If you haven't heard of John Cena, he's a wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) who has been impressing fans worldwide with his ability to speak in basic Mandarin.

This time, the hulking polyglot starred in a video where he "taught" the Bella Twins, who wrestle for WWE as well, how to say the word "twins" and the phrase "we are twins" in Mandarin.

Cena really tries his best in the video, but Mandarin speakers will find him bordering on gibberish.

This is because twins is pronounced as "shuang bao tai" (双胞胎) in Mandarin, where all three monosyllabic words should be pronounced with the first tone (high and level tones) in Mandarin.

Cena, however, pronounces it as "shuang mao tai", which the twin sisters echoe after him.

Furthermore, what adds to the confusion is that Maotai, or Moutai is a type of Chinese liquor.

If heard out of context, one might think he's talking about the drink, not twins:

Mandarin is a tonal language. In order to differentiate meaning, the same syllable can be pronounced with different tones, and the same Chinese character can also be pronounced with different tones depending on context and also its use in a phrase. The complexity can be a source of miscommunication.

As part of a second-language programme that WWE offers, Cena's wobbly but laudable efforts in Mandarin was first spotlighted in a speech he delivered at WWE's press conference in China.

The wrestler has since gone on to demonstrate his ability elsewhere, such as this Lunar New Year greeting message for Chinese fans.

Cena deserves credit for learning and using mandarin, but there's always room for improvement, as one netizen puts across in a comment on Cena's Chinese New Year message.

Jiayou, Cena!

Top image via The Bella Twins' Youtube Channel

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