An American YouTuber has wowed Aberdeenshire locals with his impressive Doric skills.
Xiaomanyc, best known simply as Xiaoma, visited Aberdeen, Gardenstown, Fraserburgh and Peterhead on his travels.
His channel features videos where he stuns people all over the world after learning their local dialects or languages.
Throughout his time on the site, he has amassed over 6 million subscribers and over 1.5 billion views.
Whether it was chatting to locals in a pub in Fraserburgh, or a fisherman going out to the North Sea, the YouTuber was put through his paces in trying to keep up with the Doric tongue.
The trip was organised by Grampian Escapes, with tour guide Jamie Robertson offering a crash course in everything Doric.
American YouTuber showcases Doric skills to Aberdeenshire locals
Jamie takes Xioama on a special one day trip to teach him all things Doric.
Starting off in Aberdeen, he meets with a Doric speaker who explains how very few people in the city actually speak the dialect.
He then heads off to the Globe Inn where he is assured the haddock is “aye peckin”.
Later in the video, he heads to Gardenstown, where he takes in the culture and different way of life of a fishing village from John, 75, a fisherman since he was 15.
Clearly taken aback by the place, Xioama said: “I loved Gardenstown. I think it’s probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.”
He even gets to see some Highland Coos up close.
In Fraserburgh, he heads to the Balaclava Bar for a few “low fliers”.
It’s here that he makes friends with some regulars, one of who is determined to show off his dancing skills.
Xioama’s understanding of Doric was really put to the test here.
He said: “It was definitely tough understanding the older guys in the Balaclava Bar.
“There were a few things I didn’t catch but that could have been the whisky!”
Xioama finishes off his journey with a trip to tour guide Jamie’s grandfather’s home in Peterhead.
The vlogger was keen to pick up some “sweeties for his bairns” and goes away with some homemade tablet.
Xioama on his Doric Adventure
Xioama noted the similarities between Doric sounds and different languages.
He said: “The who, what, when, why words were a highlight. Fit, fae, foo, all really stood out to me.
“They sounded very Germanic, and I could see why people mistake it for that. There’s a lot of similar sounds.
“I visited Leeuwarden in the Netherlands, and they speak a language called Frisian.
“That’s probably the closest I’ve heard to Doric.”
He has a lot of love for Aberdeenshire and Scotland as a whole.
He said: “This is my third trip to Scotland. Every time I visit I seem to have more and more fun.
“There’s another video on my channel where I spoke Gaelic on the Isle of Uist, which was such an amazing trip.”
Xioma also shared some thoughts on the importance of keeping regional dialects and languages alive.
“In this day and age of mass media which is heavily English focussed, it’s really cool that places have their own dialects still exist” he said.
“I think linguistic diversity is really important.”
Conversation