我很开心可以把我的故事分享给大家! 如果你也有难忘的经历或者故事记得留言告诉我！☺️ So glad I could share my story! If you have any unforgettable moments or experiences that you'd like to share, let me know down below!☺️

Me: listens to the Chinese Me: reads the English Me: understands both My brain: extremely confused

I was born in the US and my family moved to China when I was 5. It didn't take long to adjust and I loved it so much. I have the happiest memories of my childhood there. We moved back when I was 15 and it was really, really hard. Being a TCK (third culture kid) comes with all those identity issues and other challenges but I wouldn't take it back for anything- there are so many rich experiences and deeper understandings! Thanks for sharing your story!! :)

Jared: literally singing in perfect chinese immediate Jared: my Chinese was soo bad get outta here

Chinese is such a beautiful language, I could hear him talk all day long. But it sounds too complex for me to try to learn

今天的视频比较特别！最近我爸把我小时候在中国的旧录像视频导出来了！所以这期我想给大家分享我的故事！反正我觉得挺好玩的！希望大家会喜欢！ Today's video is a special one! My dad recently recovered and converted some old VHS into a format where I can edit it(THANKS DAD!). So hope you enjoy my story! Much love, 杰里德Jared

I lived in China for 12 years and in America for 30 years, I always feels more comfortable living in China! One day I'll move my family to China if I can!!

感謝杰里德分享。 我從小在臺灣長大，接受中華文化薰陶，出社會以後，風氣漸變，中華變成唯恐避之不及的字眼，跟年輕人談到國族認同完全像兩個世界的人，就如同現在的臺灣政治一樣，已經不是能夠輕易撼動的趨勢。但願杰里德能在中國找到歸宿。

I was born in China but I was adopted by french canadien parents when I was around one years old and I grew up in the province of Quebec in Canada. Recently, I have started to question myself about the chinese part of me that I have never really taken time to explore. I have started to watch like you movies, drama and listen songs in chinese, I am currently learning Chinese and I was planing to go to China this summer with one of my friend to properly learn Chinese but because of the Corna virus, I had to report my trip to next summer.

一个人尤其是从小就受到不同文化的熏陶，容易让自己迷失，对自己的身份认同会有比较严重的摇摆，感觉既不属于A，也不属于B。如果家长或者朋友能有足够好的引导，将会是很大的一笔财富，因为你既能够理解A为什么这么做，也能够理解B为什么这么做，视野和想法会更加开放。至于最终想在哪一个国家一直生活，或者还是不断切换，只要自己舒服就好。

Amazing to hear what led to you learning Chinese, you've got some great vids man :)

你爸妈好牛，中国那个年代刚开放。你爸妈好勇敢，还有探索精神。

正确的标题应该是：我为什么学英文

I was born in China and moved to Australia when I was 11 or 12, I remember my mum came picking me up on the last day of my 5th year of primary school…when everyone was sitting on the ground listening to the principle speech, I got up without realizing that was the end of my time in China, in my school, with my closest friends...I didn't even say goodbye. Til this day, I still dream about the days in my primary school, laughing, the image clear as day, like it was yesterday, I wake up feeling like there is something missing, a closure of some sort like you've mentioned in the video, to me, it wasn't so much of "Was that a dream?" but "What could have happened if i stayed." Yes I can still find them, we have a group but it's not the same, they went on to finishing primary school, high school and even uni together but my image of them are stuck in the past, I was not part of their end story but they are to me. The feeling I have now is extremely strange, I feel like i don't belong in both worlds but at the same time I feel like i'm a mix of both worlds. I'm ethnically Chinese, but I'm not 100% raised in China, I'm Chinese Australian, but i'm also not ABC, I'm not a student studying abroad and i also wasn't born in Australia, so which group do I belong and where do i fit in? Having said all that, I'm not so much concerned about my identity anymore and learned to accept who I am as I got older, I experienced the best of both worlds and I'm just so proud to be Australian and so proud to be Chinese at the same time. I'm 28 now btw and I'm glad I can still read and type Chinese with no issues at all, takes time for me to write it because 提笔忘字...hahahahaha Edit: Never thought that there are so many people who are just like me. Thank you guys for sharing your stories with me :)

