An American man “scolding” his daughter in Mandarin has become an online sensation in China.
Videos from Kuaishou user @Evazhang1688 show David attempting to discipline his daughter Breanna, who apparently hates learning Mandarin.
In one video, David can be seen yelling at Breanna, who was busy playing instead of doing her homework.
“Do it now!” he commands while slamming a book on the table.
David is unable to speak Mandarin fluently, but he managed to learn phrases his wife often uses when speaking to their daughter. Aside from “do it now,” he knows “go home” and “let’s eat” in Mandarin.
“Actually, my husband was mimicking me in the video,” his wife said, according to the South China Morning Post. “He likes to imitate me speaking Mandarin, and he was just trying to be funny in the video.”
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David’s wife has been recording Breanna’s videos since she started using Kuaishou, a Chinese video-sharing app. Aside from snippets of their daily life, she also shares clips of Breanna teaching English.
However, Breanna appears to have no interest in learning Mandarin, at least for the time being. In one video, she is seen getting pissed off while parroting Mandarin words back to her mother.
Breanna’s mother believes that fluency in Mandarin will bring more opportunities for her daughter in the future. For this reason, she vows to continue teaching her the language.
“I will still insist that she learn it. She is half-Chinese. Her grandparents are Chinese,” her mother said. “And learning is tedious, that’s just how she is.”
While David appears stern in the videos, his wife suggested that he actually spoils Breanna.
“Whenever I ask her to do homework, she just doesn’t want to do it. I have argued so many times with my husband over this problem. He thinks I shouldn’t be so tough on our daughter,” she said. “So whenever she doesn’t want to complete her assignments, she calls her dad. It makes my job more difficult.”
The family’s Kuaishou page has won 548,000 fans as of this writing. Viewers commented on their viral video:
“Chinese and American parents are similar in this regard.”
“Education around the world is the same for children.”
“Her dad must sound awkward so Anna’s laughing.”
“I’d be scared if he was my supervisor!”
“This is actually quite funny.”
Feature Images: Screenshots via Kuaishou / @Evazhang1688
