China, as that country's vice president visits Washington. But, for the moment, one of the

best-known American women in China is neither a politician nor a Hollywood star. Hari Sreenivasan

has this story about slang. HARI SREENIVASAN: Millions of Chinese are picking up American

slang, thanks to what's happening in this Washington, D.C., apartment. Meet Jessica

Beinecke, China's newest English-language star. JESSICA BEINECKE, "OMG! Meiyu": My four

friends and I are renting a car and driving to New York City. I'm so excited. (LAUGHTER)

HARI SREENIVASAN: Five days a week, from the comfort of her dining table, the 25-year-old

writes, hosts and produces a show called "OMG! Meiyu," or "Oh, My Gosh, American English."

In it, she explains idioms and slang to her Chinese viewers. Beinecke began studying Mandarin

as an undergraduate. In 2006, she enrolled in Middlebury College's intensive language

program, and spent the first half of 2007 studying in Beijing and Hangzhou, near Shanghai.

JESSICA BEINECKE: I had the best experience studying Mandarin in mainland China, and studying

the culture and everything. I feel like it was always me talking to young Chinese people.

That was my big goal when I was in China, to make as many friends as I could. HARI SREENIVASAN:

She didn't become a star in China until last August, when she produced a video called "Yucky

Gunk." JESSICA BEINECKE: It was about all the gunk that comes out of your face, and

we talked about eye gunk and earwax and boogers. (LAUGHTER) JESSICA BEINECKE: You have a -- you

have a booger right there. HARI SREENIVASAN: That video went viral, and has since been

viewed more than one-and-a-half million times. JESSICA BEINECKE: That's never going to be

in a textbook. And so they ve sort of -- so now they see "OMG! Meiyu" as a place where

they can go to get the most authentic American English that young people use. Jiggly. Jiggly.

My arms get jiggly. HARI SREENIVASAN: Beinecke, or "Bi-jee-eh," as she's known to her Chinese

fans, curates six social media accounts in China and the U.S. JESSICA BEINECKE: It starts

on the weekend, where I ask them (SPEAKING MANDARIN), which is, what do you want to study

next week? And they -- I get hundreds of responses every week. HARI SREENIVASAN: "OMG" is becoming

a hit in China. On the Chinese equivalent of YouTube, "OMG" has garnered more than seven

million views. And on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, the program is now followed by

more than 200,000 people. Beinecke's bosses are taking notice. She works at VOA, Voice

of America, the 70-year-old U.S. government-funded broadcaster with programs in more than 40

languages around the world. So why is this working? DAVID ENSOR, director, Voice of America:

She talks to them on their level, and I think that's something we need to replicate around

VOA. HARI SREENIVASAN: David Ensor is Voice of America's director. He says, while "OMG"

may not fall within the traditional idea of what VOA does, the show helps the Chinese

further understand American culture. DAVID ENSOR: We are a communications company, multimedia,

on many platforms. We're reaching out to various peoples around the world, and our mission

is to report the news, yes, but also to explain America and American values to people around

the world. What Jessica is doing is going to be something that I think you ll see more

people doing here, which is reaching out to the younger generation in different countries

and communicating with them. HARI SREENIVASAN: But why does it resonate with Chinese audiences?

For some ideas, we visited nearby Georgetown University. There, we asked a group of Chinese

nationals and Ph.D. candidates in the linguistics department why Beinecke's show strikes a chord.

HUANG HAI, graduate student, Georgetown University: So first of all, the girl is very cute. HARI

SREENIVASAN: Huang Hai moved to the U.S. in September. HUANG HAI: One of my friends sent

a link to me through China's Weibo, which is China's counterpart of Twitter. Yes, so

I know that this video got very popular in China, especially among the teenagers. HARI

SREENIVASAN: Huang Lihong has studied and taught in the U.S. for eight years. She hadn't

heard of "OMG," but, as a teacher, could immediately see its value. HUANG LIHONG, graduate student,

Georgetown University: My first impression about her is that she's very energetic and

enthusiastic in teaching English. She uses a lot of facial expressions and body language

to help the learners learn the language that she is teaching. I think that's very helpful.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Her colleague Luke Amoroso studies English-language instruction in China,

and sees obvious benefits of focusing on American slang. LUKE AMOROSO, graduate student, Georgetown

University: It's cool to learn slang. And any language when you learn slang, people

like that, because now you're part of the group that knows those things. And that separates

you from older people or people that aren't in your group, and that's definitely attractive.

HUANG LIHONG: Her teaching is very interactive and communicative. And it can be a good complement

for traditional textbooks, especially for naturalistic learners. HARI SREENIVASAN: Chinese

education has traditionally relied heavily on instructive teaching, lectures and rote

memorization. But until recently, the country's closed history has meant it has lacked foreign-born

teachers who could add context and authenticity. HUANG HAI: We Chinese often learn English

from very formal classes, and it's like very far from our everyday life. HUANG LIHONG:

The idioms, expressions, slang that she teaches are not easy to find in traditional textbooks.

And I think those expressions are very useful in our daily lives. HARI SREENIVASAN: So what's

next for Beinecke and for "OMG"? JESSICA BEINECKE: It would be ideal if we can start this year

inspiring more people to break out of the online community, which is thriving, and it's

really exciting, and to go and meet in person, and to be leaders in their community to further

the discussion with their friends. Whether that's in a classroom or that's just with

their friends at a KFC around the corner or something like that, I think that would be

another dream come true. HARI SREENIVASAN: Her other dream already came true. In December,

she returned to Beijing to meet her fan club, which includes more than 4,000 members, some

of whom traveled four hours by train just to meet her. JESSICA BEINECKE: What do you

want for Christmas? WOMAN: Well, I'm a dog person, so I want a puppy, a husky or a pug.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Those passionate fans also voluntarily built apps for smartphones so

"OMG" can be seen on iPhones and Android devices in China and around the world. For now, Beinecke

continues her conversation with Chinese admirers and pupils half a world away. JEFFREY BROWN:

On our website, Jessica Beinecke offers more about how her Chinese audience helps her choose

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