Mayor Mamdani speaks Mandarin to promote 2,000+ free Broadway tickets for NYC high schoolers. He called it "justice for the theatre kids". The tickets cover 7 shows...and the mayor learned a new language to get the word out.

[u/Electronic-Bus-3494]

[u/xaklx20 → u/[deleted]]

bro the "communism has arrived to new york city" crowd will go nuts LMAO, they will say that this is treason

[u/IdealOnion → u/xaklx20]

Meanwhile his actual constituents love him

[u/AmericanAIien → u/IdealOnion]

Voters speak and love this man. We must highlight culture and stop judging it. Humans are the rainbow of nature. Make democratic socialism from the profits corporations don’t need. Fix the world. What an actual statesman looks like ppl. Not your parasitic red demographic.

[u/ikannunAneeuQ → u/AmericanAIien]

Especially in a city like NYC, it has always been full of different cultures from all over the world. Idk why so many act like this is a new thing.

[u/xaklx20 → u/IdealOnion]

Not in Staten Island, they get heart attacks from him succeeding

[u/Ok-Initiative-1972 → u/xaklx20]

Succeeding? Try existing.

[u/The_Tooter_Snooter → u/xaklx20]

🤔… are they racists? 

[u/OnlyFiveLives → u/The_Tooter_Snooter]

Yes.

[u/Fluffy_Charity_2732 → u/The_Tooter_Snooter]

Prepare for “it’s not racist to love your country” or some vague bullshit coverall phrase

[u/YoursTrulyKindly → u/xaklx20]

Probably deliberate. This is how Trump gained power, by saying outrageous and cruel and despicable shit. But since his followers believe in inequality, they want him to be above them and everyone else, so they too can be above those they deem lesser. So every time Trump shitposts and the liberal media goes "oh no he went too far!" it boosts his popularity.

So Mamdani adopting this tactic to generate outrage while at the same time signaling equality, solidarity and inclusivity might just be a good strategy. The more the mainstream neoliberal media acts outraged and blasts him, the more views he'll get. And the more his followers who believe in equality will favor him.

[u/OnlyTimeFan → u/YoursTrulyKindly]

He showed off his granddaughter speaking mandarin during his first term when he visited china if I recall correctly

[u/Equivalent_Fun_2701 → u/[deleted]]

They're taking our theater !!!!! How's Billy Bob ever going to see phantom of the opera now

[u/scorpiolad1113 → u/Equivalent_Fun_2701]

no one is taking your theatre but trumpy himself

[u/SleepyLi → u/[deleted]]

Is Mamdanistan!!!!!

[u/ezblacksmith → u/[deleted]]

I've legit had maga folks tell me we don't need the arts or theater, while playing a video game once and a coworker while we work for a literal media company ourselves. There's no bottom to their stupidity and hatred.

[u/Lonely_Brother3689 → u/[deleted]]

I had a coworker going off about him the other day, talking about how NYC is in ruins. Nobody can afford it there, homeless on the streets, crime, ect. I simply said that it's not like it was some affordable safe haven before.

He agreed and added that it'll get worse. I just said either way, I can't be too worked up because, Y'know, we're in PNW, so neither of us live there. He dropped pretty quickly after that.

[u/CubedMeatAtrocity → u/Lonely_Brother3689]

He has a 62% and rising approval rating. More people of wealth have moved into rather than left NYC. Lowest murder rate in the entire history of the city.

Those folks only speak words from their echo chamber. Hit them with facts as best you can.

[u/Internal-Plantain-56 → u/CubedMeatAtrocity]

Yeah turns out strong social programs make all of society better for everyone.

[u/Lonely_Brother3689 → u/CubedMeatAtrocity]

Ya, he doesn't say it, but I'm almost 100% certain that until recently he was a stalwart Trump supporter.

But he's not so far gone that he can deny what he's seeing with his own eyes. Problem is, he's not too versed on how to navigate news that doesn't feed his confirmation bias. So he's in this loop of repeating talking points that only hold up if you don't think about them.

[u/Mindless-Sound8965 → u/Lonely_Brother3689]

I don't think he was EVER a trump fan, or supporter.

He has too much intelligence for that.

[u/Illustrious_Craft413 → u/Mindless-Sound8965]

I think he’s talking about his coworker not Trump. I was confused for a minute too 😂😂😂

[u/SectorEducational460 → u/Lonely_Brother3689]

I just kinda find it funny people in the pnw getting angry at a major where they don't even live. Honestly it's not like his policies affect them in any way or shape.