I'm learning Chinese because of my obsession with poetry ❤️. It's amazing how Chinese sounds in poems,,almost perfect rhymes💮🦋

天啊！I never got the chance to live in China when I was growing up, but I always had a love to language. Especially character languages, I was fond of the pictures and the complexity. I also was on a Chinese singing competition in college, because I was studying Mandarin through songs and tv dramas! I finally got to study abroad in Taiwan, and felt a connection that I had not felt before. It was like a feeling of... being at home, despite never having been there before. I recently got a job that is having me relocate to mainland china after the borders re-open. :D So I am SUPER excited. I really wanted to share... because I felt there were some similarities in your story that I got super excited about! Haha. Thank you for making your videos.

难怪你英语这么好，原来留过洋啊

一个白人说的比我还好的中文,突然眼眶湿湿的

非常羡慕你可以遵循你的内心来生活，不会因为“我好像必须要这样做”而去做。很多人是没有办法遵循自己的内心来生活的，为了吃饭为了租房等现实的问题。

I’ve been reading through the comments and everyone’s story is unique and going through my past memories, I have nothing interesting💀. I was born in the yee haw state and never gone out of the country, but I’ve always wanted to go to China so bad😤, it’s expensive tbh. However, I’m learning & reviewing the past Chinese words I’ve learned in HS so I don’t forget.

I was born and raised in Canada. My background is Chinese Malaysian. My parents never taught me Chinese. I can understand it but not speak it well. I was also raised in a really white town. This really inspired me to consider reconnecting with my roots!

I don’t know why but listening to you say “I’m a white dude” in Chinese cracked new up xD

I’m 50 and still in limbo state. I came to US as a child. Like you, my 7 years in China was all the childhood memories I’ve known. I’m ethically Chinese but my Chinese language skill is almost as bad as a 3rd grader🤪. So happy for you that you are finding your way and do what’s truly makes you feel alive and still can make a living without relying on your family. 👍.

哇～ 你媽媽來中國做英文老師 好棒👍👍👍 好喜歡你媽媽 真心說聲辛苦了 你也可以考慮來中國做英文老師喲 那樣一定也會好棒

That’s an awesome story, I’m really happy it all worked out. I was born in Toronto then lived in HongKong and Shanghai from age 8-16. I always felt something was missing too and actually just moved back to China in the fall, I’ve been living in Hangzhou for a while now and loving being back. I was unhappy working at a boring job after university and finding your KZfaq channel last year was a big inspiration to come back to China. Thanks for making your videos and keep up the great work 😁

I'm a TCK, born in the US and grown up in the Caribbean. It's kind of annoying because neither country accepts you as one of their own lol. I feel more Caribbean but my friends make fun of my accent- I feel so out of it culturally in the U.S. Anyway my first love is French cuz my great great grandmother was french I feel like somehow it came through my genes lol. And now I'm learning Chinese because my first two years of University I only had Chinese friends and I fell in love with the language. I really wanna visit China someday!

这种全家一起在截然不同的国家居住和生活的经历真的好珍贵又好神奇啊！

oh my god. thank you for this video. you perfectly describe what i've struggled with for most of my life. i'm south korean but moved to chile when i was 2 months old. when i turned 13, we moved to california. "identity" has always been a weird concept. getting bullied by chileans for looking asian... getting bullied by asians for not being asian enough... and even getting bullied by asian-americans for not being asian-american. your youtube channel inspires me to embrace my inner cultural conflict. thank you.

