a puppet. It's almost like making fun of an elderly person and from an ethical point of view, not my scene. I almost feel the video is comparing the elderly persons face to the features of a chimpanzee. 

 

The other thing is the person speaking (I assume it's you), is like an etheral figure. It's a bit strange to have a chimpanzee face, an elderly person face and a ghost like face on the video. 

 

Overall, a lot of work has got into the video editing but the video arrangement itself rather brings things down. 

[Leslie Frank]

12 hours ago, Flickserve said:

I looked at your channel before. Took another look. To be honest, I find it rather creepy to watch picture of an old lady's mouth moving like a puppet. It's almost like making fun of an elderly person and from an ethical point of view, not my scene. I almost feel the video is comparing the elderly persons face to the features of a chimpanzee. 

 

The other thing is the person speaking (I assume it's you), is like an etheral figure. It's a bit strange to have a chimpanzee face, an elderly person face and a ghost like face on the video. 

Totally valid take on the videos. I get that not everyone will like 'em, although for the folks that know mom and me, they really like being able to see her in this way. Of course, you might think it's in the genes, that my relatives appreciate the videos but even friends who've met mom tell me they like them (mom and I are pretty much connected at the hip (goes with the territory of being her primary caregiver--pre COVID-19, I took her everywhere with me, even to classes), so you cannot know me without knowing mom). Having said that, there's probably some, who are just making nice, or like you, who don't like them but decided to not to say anything so I'm glad to see your comments so I can check myself. One pic was not flattering, but I think I have since been more discerning with her pics (I've always thought of mom as the most beautiful person in world, ever since I could remember--dunno if this was a superficial assessment during my toddler years or if I innately included her character, her spirit, but aside from that one pic, I don't see the chimpanzee comparison). Obviously, that doesn't address the puppet issue but there's so many Chinese language learning videos out there that a different kind, like mom's, might have its place in this space. The ghost part was not planned; I didn't have a bonafide green screen for the background app I was using--what you see is what worked and I decided to just continue working with it that way. I'm sorry the videos turn you off, but I'm always interested in hearing what ppl have to say about them... btw, the accompanying podcasts have nothing to do with mom and are even more detailed than the videos in terms of the explanations so given that the imagery in the videos are not to your liking, you might find the podcast useful... 

[Flickserve]

3 hours ago, Leslie Frank said:

I don't see the chimpanzee comparison).

 

It's all about perspectives. One person's interpretation is not the same as others. My impression is  from a person not knowing your personal relationship. I would ask, "what is the significance of having a chimpanzee there on equal standing?". 

 

We don't know each other but being public, you will get a range of opinions, some perhaps disagreeable. If these are highly personal videos for family, then perhaps making them private is a better way to go. 

[abcdefg]

On 1/19/2021 at 8:57 AM, Dawei3 said:

Her videos are good for those with different levels of fluency.  Her "walk in a Chinese wet market" are good for low intermediates because she repeats similar phraseology multiple times (but in a way I find engaging).  

 

Agree! That was fun. 

[Leslie Frank]

23 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

It's all about perspectives. One person's interpretation is not the same as others. My impression is  from a person not knowing your personal relationship. I would ask, "what is the significance of having a chimpanzee there on equal standing?". 

 

I must be misreading your response (or you, mine?), cuz I''m not sure where you see a chimpanzee "on equal standing." There is one (partially animated) picture that didn't show mom in a favorable light, but it was just the one picture that was just one segment of the video, not something I would deem as "equal standing."

 

Thus far, in different videos, she shares the spotlight (what I would call "equal standing") with a dog, "man's best friend," sometimes more humane than humans; a cat, yes--because of their snooty stereotype and as far as domestic animals go, many humans treat them as true family members (not unlike dogs); and a bear, which I used as symbolic for a nature that humans have intruded on, as that was a theme for its video with the displacement of indigenous peoples, from their homes, their lands and identities, indirectly a cause for homelessness, parts of which led to learning segments in the video.

 

Not a chimpanzee of equal standing in the bunch...

 

I'm not suggesting you're wrong for saying what you said; I'm only stating that that's not what I see (perhaps this is the perspective that you talk about), which is why I said I'm interested in hearing ppl's thoughts; thanks for telling me yours and because you took the time to make a comment I just wanted you to hear mine, is all (keeping in mind, the range of public opinion, not all being favorable)...

 

The reason why I started this in the first place is because some older folks say they feel invisible after a certain age. There's a lot of attention being paid to various human rights issues recently and deservedly so; it's just that a lot of people sweep older ppl under the rug, relegate them to nursing homes in an outta sight, outta mind way (I know that's not always the case but this became another learning opportunity) and while it's wonderful to see all the young, impassioned youtubers out there and sure, I could make mine less unconventional, perhaps more "tasteful" to some viewers, but this is my way of putting an older (yes, I'm gonna use older, not elder or senior) face out there.