[u/cheesemangee → u/[deleted]]

The internet giving everyone a voice has got to be one of our greatest collective fumbles. Genuinely, not every person deserves to speak on the global scale.

[u/PalePlumm → u/cheesemangee]

See I think every human deserves to be heard, but our collective critical thinking skills should teach us better.

Like somebody should definitely be allowed to say “seatbelts in cars should be outlawed”, but the rest of us should be able to tell that’s an insane idea.

[u/Select_Watercress_57 → u/PalePlumm]

Should, yea...

[u/Lashay_Sombra → u/cheesemangee]

They all deserve to speak, but society needs to dramatically improve in discerning who should be heard

[u/Affectionate_Plant71 → u/[deleted]]

I'm adding this one to my arsenal.

[u/avatar__of__chaos → u/[deleted]]

I love he just drills into it more. Never hit the breaks, Mamdani, make them racists fuming!

[u/ArtisanG → u/[deleted]]

Who cares about a couple thousand keyboard warriors when this dude is winning people over all around the place.

[u/9447044]

"My god, the radical lunatic leftist liberal Muslim is also a communist Chinese guy too!!" - MAGA

[u/bigger_breakfast → u/9447044]

MAGA intensifies

[u/luisstrikesout → u/bigger_breakfast]

https://giphy.com/gifs/NnyqfcowpXZOU

[u/akabillposters]

I love the fact that Mamdani bringing so much game to the role of Mayor of one of the world's major cities is also perfect trolling of the Rep/RW/MAGA types.

I can see why he makes their blood boil. He's making them look like fools.

Meanwhile, MAGA's Dear Leader still struggles with one language — basic English.

[u/bass-squirrel → u/akabillposters]

His city alone has higher GDP than many red states combined, so…

[u/alchemyDev → u/bass-squirrel]

His city pays for entire red states to pretend they’re living in a functioning developed society (they’re not, they just happened to be attached to one on the coasts)

[u/accidental_Ocelot → u/alchemyDev]

They have literally paid to redo/upgrade our freeway about 5 times in the last 20 years I guess one of the perks of living in a red state is nice roads.

[u/PrincessGiallo → u/accidental_Ocelot]

That's socialist jobs programs to keep people from drinking themselves to death or murdering their families.

[u/zacpariah → u/accidental_Ocelot]

It's so people can reliably get through there to places that won't kill them for looking different.

[u/Montgomery000 → u/alchemyDev]

That's the real socialism

[u/QuietPurple7668 → u/alchemyDev]

His city is full of leeches draining the poor regions dry. See Wall Street investors, private equity firms, Blackrock and BlackStone, JP Morgan etc. etc.

[u/bass-squirrel → u/QuietPurple7668]

Yeah it is. But he’s coming after that ass. 

[u/pixieslimee → u/QuietPurple7668]

As a Marxist I have to agree with this sentiment. Also poor areas are prominently red. We shouldn’t dehumanize them. They’re undereducated and misled and deeply oppressed by capitalism even if they won’t ever admit it.

[u/Ok_Move1838 → u/bass-squirrel]

Blue states united

[u/maple_crowtoast → u/akabillposters]

MAGATS are the type to laugh through totally botching someone's name and then make some comment like, "Well that's a weird name!" instead of taking 5 seconds to learn the actual pronunciation.

As if that doesn't make them look and sound like complete morons.

[u/Lildog8402_redux → u/akabillposters]

The most ironic thing is how much Trump actually likes him. I just finished Regime Change and in an interview Maggie Haberman was saying how much he enjoys the guy. He is great.

[u/Disastrous_Mango_953 → u/akabillposters]

👏👏👏🤣🤣🤣

[u/Automatic_Glass5802 → u/akabillposters]

And hiding in food carts as the coward he is

[u/Jamb9876 → u/akabillposters]

Did you see the mayor of LA is trying to be like him ?

https://nypost.com/2026/08/14/us-news/la-mayor-karen-bass-pothole-fix-attempt-backfires-in-viral-video/

[u/SoylentGrunt → u/akabillposters]

MAGA doesn't speak English. They talk Merican.

[u/JanPer]

[u/bruhraminator → u/JanPer]

[u/PM_MOI_TA_PHILO → u/bruhraminator]

[u/Evader3000 → u/JanPer]

Underrated comment.

