Tutor in Malaysia finds success using Tamil to teach Mandarin

Multilinguist goes beyond classroom to reach people on TikTok, Instagram

- Vihanya Rakshika

Former bank officer Sri Devi Mani, 41, grew up in Selangor speaking her mother tongue Tamil, and now uses the language to create lessons for her Mandarin tuition classes.

Going by the online moniker Ms Shirley, she uses Tamil words to teach Mandarin, and showcases her fluency on TikTok and Instagram by effortlessly switching between the two languages.

Ms Sri Devi, who is often seen wearing colourful saris in her online videos, said someone from Singapore who saw her social media posts nudged her into offering Mandarin lessons online, after the kindergarten she ran closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reluctant at first, she gave the idea some thought, and slowly came around to it.

She then took her unique brand of language lessons online, posting snippets of herself teaching Tamil words in Mandarin, and vice versa, on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

She said: "I was just teaching Mandarin for free on TikTok. Someone from Singapore who followed my account asked me to start an online class.

"And when I thought about how I had no work in Malaysia, I decided to start giving online classes to teach Mandarin and earn some money." Her Instagram and TikTok accounts now have more than 70,000 followers each, while her TikTok videos have amassed millions of views.