This 11-Year-Old Malaysian Girl Is So Brilliant, She Speaks 6 Languages!
She even represented Kedah for an Arabic choral speaking competition!
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 15 Aug 2016, 12:48 PM
Meet P. Thanhya Phrassanna Naidu, a young girl that has mastered six different languages at the tender age of 11
P. Thanhya Phrassanna Naidu with her parents, K. Puspiakaran and S. Parvathy photographed with her Arabic choral speaking team yesterday, 14 August
Image via Bernama/ The Malay Mail OnlineThanhya can speak flawless Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil, Mandarin, English, Arab, and basic Thai language
Malaysian National News Agency Bernama met the talented young girl at the closing ceremony of the Eighth National-level Al-Quran recitation and Arabic choral speaking competition held at Universiti Malaysia Pahang yesterday, 14 August.
Thanhya explained that she learned Mandarin when studying at a Chinese kindergarten, Arab when staying in Saudi Arabia for three years due to her father's posting there and the Thai language thanks to the Thai community when the family stayed in Jitra, Kedah.
It was her fluency in the Arabic language that made her part of her school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin's Arab choral speaking team, 'Sauntinnajah'
The team represented Kedah and became the first runner-up on this year's competition, having defeated 16 other teams.
According to The Malay Mail Online, Thanhya's green baju kurung with yellow selendang caught the attention of Pahang Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob when he was giving away the prizes, as reported by Bernama.
"I converse in Mandarin when talking to my Chinese friends so that I don’t lose my mastery over it, Arabic when talking with my choral speaking group and Thai when mingling with the Thai-speaking community," said Thanhya, as reported by The Malay Mail Online.
Thanhya Phrassanna speaks English and Tamil at home while at school, she converses in Bahasa Malaysia.
She said speaking Arabic was a breeze as her father, lecturer K. Puspiakaran and mother, S. Parvathy, both 46, also converse in the language.
Although physically small, Thanhya Phrassanna has a big ambition. She aspires to be a doctor one day.
Beaming with pride over his daughter’s skills, Puspiakaran said the girl’s "young age" enabled her to easily master diverse languages as such skills could come in handy as one grew older.
themalaymailonline.com