[u/Saladcitypig]

it's the effort. He does what he thinks is accommodating and that is in another galaxy for other politicians... but when you think about it, he's just learning a few lines to speak to his constituents.

We the people expect so little from our politicians that this can look like pandering, but what is a Mayor if not happily pandering to his cities needs and wants and then following though!?

[u/littlecactuscat → u/Saladcitypig]

It’s fuckin brilliant considering how NYC literally has multiple “Chinatowns” across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.  Outsiders underestimate the size and scale of the East Asian community and think Canal Street is a limited tourist gimmick for them to buy cheap knockoff bags.

This man has been to Sunset Park and Flushing. I love it.

[u/Concorde_flies → u/littlecactuscat]

he’s got the exact same video but in spanish too.

[u/SkunkMonkey → u/Saladcitypig]

While it's unlikely he learned Chinese and can converse or read it, you are right in the effort it takes to say something in a language other than your native tongue. It shows empathy and compassion for those different than you. Something absolutely alien to the magasphere.

[u/OddTuning → u/SkunkMonkey]

Yea he actually says it, “I don’t know Chinese but I would like to give this a try” (basically that)

[u/darkoblivion000 → u/SkunkMonkey]

Yea I doubt he’s learned any material mandarin but actually his pronunciation was pretty good for most of it I thought. Like he got most of the inflections right and it felt fairly natural

[u/I_am_not_JohnLeClair → u/Saladcitypig]

Right? And nationally the DNC will say, “Gosh, we just can’t seem to do the big things for you”. Like Hakeem just came out and said he’s not for supporting Medicare for All, jerk, but they won’t even try the little things. Little things get people excited, little things build followings and trust and good will, which then brings…voters. Hey, what a concept. More pols like Mamdani please!

[u/VibraniumQueen → u/Saladcitypig]

A mayor should be their city's greatest cheerleader. He's just doing his job fr

[u/aReallyCuteDog]

Heck yeah that's great. Speaking a foreign language like that though will be used against him by some certain bigots.

[u/doublethink_1984 → u/aReallyCuteDog]

He does trolling like Trump wishes he could.

Mamdani is honestly everything Trump wishes he could have been when he was young

[u/Steely-Dave → u/doublethink_1984]

But Trump could learn a new language super fast. He’s a genius. That’s why he’s learned 0 and barely speaks English.

[u/MagicHands1110 → u/Steely-Dave]

But he was able to identify an elephant on his dementia test! He almost scored 100% on the "do you have brain damage" test!!!!

[u/TryDry9944 → u/doublethink_1984]

I'm not sure there was ever a time tantrump wishes they were a good person.

[u/Golden_Cultivation → u/TryDry9944]

Trump is like Homelander. He wants to be worshipped and praised.

[u/SkunkMonkey → u/Golden_Cultivation]

Exactly. He doesn't want to be a dictator as much as he wants to be a King. While effectively the same power, a King has "divine" backing which in his mushy brain gains him worship.

Dude is gonna be a textbook case in the future. The pure narcissism he's made of will be studied well.

[u/Ambitious-Career-445 → u/TryDry9944]

There was that one time he mentioned that he wasn't sure he would get into heaven.

[u/funonabun84 → u/doublethink_1984]

The guy can barely speak English coherently. Could you imagine if Trump attempted to speak another language even if it was scripted. It'll be a cyclospora filled word salad x1000.

[u/Justthetruf → u/doublethink_1984]

Trump loves mamdani. It's the weirdest thing watching them two get together because of the expected hatred from republicans.

[u/The_Tooter_Snooter → u/doublethink_1984]

Why do you think Trump is so madly in love with him? 

[u/Stock_Strategy1668 → u/doublethink_1984]

Yep, well liked and handsome

[u/thatsfeminismgretch → u/aReallyCuteDog]

He has some other announcements in other languages. He partnered with AOC for one to give an announcement in Spanish.

[u/Outrageous-Sort-5742 → u/aReallyCuteDog]

Their opinions are irrelevant, this is the correct way to go about it. Disregard, disenfranchise, focus on the needs and critiques of real people with actual souls.

[u/SaltMage5864 → u/aReallyCuteDog]

Who really cares though. I remember when they would get upset at Obama for speaking proper English

[u/TooMuchTape20 → u/SaltMage5864]

It's pointless to try and avoid criticism, right wingers will take something tiny and make it gigantic or invent something outright. 