你太棒了， 在我眼里你是一个中国海南加拿大人，支持你，加油！ 喜欢你的视频👍

One unforgettable moment from my life was when I met my biological mom for the first time in Beijing, China. My mom and dad divorced when I was born and she moved to Beijing. Growing up, I never knew how she looked like, but only saw her through pictures that my family had. Many years pass now, I'm 18 and I got to see my mom for the first time. It was unforgettable honestly, especially when I grew up without one. Getting to hug her was one of the best thing ^-^

杰里徳原来是海南人，属于中文的native speaker

作为一个海南人的我知道你小时候在海南生活，突然觉得有点亲切😂，很感谢你分享你的故事！

虽然我们境遇不同，但是我感同身受。我虽然在家乡东北知道高中毕业，但是大学我去了武汉，研究生去了苏格兰爱丁堡，工作之后遇到我老公一起搬去他的家乡加拿大，现在又带着孩子们住在英国。对我来说我有很多个家，可是每一个家又并不完全是自己的家，在哪里都没有完全归属的感觉。我们全家加在一起会四种语言，我们希望孩子们以后也是“国际人”，但是也希望他们不会有迷失的感觉、找到自己的归属感❤️

好魔幻，，，海南人的梗原来不是无中生有啊

莫名的感动，为你的父母能够提供一个包容的环境；为你自己能够跟随自己的梦想，而不是俗世的各种“标准”和“模式”；也为你作为人而天生具有的那种善良...

很高兴海南能有你的父母，感谢他们对海南教育事业的付出。作为海南人我很高兴，能在外网看到一个外国的海南友人。杰里德，你会越来越好的💪

I’m so glad that you were able to find what you were missing and achieve it. Most people have the same feeling of this longing. Something is missing in their life and not all are able to achieve the thing their in need of to fulfill that void; usually it’s because lack of financial aid. It’s really depressing how majority of the worlds population will never be able to truly fill that void.

Even though you forgot Chinese when you went back to Canada, your accent still tells the story that your tongue remember the childhood time.

I'm so glad you found your way back, it broke my heart thinking of child you feeling "lost." This is an amazing story, thank you for sharing it

说实话，中国人非常的包容好客，完全不会排外，相信你来到中国，你所遇到的每一个中国人都是非常真诚的欢迎你，每一个面对你的笑容都是真实的，这是我们做为中国人无法在国外感受到的

Hey, Thank u so much for share your history. I don't know but China has something really magnetic. I also took two years to reach to China and I was doing the same like u... Learning Chinese and working at the same time. 很辛苦!! While I was in China I spent the happiest moment of my life but unfortunately I had to come back home... Now I am feeling the same, I need to go back to china. This time I've applied to one Chinese university to study Chinese teaching as a bachelor degree. 华东师范大学!!! Wish me good luck with my plan! 我爱看您所以的视频! By the way 我是墨西哥人! Peace!

看完只能说你很勇敢，为了一段童年记忆放弃了自己最爱的篮球。也祝贺你最终还是找到了自己最想要的！

坚持做自己喜欢的事情…很羡慕也很佩服你！加油👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

好励志！！看到你找到自己真正所爱的并且实现了它，真的很棒！加油！！很喜欢你的videos，支持你！！！

Your story totally resounds with me... I lived in the US up until a portion of middle school, then I moved back to Korea, my "home country", then started to study in China without starting school in Korea. So I also have this identity crisis pertaining to what I identify myself as and where home is. Thanks for sharing your story! It's nice to know that I'm not alone in this crazy being "globally raised" journey. :)

Best line ever! “I was Justin Bieber before Justin Bieber was even Justin Bieber”

你穿这件衣服,看上去很像德国人

This is a great story! Love that you are representing the VanCity 604 in China. Keep it up - fellow Canucks fan

我竟然哭了。被你的“思乡”感动了。不知疫情如何走向，不知中美关系何时恢复，不知我何时才能再见到我的亲人和朋友。希望所有人都像你一样充满爱❤️和阳光☀️希望我们的世界会更好！

HI! Wow, thank you for sharing. I'm from US and moved my family to China 4 years ago. My kids are 6 and 8, going to regular primary school, involved in activities, etc. So many people told me how crazy I was, but I don't even try to convince anyone anymore... We love it here!