 

I change things as I go along as this is an ever changing journey (just like the podcasts are dramatically different from the earlier to the latter episodes) so who knows what the coming videos will be like. Again, I thank you for your comments because it all helps me to shape the things to come...

[Balthazar]

For what it's worth,  I checked out some of your videos and did not get the same vibes as @Flickserve at all. Seemed more like a sweet tribute than anything mocking or condescending to me. So the YMMV is definitely strong.

[Leslie Frank]

2 hours ago, Balthazar said:

So the YMMV is definitely strong.

 

Thanks for that. I know it can kinda be like art, where the viewer processes the piece thru the lens of their own perspective. I do these videos (and podcast) because they help me with my work (talking with our Canto and Mando speaking clients about their health and wellbeing), and it's a way for me to create something together "with" my mom. Even though she is not involved with its production, I write the script with her images in mind.

[Tomsima]

@Leslie Frank I just went to check the videos out after seeing the discussion here. The content is really good....but the ghostly face was odd. Then when the computer-animated face of your mother started speaking, I'm afraid it was just too strange for me too, some uncanny valley eeriness there. Its a shame, because the effort and relevance of the content itself could be really fantastic to a larger audience, if it were made more...'palatable'?

[Leslie Frank]

7 hours ago, Tomsima said:

but the ghostly face was odd. Then when the computer-animated face of your mother started speaking, I'm afraid it was just too strange for me too, some uncanny valley eeriness there.

Learn something new everyday... had to look up "uncanny valley" 

 

Like I said earlier, I get that ppl will have different responses to my... creations (the responses that you and @Flickserve have makes me think of Mary Shelley's masterpiece, of which I'm not worthy, of course). I guess I have a skewed outlook of things but that's ok because that's life. Different things are brought to the table, that come to light, and like how some ppl like or dislike certain foods, Mommy speaks Canto and Mando will either be a turn off to some but not to others.

 

To expand on my reply to @Balthazar, I started all of this (podcast first, then videos to stem the request for transcripts) to help me with my work. As an ABC, I'll never be on par with native speakers but because of the similarities in the discussions I have with my clients, they sometimes can't tell the difference, mostly because I'm OCDish in my need to prep for work. I always tell language learners that a great way to practice the target language is to start your own podcast or video channel because unless you don't care if you sound like crap, you'll do the research (whether it's just extensive online research or reaching out to native speakers) to string words into meaningful sentences and practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, and more of that... to enunciate decently. 
 

This thread started out with what learning videos ppl liked.
 

At the time I was searching for videos to help me with my work, there weren't any that talked much about health and medical matters. Yeah, you can find a few about colds, not feeling well, going to the pharmacy, etc., but those were mostly one-offs. So I had to do the research on my own, and as I was going along, I decided to share some of what I found. The podcast wasn't too difficult--just find a music track, write the script, record, then upload. The video took some time though. I also have a background in design, so I didn't want to just do the typical recording of myself yakking away, or interview ppl. I could certainly go those routes but I didn't. I had to have some background that I thought would be aesthetically interesting. The app I used needed a green screen which I didn't have so after messing around with the app I made it work but with the result of a ghost-like effect over the background. Pre COVID-19, I used to take Mom out everywhere and took lotsa pics of her. So I figured, dang, I might as well organize some of her pics in video form. Mom's dementia is too advanced for her to string meaningful sentences together, ergo the app that allows me to speak through mom's pics. (This is on top of the earlier mention of putting the spotlight on older folks.)

 

I might change aspects of future videos to make them more "palatable," but for the time being I'm making them for my needs and if some folks--however few who can stomach it, or who actually enjoy them--feel it's useful to them, then that's great; one thing for sure is that I'm gonna try to make them shorter cuz iMovie is not robust enough for the long videos, plus it will keep my sanity longer with shorter videos.

 

Apologies for this long response...

[NinKenDo]

Personally I got an extremely weird vibe from the videos too, but kind of liked that. YouTube these days is so polished so much of the time, I miss the days of weird eccentricities in videos and unusual effects brought on by lack of technical skill. Too me your videos reek of late 2000s YouTube that I so dearly miss these days, so yes, weird, but not in an offputting way for me.

[Leslie Frank]

20 hours ago, NinKenDo said:

your videos reek of late 2000s YouTube

I'm gonna hafta check out YouTube from the 2000s to see what the videos reek of ?. As long as the content doesn't go to waste, then that's a good thing...