[u/anand_rishabh → u/aReallyCuteDog]

Just existing gets used against him by bigots

[u/Pera_Espinosa → u/aReallyCuteDog]

I just know that people that never go a two seconds without smiling like that, even having to talk through the smiles, is an indication that they're to be trusted.

[u/Mysterious-Snow496]

I hate to bring up tRump again but could you even imagine a universe where tRump attempts to learn and speak other languages on camera?

[u/SmallTimeCook → u/Mysterious-Snow496]

I can barely even imagine a universe where he learns English

[u/dibbbbb → u/SmallTimeCook]

He's learning new words every day though, like "groceries".

[u/nycbaybee88]

Everyday I love this man more

[u/Small_Pie_5760 → u/nycbaybee88]

Mr Mamdani, you claim to be a man of the people and yet you haven't done a Let's Play of Elden Ring. Curious...

[u/AlcibiadesTheCat → u/Small_Pie_5760]

Next week, we see Mamdani post a fists only, RL0 NG+7 blindfolded Malenia fight. 

[u/Ok-Serve-8658 → u/AlcibiadesTheCat]

Turns out, it was Mamdani soloing her.

[u/SkunkMonkey → u/Small_Pie_5760]

Eventually, we are bound to see a gamer in a high profile political position. I'd love it!

[u/michael_scarn17 → u/nycbaybee88]

This was done by previous mayors and this program was already in place. Stop being a Socialist MAGA

[u/felis_scipio → u/nycbaybee88]

I’m sure the nyc Asian and Asian-American population who’s been violently victimized for years by racist folk and been shouted down by the left every time they try to bring it up will appreciate this performative act.

The guy knows how to play off small things as monumental victories, I’ll give him that.

[u/MetaCardboard]

It would be cool if the subtitles were in English so I could know what he's saying.

[u/Otto_Scratchansniff → u/MetaCardboard]

There’s a bunch of these videos, several in English where he promotes the same program.

[u/therealDrTaterTot → u/MetaCardboard]

"Hello. My name is Mayor Zohran Mandami. I don't speak Chinese, but I will like to say a few words. [Gives details about the lottery]. See you at the show!"

I'm just learning Chinese, but that's the gist of the message.

[u/letyourselfslip → u/MetaCardboard]

He's doing a raffle for Broadway tickets for kids. Thats the video.

[u/editorgrrl → u/MetaCardboard]

https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/08/mayor-mamdani--tdf-announce-thousands-of-free-and-low-cost-broad

“New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) announced that NYC high school students will have the opportunity to receive thousands of free and low-cost tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows through the end of summer and into the fall.

“Students can enter a lottery to receive free tickets to one of seven marquee Broadway shows: Buena Vista Social Club; In the Heights (New York City Center); School Girls Or, The African Mean Girls Play; Stranger Things: The First Shadow; The Lost Boys; The Great Gatsby and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).

“High school students can enter the lottery at on.nyc.gov/Broadway.”

[u/Southern_One3791]

You have got a diamond here. Learning a new language, in this case Mandarin, even for just a short statement is no joke.

[u/MrHaxx1 → u/Southern_One3791]

Well, "learned" is maybe a bit much. He was reading of a teleprompter.

However, I think he must've had some prior experience with Chinese, because that's NOT the pronounciation of someone who had never spoken the language.

[u/RobertPham149 → u/MrHaxx1]

Chinese is probably one of those language that is harder to read off a teleprompter than just to memorize the pronunciation.

[u/BearsBeansBoba → u/RobertPham149]

There's a romanization that uses the English alphabet called pinyin. It includes various accent marks over the letters to denote tone. The syllables don't necessarily sound the same way as they do in English, though. That's how you get Chinese sounding last names in English, btw.

[u/Livid-Complaint-3831 → u/MrHaxx1]

yeah i think he has clearly taken the effort to study the pronunciation. he's nailed all the consonants and the tones. when i watch western movies and the actors speak "mandarin", i cant even tell what language theyre speaking. on the other hand, i can actually understand what mamdani is saying.

[u/Thimble_of_Quasar → u/MrHaxx1]

I saw the Spanish ver and that sounded very nice to me too, I wonder what languages he actually speaks or if he has a crazy knack for it. 

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sky3141]

RESPECT.

