David Beckham has learnt how to say "fish and chips" in Mandarin.

His tutor is Chinese actress Angelababy, with the lesson caught on video that was posted on Instagram on Tuesday (Sept 10) by the former Manchester United football great.

Beckham took a while to nail down "zha yu shu tiao", struggling especially to get the pronunciation of "yu" spot on.

The two were eating the iconic British food at the back of a bus, with Beckham, 44, telling Angelababy, 30, how, when he was young, he and his family used to get fish and chips wrapped in newspaper once a week, usually on a Friday.

She chipped in humorously, saying: "So you like newspaper a lot?"

Angelababy was in the British capital to shoot a commercial for an upcoming Macau hotel called Londoner Macau, in which she and Beckham play a newly-married couple.

Photos published in various British tabloids showed the setting for the commercial included a London double-decker bus and a street party, complete with confetti-throwing.

Meanwhile, Beckham has reportedly gone "fishing", trying to bait Barcelona icon Lionel Messi to move to his club, Inter Miami, when it debuts in America's Major League Soccer next season.

If the move comes true, he can learn from Messi how to say "fish and chips" in Spanish.