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This story is about Norain, a junior graphic designer from Sekinchan who became a Mandarin teacher for Malay students in Klang Valley.
Hi! My name is Norain binti Misro. I am a freelance tutor and contract teacher working in a religious school in Selangor. I also upload videos to my Tiktok channel (@mandarinbeginner_tuition) where I teach Mandarin for my students to follow online.
What most people are surprised to learn is that, not only can I speak Mandarin since I was young, I teach it to children ranging from kindergarten to primary school, especially Malay kids.
As a teacher who is Malay, I get a lot of curious questions from people about how I started teaching Mandarin. So here is my story.
I studied in an SRJK(C) as a Malay student
In this photo, I was in kindergarten. Image via Norain binti Misro
Growing up, my parents sent me to a Chinese school in Sekinchan, SRJK(C) Yoke Kuan Sekinchan. In school, I was a quiet and shy kid. I would read a lot of comic books and newspapers, especially Sin Chew Daily.
My classmates would chit chat about the latest Hong Kong dramas, artistes, and movies, so I would also watch these shows so that I could follow their topic of conversations. I made a lot of friends that way.
Every evening, during dinner time, my favorite channel to watch was NTV7. Learning Mandarin from TV shows helped me improve my communication and reading skills in Mandarin. For example, watching Jackie Chan’s movies like Drunken Master, and Stephen Chow’s movies like Kung Fu Hustle helped me deepen my understanding of the language.
I also had other Malay friends who studied in Chinese school. Since I was known for speaking and writing in Mandarin, my Malay classmates would turn to me for help with their Mandarin school work. That’s how I got the nickname of “Ain Cina” amongst my Malay friends and neighbors.
I also made a few close Chinese friends in my classes, especially in secondary school. They introduced me to romance dramas like Meteor Garden and teenage heartthrobs like Jay Chou. They all had a crush on him back in the day, but I preferred the boyband F4. Haha!
How I started learning Mandarin in university
Image via Norain binti Misro
I loved learning about Mandarin so much that I went for further studies in university back in 2015. While I was there, my Malay friends and lecturers discovered I could speak in Mandarin.
From that day on, my friends would enjoy listening to me converse with the Chinese taukehs (vendors) whenever I go to the supermarket, mechanic’s workshop, and dry goods shop.
In 2018, I started work as a Junior Graphic Designer in a printing company in Kuala Selangor. I sharpened my Mandarin skills even further talking to the many Chinese clients who enlisted my services to design banners and buntings for their businesses.
It gave me a different perspective and developed my career prospects because there were many companies that wanted to hire employees who could understand and speak fluent Mandarin.
How I started teaching Mandarin to Malay children
Image via Norain binti Misro
In 2018, I started teaching basic Mandarin classes to kindergarten children part-time in my home. I would teach them basic han yu pin yin, the 4 vocal tones, and how to write their name in Mandarin.
The following year, I began a job as a personal assistant, but instead of ending my classes, I started having them in the evenings.
I used to have imposter syndrome about being a Mandarin teacher. I felt I was not qualified enough. I could teach kindergarteners, but I was not a Mandarin expert.
So I took the Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) Test, which is China’s standardized Mandarin test for non-Chinese speakers and consists of nine proficiency levels in total.
The test was hard, much harder than SPM level Chinese! To be honest, I was convinced I failed the exam, because I only had three months to study for it. But imagine my shock when I got 197 out of 200 marks and received my HSK (Level 2) certificate!
Receiving my HSK2 certificate was one of my proudest moments as a non-native Mandarin speaker. Image via Norain binti Misro
The opportunity gave me a huge confidence boost in my ability to teach Mandarin. 4 years later, and I haven’t looked back since.
In 2022, I devoted my focus to being a full-time freelance tutor that conducts classes face to face and online at home. I would start with a class of 2-5 students, and then later on expanded to 12 students in my house.
The next year in 2023, I got an offer to teach in a KAFA school (Religious school) in SetiaWangsa and Sri Rampai. Here, I’ve taught more than 300 students.
People’s reaction when they hear me speak in Mandarin
Many people react with disbelief and surprise when they hear my Mandarin. I get the best reactions from old uncles and aunties in the Chinese supermarkets. They give me a thumbs up and are pleasantly surprised.
One time, I was speaking to one of my students in Mandarin over a video call while I was in public. After I ended the call, another diner approached me and said my Mandarin sounded like a native speaker, which made me blush in embarrassment.
@mandarinbeginner_tuition♬ original sound – Nora Fairy
I uploaded the video onto my Tiktok page, and it went viral with a million views!
But other times, I get a negative reaction from people. I would get comments like “dia lupa daratan/asal usul keturunan” (she has forgotten her roots).
Some even go as far as to say, why study multiple languages in school, why can’t we study all subjects in BM?
To them I say, studying in Mandarin school did not make me any less Malay. I still know my roots. If you want our Bahasa Melayu to be respected, then it’s only fair that we learn how to respect other race’s languages too.
Knowing another language is like a secret superpower
Image via Norain binti Misro
Learning a new language like Mandarin is like knowing a secret superpower.
For example, you can ask for directions in Chinese speaking countries as a tourist. When haggling for prices at the market, you will suddenly get better deals from Chinese vendors. You can even eavesdrop on conversations between Chinese to see if they’re talking bad about you! Haha.
I feel happy whenever I can be a translator for elderly Chinese Malaysians who don’t know Malay or English.
I believe that in multicultural Malaysia, we live amongst different cultures and the key to living together in harmony is mutual respect and appreciation for each others’ languages.
If Malays could learn Mandarin and Chinese could learn Malay with open minds and hearts, there would be no fighting, only cooperation.
Norain is a freelance tutor and Mandarin teacher at a religious school. You can follow her Mandarin classes on her TikTok account here.
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