The wildly popular YouTube reality show "Chinese Monster" shows how phonetic symbols can kill foreigners learning Chinese!

How can language competitions be played? Memorizing essays, giving speeches, impromptu Q&A? No, the viral YouTube reality show “Chinese Monsters” kicks off with a “Bopomofo Pronunciation Elimination Deathmatch,” where 100 foreigners in Taiwan compete fiercely for a prize of 300,000, yet some haven't even had the chance to flaunt their fluent Chinese before falling into the trap of Taiwan's national treasure, the Bopomofo symbols “ㄅㄆㄇㄓㄔㄕ.” As a result, just a week after the first episode aired, viewers are already laughing to the point of collapse!

The opening of the show is designed like a cyberpunk scene from the movie The Matrix, immediately activating hell mode. The hosts, Cool and Black Dragon, tell the audience a bizarre and surreal story about a group of foreigners who speak Chinese very well, referred to as “Chinese Monsters” by Taiwanese people, who are about to be exterminated. This group of “Chinese Monsters” who have moved to Taiwan found the secret to survival, which is to win the selection competition of the “Chinese Monsters” show, which is the origin of this reality show. The host and producer “Cool” revealed that he completed this super glamorous reality challenge show with just five million TWD, which is quite a streamlined budget compared to the production costs of American shows like Mr. Beast or “Squid Game.” How did he manage to do it?

Phonetic = Foreigner's Hell Mode

For Taiwanese people, Zhuyin is a must-learn part of childhood. But for foreigners, it’s simply “hell mode”: the symbols are unfamiliar, the initials are intricate, and there are a lot of pronunciations that are indistinguishable between high and low tones. The “tone test” in the first episode scared this group of foreigners in Taiwan to the point of trembling. From “Happy Birthday” to “Kabi Baby Eats Dumplings,” these seemingly elementary school level tone tests caused some foreigners who pride themselves on their Chinese skills to fail spectacularly in the first episode, with only fifty out of one hundred contestants remaining after elimination. One must say, the “hellish test of Taiwanese Zhuyin” is a uniquely creative entertainment gag that has already captured the attention of many viewers. Plus, many guests are well-known YouTubers like Abemaria, and there are also very young challengers, such as Chen Anyang from the United States, who is only nineteen years old and has been in Taiwan for just four months, laughing at other contestants who are older and still dare to participate in the challenge show, immediately bringing a lot of topicality.

The production cost of the cool dream video, editing fees only cost 150,000?

In the exciting dream world, Youtuber Qiao Wei revealed the budget for her universe show, stating that the editing cost only amounted to 150,000. To have a big production, sponsorship support is still essential. The show's revenue also comes from advertising sponsors. She mentioned that usually, the advertising fees from companies are paid in three installments, and once the funds come in, they can start producing the next episode.

Whose cool dream is it?

Ku (born December 20, 1994, according to Wikipedia), whose real name is Richard Quentin Paul Camille, is a French-born YouTuber living in Taiwan. His Chinese name is 酷的夢. His native language is French, but he is also fluent in English. He mentioned that he started working at the age of 18 as an intern in a hotel in London. He speaks fluent Chinese and his channel has around 2 million subscribers, where he introduces food, culture, and attractions from Taiwan, France, and the United States, combining fun and entertainment.

Cool spent about 5 million TWD to produce the “Chinese Monster” challenge show, and once the Youtube video went online, it was praised by netizens for its production quality comparable to Netflix, even calling it the French version of Mr. Beast. This challenge has been open for foreign participants in Taiwan since February this year, with a total of 100 foreigners from different nationalities participating. The competition involves foreigners competing in Chinese, and the final champion can win 300,000 TWD.

Cool combines language learning, cultural exchange, and creative entertainment through this program, successfully attracting a large number of viewers and further increasing the popularity of his channel.

This article is about the viral YouTube reality show “Chinese Monster,” which shows how pinyin can kill foreigners learning Chinese! It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.