Xiaoma

Smith is a native of New York City and grew up speaking English^[2][3] in an Ashkenazi Jewish family.^[7] In high school, Smith studied Latin, Hebrew, and Greek.^[8] After graduating from high school, he took a basic Mandarin Chinese class during the summer after high school before attending the University of Chicago. He attained a scholarship to study in Beijing, China through a program run by Princeton University, for one year, where he delved deeper into the Mandarin language.^[3] Smith graduated from the University of Chicago in 2011.^[9]

Smith eventually learned other languages using his own method of memorizing translated versions of varying phrases.^[2][3] He gained popularity on YouTube for his ability to speak Mandarin Chinese, alongside other languages such as Portuguese, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Yoruba, Tamil, Telugu, Navajo, and various Chinese dialects at a basic conversational level.^[2] Many of his videos showcase him partaking in diverse ethnic cultures while recording people's reactions to his varying proficiency in foreign languages.^[5][10] His video with fellow YouTuber Frankie Light, where they travel around New York City speaking Mandarin, received 4.2 million views.^[3]

Smith has also travelled to Ireland, spending time learning Irish^[11][12] and spoke Welsh when visiting Cardiff in Wales.^[13]

In November 2022, Smith interviewed Secretary of State Antony Blinken while Blinken was in Bangkok, Thailand,^[14] to attend APEC Thailand 2022.^[15]

Smith is married with Katherine Wong from Shaanxi province, China and has two children.^[16][17]