[StChris]

I normally avoid foreigner-run Chinese channels for obvious reasons, but I know of at least two where their Chinese has reached such a high level that I think they are worth watching:

 

老雷 - a German youtuber who discusses various current affair topics on his channel in a very old-school youtube kind of way (minimal editing, just talking to the camera). He is one of the few (maybe only?) foreigners to be a guest on former forum favourite TV show, 锵锵三人行.

 

LeLe Farley - a young American comedian/rapper, who has since turned to political satire. He is now based in China, and his recent sketch starring a certain cartoon bear probably means he won't be returning to China any time soon. As far as I can tell, his Chinese really is very, very good, so his two videos on how to learn Chinese are certainly worth watching.

[StChris]

What does everyone think of this guy's Chinese?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmyNq7vAyc

 

He is a native Chinese speaker, but there is something about the way he speaks (the tones, the cadence/rhythm?) that makes him very difficult to understand, for me anyway. While I can understand (closing my eyes so that I'm not cheating by looking at the subtitles), it definitely feels that my brain is putting in twice the work than usual and I feel mentally tired after a few minutes. I don't have this issue with any of the other Youtubers listed here.

[Guest realmayo]

33 minutes ago, StChris said:

What does everyone think of this guy's Chinese?

exhausting.

[abcdefg]

On 1/26/2021 at 6:43 AM, StChris said:

...it definitely feels that my brain is putting in twice the work than usual and I feel mentally tired after a few minutes.

 

I find him difficult too. The way he over-emphasizes the tone and pitch of individual words and the way he exaggerates normal variations in rhythm fatigues my ear. It's as though he has taken speech mannerisms that are normally only found in 12 second "super-excited" late-night TV commercials and applied them to longer texts. On top of all that, he intentionally slurs many words. 

 

He talks like a carnival "pitch man" or an overly-aggressive "sidewalk barker" in front of a store trying to snag shoppers to come in and have a look at his wares. In fact, I wonder if that might be his actual background; I wonder if that might be where he honed his public-speaking skills.  

 

And perhaps he recorded it while drunk. 

[StChris]

3 hours ago, realmayo said:

exhausting.

 

31 minutes ago, abcdefg said:

I find him difficult too. The way he over-emphasizes the tone and pitch of individual words and the way he exaggerates normal variations in rhythm fatigues my ear. It's as though he has taken speech mannerisms that are normally only found in 12 second "super-excited" late-night TV commercials and applied them to longer texts. On top of all that, he intentionally slurs many words. 

 

He talks like a carnival "pitch man" or an overly-aggressive "sidewalk barker" in front of a store trying to snag shoppers to come in and have a look at his wares. In fact, I wonder if that might be his actual background; I wonder if that might be where he honed his public-speaking skills.  

 

Glad to know it's not just me. I was initially going to include his channel in my recommendations (he's another TV reviewer), but his intonation just feels a bit off. His channel does offer a good challenge to your listening abilities...and mental stamina!

[abcdefg]

5 hours ago, StChris said:

LeLe Farley - a young American comedian/rapper, who has since turned to political satire. He is now based in China, and his recent sketch starring a certain cartoon bear probably means he won't be returning to China any time soon.

 

The guy is really funny! (And easy to follow.) Didn't know about him before. Thanks for the tip. 

[Jan Finster]

On 1/3/2021 at 1:43 PM, Tomsima said:

On 1/3/2021 at 12:56 PM, Luxi said:

Teacher Andy's Chinese is good! Obviously a musician's Chinese

So glad you pointed this out, I originally skimmed over this recommendation as I know nothing of music theory, just enjoy listening. You piqued my interest and I have now discovered Andy's channel to be an excellent recommendation - he speaks so naturally and with such care about the music; I've ended up sitting and learning lots about pieces I'd never really given any thought to, fantastic.

 

 I looked him up: he is a professor of piano music in Hamburg, Germany. On his description it says "piano professor and sinologist". Pretty cool channel! 

[StChris]

On 1/2/2021 at 3:13 PM, abcdefg said:

Did I miss 李子柒 among your favorable mentions? 

 

If you like that channel, then maybe this one would be up your alley too:

 

Dianxi Xiaoge

 

It looks very similar, with very wholesome videos about the (rather idealised) Yunnan countryside. She's getting over 1 million views per episode, so maybe everyone is already aware of the channel already, but it's new to me.

 

If anyone is looking to improve their business vocab, then I can highly recommend this channel:

 

Lindsay说

 

Here is here latest, regarding the whole Gamespot news. While she talks pretty fast, I find her accent very clear.

[abcdefg]

Thanks, I didn't know about her (Dianxi Xiaoge.) Interesting story about how she chose her screen name. She lives in the west part of Yunnan (云南的西边) or 滇西 -- actually Baoshan 保山。 And she says she didn't want the "cute" connotations of 小妹 so she made up 小哥 instead.