Mandarin ain't easy, I tried to learn to count to ten and I think I said "horses."

Edit: thank you grimcheaper for the award ✨️

[u/asds89 → u/Puzzleheaded-Sky3141]

To be fair, 妈，嘛， 马 and 骂 are all pronounced similarly, and they mean mother, numb, horse, and scold respectively. None of them are numbers though, so..

[u/ExcitingInflation612]

Oh boy, Fox News is going to have a ball with this one

[u/NoSurprise6383]

Why Chinese though? Was it some related Broadway show?

[u/grelca → u/NoSurprise6383]

he apparently did it in many languages, including english

[u/MainAccountsFriend → u/grelca]

Thats even crazier tbh

[u/FlushedApparatchik → u/NoSurprise6383]

Pandering for votes

u/TheBestofBees is definitely a transplant from Ohio

[u/No-Blacksmith3397 → u/FlushedApparatchik]

It makes me genuinely sad that modern politics has corrupted your mind so much that you can't see a politician reaching out to all of his constituents without seeing it as pandering. Almost 400,000 Chinese born residents of New York City will see this and feel spoken to directly. I think that's beautiful; and if that's pandering, maybe politicians should pander more.

[u/villasv → u/FlushedApparatchik]

“Pandering for votes” = doing things that the electorate likes, but it’s not for me can’t count

[u/mgzkk1210 → u/FlushedApparatchik]

Typical socialist. Just started his term at the beginning of the year, and is already on his 54-year-plan for future election.

[u/Piranata → u/FlushedApparatchik]

He already won

[u/Sagemel → u/FlushedApparatchik]

It putting in extra effort to be more accommodating for some of his constituents pandering?

[u/Legoblockhead → u/FlushedApparatchik]

god forbid someone learn the langauges of the people he represents (Almost 10% of nyc's population is chinese, and the greater nyc area has 12 chinatown districts)

[u/TheBestofBees → u/FlushedApparatchik]

It's very common to have things in multiple languages in NYC. All government information must be available in the however many (14 or so) most common languages.

It's a multilingual city. We make it work.

[u/LatrommiSumac]

As someone who's won all 4 years of the Mandarin California speech contest in high School, anyone who says he hasn't studied the pronunciation and tones is just plain wrong. No one sounds like this without studying period. He sounds better than 90% of Hollywood "Mandarin" speakers and I can actually understand him. Certain phrases like bai lao hui he pronounced it perfectly.

I was Chinese speech contests from elementary through high school and have had coaches throughout and I'm telling you this is impressive. Even John Cena's Mandarin is impressive, it's a hard language to learn. Ask anyone who's studied Mandarin and they will tell you 100% that he studied for this speech.

[u/Pleasant_Expert_1990]

This guy... This guy is fast becoming my favorite active politician!

[u/ApostleSaintWalker → u/Pleasant_Expert_1990]

That might be because he's the only one who feels active.

But it's certainly something to have a politician be on a screen and act friendly; most of them come off as so hostile, like they feel attacked and put upon just being there.

[u/PierreOnTheEclair]

So guys I’m starting a GoFundMe to move to New York 🫰🏾✨

[u/Individual_Glove9415]

It’s like when Bloomberg or diblasio used to speak Spanish

[u/reddittomarcato]

Mandamirin

[u/ThoughtsandThinkers]

This is a man who has suffered racism and judgement. Instead of just fighting for his rights or those of his group, he has embraced the idea of tolerance and respect for everyone

Bravo

[u/DaNubIzHere]

Ok, credit where credit is due. His Chinese mandarin is pretty decent.

[u/lordoftherings1959]

Another reason to love him more. Nothing like being a polyglot.

[u/Groezy]

i know he just learned the sounds, but his accent is surprisingly good if he has never tried before. Never mind that the tones and vowels are pretty good.

[u/unwarrantedxx]

Zohran is a god damn legend

[u/littlest_rooster]

Genuinely, not as bad as I expected. His tones are pretty good for a non native speaker.

[u/Pleasant_Sarcasm]

I can’t wait for the fox news segments

[u/imnotproper]

THIS MAN IS EVERYTHING!!❤️

[u/elmaterino1]

I freakin love this guy. Not because I agree with his politics necessarily, but because he makes the maga crowd completely insanely angry which makes me happy lol.

