Three role models

Before we officially get started, I would like to share with you some people who can speak perfect Chinese with English as their native language. You might not need to be as good as them, since maybe half of that is way more enough, but at least it shows that it is absolutely feasible to make it. OK, now let's check them out:

1. 大山(dà shān* Lit: Big Mountain)-Mark Rowswell
There should be no doubt that he is the most famous and popular foreigner in China but I believe less than 0.001% of us know that his real name is Mark Henry Rowswell! Back to 20 years ago, he was the first foreigner many Chinese people had ever seen. Many people (including me), watch his program to study English. You can have a look at how he speaks Chinese just with the finger tip. Below is his performance in a 'solo Xiangsheng'(单口相声, one kind of Xiangsheng), a style similar to talkshow, with the aim to send audiences laughters:


2. 陆克文(lù kèwén)-Kevin Rudd
He is definitely the one who speaks the best Chinese among prime ministers or presidents (of course, I deliberately rule out President Hu Jintao:). He has the academic background in Chinese and has done some profound research back in university. Below is his speech in Beijing University in 2008:



3. 江喃(jiāng nán)-Jonathan Kott
To be frank, I was deeply shocked when I first saw his TV program because I have never seen a foreigner who can speak Sichuanhua (Sichuanese) so well. I am from Sichuan, a beautiful province in Southwestern China, and I have to admit that the first responce that my friends and I had when we knew such a guy is like crazy, especiall when things that come out of this guy's mouth are in your local language. Here is a clip:



I hope you can speak better Chinese than them someday! Enjoy!

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*: This is Pinyin spelling which we will come to soon.

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