While it’s not unusual to see Malaysians speak to each other using various languages in a single sentence, it’s not everyday that you come across a foreigner who speaks it as fluently too.
A WeirdKaya reader recently shared a rare encounter of a photographer from Japan who not only came thousands of miles to Malaysia to take photos of this year’s Thaipusam celebration, but apparently is fluent in Tamil too.
Japanese photographer floors M’sian woman with fluent Tamil
Speaking exclusively to WeirdKaya, the OP said the incident took place at Batu Caves yesterday (Feb 11), where thousands of devotees and tourists gathered there on Thaipusam.
She said throughout her brief conversation with the photographer, he replied to her 100% in Tamil even though she used English for the most part.
I was too stunned. I thought he was asking me something and my first thought was to speak to him in English. When he replied in Tamil. I was taken aback.
“The best part was that most of the time, I was talking to him in English and he replied me in Tamil, which was rather amusing,” she shared.
Adding that this was the Japanese photographer’s second Thaipusam visit, the OP said he was also able to name several popular Indian musicians and expressed interest in Indian Carnatic classical music.
“This was quite surprising as not many non-Indians, including some Indians themselves, know about these Indian classical musicians,” she said.
The OP also shared two videos with WeirdKaya, with one showing the Japanese photographer reciting a movie line which was made famous by the South Indian actor Rajinikanth.
Have you come across foreigners who were able to speak Tamil or any other dialect fluently? Share with us in the comments!
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