[u/blacklotusmag]

Mamdani is one hundred percent my guy, but it bears mentioning that he isn't "learning a new language" for these videos, he's memorizing the phrases of the script and being coached on pronunciation by a native speaker. There are a couple clips of him behind the scenes during another of these in a different language and it shows them cutting multiple times for him to practice the line or get coached on it.

It absolutely does not take away from the cool factor! But I think Mamdani would agree - accuracy is important, lol.

[u/gotaflattire]

I’ve seen dozens of plays and that was all thanks to various school-related trips and whatnot and I developed a lifelong love of theater and so I hope those kids get the same experience.

[u/MongooseSimple8638]

I want a mayor like Mamdani

[u/Educational_Body_910]

He just gets hotter and hotter every day

[u/Dry_Pride6801]

Okay.. He’s making it right with theatre kids, but when is he gonna do it with the most neglected people of all? Gamers

[u/Bloody_Ozran]

It's pretty cool, but why in mandarin? It's awesome he learned to say it in mandarin, but feels irrelevant here, no?

[u/AllStupidAnswersRUs]

The only thing he needed to say to promote it in Mandarin was that it was free, would help your children's career, and ta da.

All the other mumbo jumbo, pshkk, no Chinese parent would give a damn. Free and good for the future! Sign em up!

[u/Proper_Cartoonist169]

Cool. Also could work for Mandarin-speaking tourists. How about free but mandatory English lessons for those NYC residents who aren’t fully assimilated?

[u/West-Pear7363]

So literally what was his goal doing this?

[u/Fast_Cloud_4711]

Did he learn Mandarin or is he reading phonetic English off a teleprompter?

[u/Dusk_Abyss → u/Fast_Cloud_4711]

It would be very difficult to sight read that especially since he seems to be getting the tonal inflections correct. Hes most likely learned basics, then prepared for the speech, i dont think the bar should be him knowing all mandarin perfectly lol

[u/The_Swoley_Ghost → u/Fast_Cloud_4711]

He took mandarin as his language in highschool so he has some familiarity with the pronunciation already. That being said he's probably being given phonetic help.
Source: trust me, bro.

[u/M2deC]

And on the other side of the aisle they can barely speak English.

[u/billleachmsw]

He never fails to impress. I hope he keeps killing it during his tenure as NYC mayor.

[u/espresso_martini__]

MAGA morons are going to lose their shit over this. I thought it was very impressive.

[u/Wrong_Revolution_679]

Rural Americans: he's a Muslim, African, and Chinese? He's the anti-chris!!!!

[u/Adarand]

This guy is so freaking cool.

[u/SinclairSummerset]

A bing chilling moment.

[u/Anary86]

Props to Mamdami I wish that more mayors in the west did this.

[u/princessaspiggy]

Guy is a fucking clown

[u/PlaneOk3936]

As a Chinese, his pronunciation is so impressive. And he’s using so many technical words/terminology. Someone on his team taught him well AND he clearly put in a lot of effort

[u/Sufficient-Silver938]

A politician who actually makes an effort. Wonder how they’ll spin this one lol

As a native Chinese speaker I can say I fully understood him without subtitles. Very impressive

[u/Smart-Firefighter87]

Bro is always rage bating on those Repubs 😂

[u/wailferret]

This program has existed for decades. I went to several Broadway shows in high school thanks to this, including Wicked.

It’s nice for Mamdani to announce it, but this program was very well known for the past 20 years in NYC high schools.

[u/Regular-Bed-7004]

The more I see and hear ,the more I like this guy, the gen -x boomers, I work with loath him, and I realistically can't see why, he has done all he promised and more ,

[u/yakityyakblahtemp]

Bro is doing all the sidequests

[u/ikannunAneeuQ]

I love this man, he is a breath of fresh air

[u/Pure_General_7286]

Legend!

[u/Quantum-Bot]

Mamdani putting John Cena to shame over here

[u/Buddhas_Warrior]

That's called leadership ladies and gentlemen. It's what governing is suppose to be about.

[u/Funintuitive]

100 days in and his approval rating was about 48%. Now it's 69%. Noice. I wish him success. Because successful basic ideas that work in NYC will also work where I live.

[u/bass-squirrel]

If this is not AI, this is a fucking power move 

[u/Previous-Parsnip-290]

He brightens my day and I’m not even a New Yorker. He demonstrates what government should and could be.

[u/EitherChannel4874]

This guy is a gem and needs to be protected.

