M'sian Preschooler Goes Viral For His Eagerness To Learn Tamil, Chinese, Jawi & Russian
Nik Eusoff Nik Nurfaqih has been featured on Bernama Seithigal and Astro Vaanavil for his passion for Tamil.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 07 Sep 2023, 02:22 PM
A Malaysian boy has gone viral for his zealousness in learning Tamil, Chinese, Jawi, and even Russian at the age of six
Nik Eusoff Nik Nurfaqih is a preschooler from Bandar Menjalara, Kepong.
Since last month, Eusoff has captured thousands of Malaysians' attention on TikTok for constantly bugging his mother, Karina Imran, to learn multiple languages, particularly Tamil, in addition to Bahasa Melayu, English, and Chinese that he has been learning at school.
"On 30 July, he begged me to let him learn Tamil, but we didn't let him because we don't have a teacher to teach him and we don't speak the language.
"But after his persistent requests, I got annoyed and gave in. I let him watch Tamil syllabic videos and play educational games on a tablet," said the 34-year-old mother.
Three weeks later, Eusoff wrote his first Tamil character and could read basic Tamil scripts.
"He didn't study every day. I don't know how his brain was able to pick up (the language so quickly)," said Karina in the video with 500,000 views. She added, "So enjoy watching this video because I couldn't tell he was reading (the characters) correctly."
You can watch the video below:
Eusoff's talent for languages began at the age of three when Karina discovered his ability to write Jawi letters after he watched YouTube videos
"We were surprised because we had never taught him (Jawi), as we wanted to him to focus on ABCs first.
"After Jawi, he memorised the Russian alphabet, then Georgian. Now, he suddenly started memorising Tamil scripts," Karina told Harian Metro.
The mother said Eusoff was also sent to Chinese classes since he was five years old in preparation for entering a Chinese primary school near their house.
According to her, she often puts on Chinese language videos so that Eusoff will get enough exposure to the language.
She explained that initially, she was hesitant to allow Eusoff to pick up Tamil, as she was concerned that he might become confused by learning so many languages at once. However, she gave in after seeing her son become "moody" due to her refusal.
Speaking to SAYS, Karina clarified that Eusoff cannot yet converse in Tamil as he is self-taught in the language from watching YouTube videos.
Below is a video of Eusoff playing a Tamil flashcard game:
Karina said that she and her husband will support any interests Eusoff has that can help with the development of his mind
She described her son as a cheerful and active child who was slow to speak as a toddler.
However, by the age of two, Eusoff was already demonstrating the ability to string together three to four words at once.
"What's strange is that some of Eusoff's hair started turning grey when he was three years old.
"Because of that, my husband and I took Eusoff to see a specialist and it was confirmed that he was not autistic.
"However, he has to undergo some chromosome and genetic tests to know if there are problems,"Karina told Harian Metro.
Below is a video of Eusoff learning Chinese:
After videos of Eusoff learning Tamil went viral on TikTok, he has been featured on Bernama Seithigal and Astro Vaanavil
Karina said she shares videos of Eusoff on TikTok and Instagram as a way to document his progress and their memories together.
"I didn't even expect the videos would go viral until people, including my colleagues, started telling me that they wanted to follow Eusoff's progress.
"I hope that by sharing the videos, I can help other parents who may have children like Eusoff," she said.
Below is a video of Eusoff being featured on Bernama Seithigal:
