Chinese woman from Beijing in cotton city for love of Tamil

COIMBATORE: Seven years ago, when Li Yuan alias Nilani enrolled in a four-year Tamil course, she quickly fell in love with the language. She has come a long way since then, from watching Tamil films with Chinese subtitles to reading poems by Subramania Bharathiar and speaking pure classical Tamil.
Twenty-six-year-old Li greets everyone with a warm 'Vanakkam'. In an age where native Tamils cannot speak a word of their mother-tongue, she stands out in the crowd.She is currently pursuing a diploma course in spoken Tamil in Bharathiar University, the only student in her class.
"I had always wanted to be a radio jockey since my high school days when I had no idea about the Tamil language. When I was pondering what to study at the Communication University of China, I came across the four year Tamil course and I fell in love with the language," she said.
After university, she took up a job as a radio jockey at Communication Radio International where every Tuesday, between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, she spoke on Chinese culture. She yearned to learn spoken Tamil as many of her fans from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka spoke to her in the language.
She got admission at Bharathiar University and has been learning the language since May, 2015. "I find writing and reading easier than speaking local Tamil as several letters get dropped and words are shortened," she said.
Though she speaks pure classical Tamil with ease, she has had her share of struggles learning the language. "Chinese and Tamil have similarities as several sounds and letters are similar. But in Chinese each letter is a word in itself while in Tamil several letters form a word.
He face lights up when she talks about Tamil movies. She recently watched Kakka Muttai, 36 Vaiyadhinale and Indru Netru Naalai. She was employed to subtitle 36 Vaiyadhinale in Chinese. "The first movie I watched in Tamil was Velayudham and since then I have been a big fan of Tamil movies and have watched most of the new releases," she said.
Though she prefers to cook her own meal at her hostel, she said her favourite south Indian food is Vadai. "Since the food here is a little spicy I am unable to eat it every day," she said. Her favorite thing about Coimbatore city is the hospitality of its residents.
"We learn more from our experiences and surroundings rather than books. Thus, I want to make the most of my visit here and travel a bit too. I have visited Cochin and I will travel to Agra soon to see Taj Mahal," said Nilani.
Stating a quote by Avvaiyar, 'Kattradhu kai man alavu, Kallathathu ulagalavu' (Known is a drop, unknown is an ocean) she said it was her favourite proverb which had become a like a motto in her life.
Her professor, M Dineshwaran, said that he is amazed at her love for the language. "She makes it a point to speak to all her professors in Tamil and we are amazed at her fluency and pronunciation," he said.