There have been plenty of stories of Malaysians being able to speak Tamil, Cantonese and a host of other languages. However you will rarely hear our fellow Malaysians speak French and other European languages.
Recently, a TikTok video of a Malaysian woman speaking French gained traction as netizens were impressed with her fluency of the language.
In the video Aisyah says, ” I had to manage a work meeting with stakeholders from Guinea entirely in French.”
“I’m aware that my French needs a lot of work. I learnt it entirely through a free app,” she mentioned in the comments.
The initial video blew up and has garnered over 56,000 views. Many of the comments by netizens were amazed at how she learnt French entirely through language learning app Duolingo.
In response to one of the said comments, Aisyah made another video explaining how she had come to learn French.
The text in the video reads, “I just did Duolingo for five to ten minutes every single day before bed consistently for two years.”
“It inspired me to then apply for opportunities’ in Belgium, Paris & Montreal.”
She then thanked Duolingo in the caption of the video which reads, “Yes, I still need to practice more but even learning the basics really did open doors to bigger networks and many opportunities!”
The video has amassed over 74,000 views on TikTok with many users tagging Duolingo to take note of Aisyah’s achievement.
Aisyah’s journey in learning French
In an interview with WORLD OF BUZZ, Aisyah explained the inspiration behind her will to learn French. ” I decided to pick up the language after studying at Maastricht University, Brussels in 2018.”
“It was initially to help me get around Belgium and to also impress a crush lol,” she added.
“The same year, I was selected for the United Nations IGF Ambassadors programme in Paris, France, so I thought it would be useful to download Duolingo and learn French. It was free and I was a broke college student that couldn’t afford language classes. So I used what I had.”
Aisyah who is currently working as Regional Community Engagement Manager, Asia-Pacific at Internet Society said that she started to learn in 2018 and did the lessons everyday for five to ten minutes before bed.
“I also really enjoy French music, particularly from Cœur de pirate, Carla Bruni and Clara Luciani. I also started reading children books in French, like the famous Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) and watched more French movies like Amelie.”
“It didn’t feel like a chore. I learnt it not because I had to, but because I wanted to.”
Although she noted it was hard, she believes that is what makes it fun. “The harder it is to learn something new, the more you’ll have to be proud of when you can finally master it,” she said.
Many of us have undoubtedly tried to pick up another language either via Duolingo or other methods only to end up giving up after a while.
Aisyah says to ensure that she did not end up giving up, some of the things she did included; making it a habit to do it before bed, wanting to maintain her “streak”, beating her friend’s score on the app as well as the passive aggressiveness of the Duolingo owl.
“A lot of my friends can speak at least five languages, and I noticed how this helps not only in enhancing their employment marketability globally, but also in building an international network.”
“I also wanted to learn so I can understand people better. Language is a big part of culture, and by learning language, you also learn people. You learn empathy, and this allows you to get along with people who look different than you. Language really does bring people together,” she mentioned.
Aisyah also explained that although she doesn’t consider herself to be fluent yet, she can understand and respond to simple conversations.
“I didn’t feel like I was progressing much on Duolingo until I listened to France’s President Emmanuel Macron speech in 2018 and to my surprise, I was able to understand it. That was when I realised that those lessons were paying off.”
“Fast forward 2021, I now work at the Internet Society, a global organisation with a community of over 84,000 people worldwide. At work, French is one of the languages used in our main communications, and thus from time to time, I get to practice my French at work,” she added.
On whether other Malaysians should put an effort in learning a language, Aisyah said, “Although I have my lazy days, this little hobby has led me to so many people and opportunities abroad.”
“It has opened so many doors for me and took me to places I never would have imagined. I also learnt that language is like a muscle, you have to exercise it in order to maintain it.”
“I would absolutely encourage Malaysians to pick up another language. It allows you to connect with different people at a deeper level, boost your confidence, help with your employment marketability, add to your skills as well as give you flexing rights,” she added.
“If you’re lucky, you might even win your crush,” she hilariously added.
Watch Aisyah’s video below:
What do you think of this? Let us know in the comments.
Also read: “Truly Malaysian!” Video Of Malay & Chinese Aunties Speaking Tamil Warms Hearts Of M’sians
