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What's the story?
WWE Superstar John Cena recently spoke to The Straits Times (h/t Wrestling Inc) to promote his newly released animated film, Ferdinand. During his interview, he discussed the Mandarin language, why he learnt it, and how he continues to practice it.
In case you didn't know...
WWE tried to break into the Chinese Market a few years ago and during their promotion in China, had a few top stars throw around a few Mandarin phrases. At this time, John Cena grew fascinated with the language and took it upon himself to learn it as best he could.
In last year's June press event in Shanghai, he took everyone by surprise as he put on display his knowledge of the language.
The heart of the matter
During the interview with The Strait Times, humble as ever, he disagreed with the notion that he is an expert in the language and compared his proficiency level with that of a third grader.
He said that despite his attempts to learn the language over the last five years, his knowledge of the language was still limited. He said that he had started to learn the language to help his company to achieve the goal of being truly global.
"I started wanting to learn Mandarin to get our global company to be a true global company."
He confessed that he later became obsessed with the language, and during the days that he had free time, a tutor came over for two hours to help him learn Mandarin.
"[I'm] fascinated with the language and has become obsessed with trying to learn it. ... I don't have a lot of free time, but when I do, for an hour or two of my day, a tutor comes over and we just talk."
He also talked about his methods for learning the language, revealing that he had a bag with two stacks of flashcards with Mandarin words and phrases. According to Cena, the cards took him an hour and a half to go through before, whereas now he takes only half an hour. He goes through the cards on any days that he has time, before taking some time off to relax.
What's next?
John Cena is slowly becoming a global star as he is taking part in more and more movies. He is currently set to make a return to WWE for the Christmas Day Raw, and SmackDown Live's 30th December Live Event.
Author's take
Cena's revelation of the disciplined way in which he has tried to learn the language is not a surprise for any fans of the star. The Former Champion is known for being strict with himself and bringing a level of dedication to anything he decides to do.
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