Hey Jared, I am so glad I stumbled across your story today. I had a very similar experience but in a different Asian country. Not being born there but feeling like you belong to a different country and the identity issues that brings up was really hard for me too as a kid. I went back for a bit and I am now comfortable with my two halves as a middle aged adult. Thank you for sharing your story so openly, I hadn't heard anyone else having the same experiences and struggles so it was amazing to listen to it.

谢谢你分享你的经历 Jared 😛, I had lots of fun watching this video. When I was 13 I immigrated from Beijing to Montreal and lived there for about 15 years. I can relate to the identity crisis that you talked about in the video, tho I went around the globe in the opposite direction than you did ;) it’s wonderful watching your childhood videos ;) thank you for this content!

甜蜜的回忆，似乎多数人喜欢每种文化都是从小时候开始播种。 记得小学一年级的时候，春节珠江台播放万宝路的牛仔广告，那种西部牛仔生活真的好神奇梦幻啊。 然后我一直念念不忘那段回忆，命运有时候妙不可言，今天已经生活在德州了。

Lol you have the same childhood memory as my wife. As soon as she heard you hum that music her ears pricked up. I don't even have that!(I'm from hk)she's from mainland

i just came across your channel and can i say... you speaking chinese is very hot but more importantly im glad youre living your dreams man

3:53 这个音乐我的小学每周一升旗的时候都放。哈哈哈。

原来你是真海南人，你这个经历也是很有意思了

终于知道为啥你全家都会中文了哈哈～上次看你们开车去看奶奶的视频简直是震惊地不要不要的～

really comforting to hear this. I went to Chinese school on the weekends for five years and sometimes feel lost too

Bro that's amazing story. Enjoyed it so much, even though I'm Russian and honestly I have no idea why did I watch this... Still it left me inspired and kinda nostalgic. Thanx for sharing! 💛 I hope you actually found that part of your soul that "was missing" or left in China and now you're much happier person who has better understanding of himself, peace!)

我在北京长大 16岁来美国 到现在快20了还觉得少了点什么好像一直没有很开心。希望以后可以常回去 想游遍中国各地 吃遍美食 走了才发现中国的有趣

一直在关注你的视频，顺然最近你的视屏不多。你的故事打动了我，很高兴你追随了你的心愿。希望你在中国越来越好。

This is soo cool! I watched you quite a bit a month ago. Then I had a break, and then returned just now. Wow, either this video has a lot easier Chinese than the previous or my Chinese is really getting better. I am starting to make out the general topic and sentiment of sentences just by hearing them (at 75% speed ofc xD). I feel so much more motivated to keep on practising now! One day I will travel to China and go to teahouses and geek out about tea, try some local dishes and learn about Chinese historical fashion and culture!

I am majoring in Chinese and me and my friends from UNI came across your channel last October. We are really enjoying it so far :) I loved this video because it made me so nostalgic, I haven't been to China in almost 4 years. I can't wait to finish my studies here and go there for at least a few weeks. Keep going with this content, it's so refreshing to see other people speaking Chinese as well ♥

找到回归属感，圆了自己的梦，为你开心。❤️ 但... 「篮球」是谁？？？ 三分钟，我要「篮球」的 全 部 资 料 ！

很能体会你对童年记忆带有虚幻的感觉。我来澳大利亚留学，有一段时间因为课程等原因3年没有回中国，而三年后放假回家过年，那次在家呆了两个月，假期一半时突然有一种幻觉就是“我真的有在澳大利亚生活过吗？”。 在澳洲的生活因为呆久了便觉得稀松平常了，但生活方式又和在中国如此不一样，所以造成了仿佛穿梭于两个平行世界的错觉。

jared! i’m chinese-american, born in the US! i grew up learning both languages so i really feel you on kind of being “in-between” cultures. your pronunciation in chinese is really flawless! i hope you continue to inspire more people to learn 🥰

Thanks for this video!! I honestly could never do that to my children though, kids need stability and a sense of identity! It clearly affects you growing up, but I’m glad you found your way!

