Go to https://buyraycon.com/xiaomanyc for 15% off your order! Brought to you by Raycon. Today I’m talking with Julien Gaudfroy, who in my opinion has a pretty strong claim to having quite possibly the best Chinese of any foreigner ever. He has been a host on Chinese radio and television for many years now, has acted in Chinese movies, and has also been a performer of Chinese crosstalk comedy xiangsheng which is known for being extremely difficult linguistically. And on a personal level I’ve been jealous of his Chinese for at least a decade now! During this interview we spoke together in Chinese and English about how his Chinese got so good, what was his xiangsheng (Chinese crosstalk) training like, how that impacted his Chinese abilities, his experience in the Chinese media world, Dashan (Mark Roswell), and his training as a classical musician.
You can find Julien on social media here:
Julien's new vlog Youtube channel (under construction, many videos soon) : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU9s0d_3Sl-tSkTel24Ugzg
Julien's personal cello videos channel : https://www.youtube.com/c/JulienGaudfroy
今日头条 vlog channel : https://www.toutiao.com/c/user/token/MS4wLjABAAAAENgVnkDdKJi8X3hkjwA9jr0tJ7-1ZfaaZdm1HrRzIaNApfuvHAgWZPy-WCyqUr0O/
西瓜视频 vlog channel : https://www.ixigua.com/home/3830347248712782/
Bilibili vlog channel : https://space.bilibili.com/1577120264
Julien performing Xiangsheng (crosstalk with Risteard O Deorian) : https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjY2ODA0MzY=.html
0:00 Sponsorship
1:09 Introduction
2:00 Julien introduces himself in Chinese (with subtitles!)
14:20 We switch to English
15:22 How Julien got so good at Chinese
21:08 Julien’s story with xiangsheng (Chinese comedy)
34:47 Is Julien a “white monkey”?
36:16 Discussing China’s most famous foreigner, Dashan (Mark Roswell)
40:49 Censorship in China and the evolution of the media landscape
48:31 Life in China vs. France
56:11 Do musicians learn languages better?
1:04:19 Julien’s advice for people who want to learn Chinese
1:09:01 Conclusion
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