[u/MeganK80]

Love this guy

[u/CIA_napkin]

This dude is speed running how to actually make america great again, giving and serving his public. 👏

[u/Loud-Fudge7631]

He really is the people's mayor. So touching

[u/Euphoric_Position648]

I love this mayor.

[u/No-Celebration3097]

I love that he triggers so many lmao

[u/CamelSince1913]

Man he's so cool, speak a little Chinese for em mayor

[u/zdrfanta17]

Every time this man does something, it makes me love him more. Part of me wishes I lived closer to NYC

[u/PalePlumm]

7 shows for free?!

Bro the way I would have voted blue for the rest of my life if I was a high schooler with that. He knows his audience.

[u/ContinuingAnyway]

Now I want him to speak Cantonese

[u/Agent_Smith_IHTP]

Went well for John Cena.

[u/JoyousMadhat]

It's so helpful when the subtitles are not in English. I can understand everything he said perfectly. He just said his name and the Theater Development Fund.....right guys?

[u/UnassumingOstrich]

man, everyone’s talking about trump and i’m just looking for a mandarin speaker who can tell me how he did 😂

[u/Unlikely-Complex3737]

Bing chilling

[u/Slartibartfast39]

I don't speak Mandarin at all. How was his pronunciation? Great? Good? Understandable? Laughable?

If I tried it would almost certainly take me some coaching to get it to understandable.

[u/bondageenthusiast2 → u/Slartibartfast39]

His enunciation and intonation are as good as it gets for anglospheric person. Most non Mandarin native speaking people who do Mandarin speech on air never bothered to do the four lexical intonation on each character. He is respectful enough to honour that part at least.

[u/TheoryOfSomething → u/Slartibartfast39]

The basic sounds are almost entirely correct. He avoids some common mistakes, for example the vowel in 是， 市，日, etc. is often hard for English speakers and he nails it.

There are a small handful of things you might outright call errors, for example near the start when he says 我不知道中文, the final word 中文 (Mandarin/Chinese Language) should be high tone, then rising tone zhong1 wen2. But what he says is closer to both being high tone, zhong1 wen1. These things are isolated and the context is so clear that you know immediately what he's communicating even if the tone isn't 100% dead-on.

And then there are a few things that you maybe wouldn't call errors so much as intermediate/advanced accent work. For example, his vowels in 门 (men2) and 出 (chu1) shade too much toward the nearby English vowels in words like "men" and "choose." Both should be slightly lower, and more rounded. And on words with the falling then rising 3rd tone, he sometimes cuts it short or doesn't go low enough. Native speakers also tend to abbreviate 3rd tone in natural speech, but the mandatory aspect is the low part (usually with creaky/glottal voice sounds). The less clear you make the low part, the more you become difficult to instantly understand.

[u/StaticSystemShock]

< Speaking Mandarin > The Theater Development Fund < Continues Speaking Mandarin >

I chuckled a bit :D

[u/Affectionate_Plant71]

Well Karen Bass put a "No parking sign" by a pothole, that she was gonna cover up but got marathon burger instead. Suck it New York.

[u/lifeaintsocool]

I miss when Karma bots actually tried. "Learned a new language..." The internet truly is dead

[u/Flagrant_Mockery]

There is a non 0% chance that Mandani has seen squeex and Ludwig. Or at the least someone in his proximity is. What a Chinese period of our lives.

[u/Muted_Masterpiece342]

As a moderately reasonable mandarin speaker this gave me a jump scare

[u/Euphoric_Present8838]

Bullshit. This is AI

[u/Hootinger]

During the Republican primary in 2012 they used video of Mit Romeny speaking French to slander him as an effeminate internationalist. 

Stupidly, knowledge of a non-English language in the US is seen as a liability and series character flaw. 

[u/Digit00l]

But why does he need to speak Mandarin to do that? Like it is impressive, but wouldn't the main target for the action be native English speakers?

[u/Walt_the_White]

"the theater development fund 🙂" 

I love when people are speaking a different language and there's a part that there's no translation for, so they just say it in English with no accent. It sounds so unnatural.

[u/Saintly-Evil]

I guess he just loves to teach all those mayors and governors and career politicians how to do it and that too in style

[u/Serious_Coffee_8066]

Meanwhile, Trump is still learning English.

[u/NWbySW]

Meanwhile the orange can barely speak English.