”试问岭南应不好，此心安处是吾乡“～

Inspiring. I’m a middle school teacher in Texas and have been studying Chinese for a couple of years. Only about 20 or so minutes a day but love hearing non-native learners stories. Also, English-accent Chinese is easier for me to pick up on. Haha.

I had pretty much the exact same experience growing up, so it's amazing to see someone else with such a similar experience. In fact its funny how much your experience mirrors mine lol. I was also 2 when my parents moved to Taiwan to teach English, and we also returned to Canada for roughly a year and a half when I was around 7 before moving back to Xiamen, then back to Taiwan again. Thanks for the awesome videos and nostalgia!

青少年时期困惑的你感觉很可怜。好想给那时候的你一个拥抱。很开心你实现了自己想做的事。

小时候大概七八岁在荷兰度过了两年，在那里只上了一年学，是母亲废了好大劲在海牙找到的一所愿意收留我一年的小学。当时在学校也没有觉得自己是一头黑发有什么不同，只不过我只会说中文，耳朵旁无时无刻萦绕着叽叽喳喳的我听不懂的荷兰语。我和班上的同学玩得很好，刚开始大部分靠手语和他们交流，到后来很快会了一些词和简单的句子。荷兰的小学比起国内的小学负担简直不要太轻，没有作业，下午2点就放学，基本上是玩得多学的少，当时和当地一个华裔家庭的同龄小孩玩得很好，只不过他的中文和我的荷兰语一样差，我们在一起玩的时候想让对方看自己滑稽的模样或者好玩的东西，都会很激动，但他也只能慢慢地吐出：泥看！泥看！我也是一个劲费力地说：kijk！kijk！那的确是很珍贵的童年记忆。直至我再回国，到现在12年过去了，我期间也重返故地当做旅游过两次，但荷兰语因为没有再捡起来，基本上除了数数也全忘了。

好立志!! 真棒耶Jared~ 你比賽唱的中文很標準呀,一點都不辣雞~!!!

很感谢你的分享Jared， 特别是那首歌， 我听了两遍。很好的回忆。

Thank you for sharing, love your story 加油💪

You’ve been in Chinese language environment, that's why your Chinese is sooo good. 不服不行

我现在的工作是在我1-8岁生活过的地方，8岁的时候随着父母工作的调动我就搬离了，之后基本上再也没有去过那里。当我第一天上班的时候才突然发觉到，在这里的记忆并没有消失，而是深深地隐藏在我的记忆里。当我走过那些熟悉的胡同，看到熟悉的场景，总有一种“啊，那片雾霭笼罩的地方终于露出了真容”的感觉。

加油伙计，喜欢看你的视频

SO cool!! My family moved to Taiwan when I was 10 for nearly two years and I learned Mandarin during that time (became almost fluent) but for various reasons, my mom and I moved back to South Africa (where I'm from). And so now I can pick up some words here and there, there were some phrases that just stuck with me, and I also just have this insatiable desire to learn Chinese. I really really want to become fluent. I went back to visit my Dad in Taiwan last year (only for about a month) and it was AMAZING, so much of the language came back to me, but I had to come back. Who knows, maybe I will get to go back someday to stay for longer. But I would always miss South Africa. I will really need to pray and ask God what He wants for me. :)

What an amazing background! Your story really motivated me to keep on learning Chinese, no matter how difficult it is. Keep posting these videos bro, I wait for them eagerly.

I transferred from one school to another many times during my middle and high school years. The biggest move was from Vietnam to America and started going to American high school. I didn’t know how to communicate in English (I knew English as a subject to score and pass in Vietnam, not a language to speak.) So, the point is, I didn’t really have true friends. My youth passed missing a piece of ‘friendship’. Until now, I feel like I don’t know how to make friend and keep a friendship anymore.

