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Mastering Mandarin on the court: Thinaah’s language skills boosted by badminton | Scoop
M. Thinaah speaks four languages: Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil. – Alif Omar/Scoop pic, July 28, 2024
Sports

Mastering Mandarin on the court: Thinaah’s language skills boosted by badminton

Only Indian among Malaysia’s women’s doubles owes proficiency in lingo to time at Bukit Jalil Sports School

Main Author Image
Adam Zamri
Updated
10:00 PM MYT

 

KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia boasts many athletes with talent and intelligence, including women’s doubles player M. Thinaah, who is currently competing at the Paris Olympics with her partner, Pearly Tan.

Many fans may know that Thinaah, the only Indian player in the Malaysian women’s doubles squad, is fluent in Mandarin. 

However, the reality is that she has never received formal education in a Chinese national-type school, either at the primary or secondary level.

Speaking to Scoop, Thinaah’s father, S. Muralitharan, revealed that his daughter faced difficulties at the Bukit Jalil Sports School because nearly all her classmates were Chinese.

She was offered to continue her studies at the school when she was 12-years-old after winning the MSSM championship.

To help her adapt, Muralitharan suggested that she learn one Mandarin word or character each day. 

Thinaah successfully used this method to master the language and was able to communicate well with her classmates and teammates in the badminton squad.

“What I told her was: ‘Learn one new word each day. With 365 days in a year, you should know 365 words by the end of the year. You can then start forming sentences based on the words you’ve learned, and you’ll see improvement from that.’

“To be honest, I’m not surprised because she’s quite intelligent. She’s been able to pick up Mandarin quickly. 

“However, she doesn’t use it outside, like at restaurants or malls, where she doesn’t speak to salespeople in Mandarin. Instead, she uses it with her teammates on the badminton team,” said Muralitharan.

Thinaah excels not only on the court but also in academics. 

The world number 13 is currently pursuing a bachelor of education in teaching English as a second language at Open University Malaysia and is now in her final semester.

In addition to her badminton prowess and academic achievements, Thinaah is quadrilingual, speaking Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin and Tamil fluently. 

This linguistic ability not only aids her communication with a diverse range of people but also reflects her adaptability and determination.

The 26-year-old shuttler also received an added boost of encouragement when her parents, Muralitharan and Dr Parimala Devi, travelled to Paris to support her in her Olympic debut.

Their presence clearly lifted Thinaah and her partner, Pearly, who just pulled off a stunning upset by defeating Japan’s two-time former world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara in Group A, which has been labelled as the “Group of Death”.

This victory has renewed their chances of advancing to the quarter-finals.

“She’ll be very happy because I always tell her to focus on playing hard during the game. 

“Don’t worry about winning, just play your best, and we couldn’t ask for more,” Muralitharan added. – July 28, 2024

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