Wow that's an amazing story. I am ethnically Chinese but born in Pakistan, a part of me was always confused about my identity as well. I did go back to China briefly but changed my course and came to Canada instead.

Super cool story. I can relate and I’m happy you followed your dream. 🙌🏼

It’s so nice to see you share your experience - I remember I was in 初三 when your family came. Your parents would hold this English corner every Tuesday or Wednesday under the big tree in the campus, and you and your brother and sister would be there chatting with the students as well - well, probably mostly Tyler and Nicole :) nice memories- I also remember your parents invited us to your home and you were showing me Lion King DVD :) - it was a very nice memory and thanks for sharing. Please say hi to your parents.

I started learning Chinese because although I'm latina, I look really Asian and everyone thought I was Chinese growing up (not adopted....that I know of) so I was like welp...let's just do this. And then I moved to China. lol

That was inspirational bruh, I’m proud of you. 👍🏽

Your pronunciation is spot on! I'm an ABC so I of course was sent to Chinese school growing up. I still speak Mandarin at home, but forgot how to read and write a lot of characters after I'd stopped attending the Chinese school. But! I took Mandarin lessons in middle school and still am in high school. Your story is incredibly inspiring! Look at you, I dare say you're more fluent than I am, and I've been exposed to the language my entire life. Keep it up! Jiayou!

你的故事很激励人！ Your story is really inspiring. I taught myself English when I was 28 and then I completed my master's degree here in Canada. Your story reminds me of the hard time when I was going thru all the challenges. Thank you!

Thank you for sharing your story. It’s so cool to have heard it! Totally understand the struggle of a TCK... glad you found what you’re missing~

thank you for sharing your identity story jared, i know it sounds crazy but i really teared up hearing it... i guess it really resonated with the identity crisis us third culture kids have. we gain a lot from all the experiences, but there always seems to be some part of us missing... thanks for voicing out that weird feeling :)

Jared always so cute 💕 Thanks for sharing your 中国故事 ( come visit Malaysia someday 🌺)

I only can say your parents are great, recording so many footages of you when you were a kid, and also giving you the opportunity to experience cultures different from yours, paving the way for you to be a more open minded person when you grow up, you should now show your appreciation and love for your parents.

It’s good to learn the language when you’re super young because you get the accent and pronunciation correct. Something simple as one two three in mandarin often doesn’t sound right when a 30 year old man tries to learn mandarin for the first time. From the video of the girl saying one two three, her pronunciation is perfect!

Really touched by your story. Your childhood video clips remind me of my childhood and China’s old time back to 1980s. When I hear you sing the broadcasting music of school, I shed tears don’t know why

Im so happy that you finally figured out that you wanted to go back to China, and you gave your everything to do so ☺️☺️ God bless 🙏🙏

我在中国出生，但是我在童年的时候就搬到美国，所以我的中文不太好。其实，我不太会读汉字，还有我的语法挺差… 有点不好意思。我想努力的学好我的母语，希望以后我会说的更流利一点！谢谢你给我们分享你的故事

Great video man , just moved to china my self last year and on my journey to learning chinese too. Keep up the good work

Dudee I get u so much 😭😭😭 I moved to mainland China when I was four but I’m even more confused cuz I’m actually from the Middle East so I couldn’t even speak English, then when I was 11 we moved to hk n cuz I grew up in China n went to local school I still didn’t know any English I remember in the first month in my new school in Hk (most schools in hk use English as primary language) the teacher said we had dictation n I didn’t even know what that meant 😂😂 ended up getting 3 marks. Now I always think about the time in China n miss it so much, it’s literally my childhood... n I get u so much about the ‘identity’ problem its really confusing now I’m just tryna not forget mandarin by watching shows listening to Chinese songs 😭 I’m so happy to find your channel n know that I’m not the only one THANK YOU 💕

Your story is actually really inspiring. I'm glad you listened to your heart and now you're producing amazing content for us all to enjoy!