KOZHIKODE: Evening cast its majestic beauty on the Kozhikode beach as Elizabeth stood there and talked to a group of people, her Instagram followers. On seeing a foreigner chatting away in Malayalam, a curious bunch stops by, and a young girl quips: “This is the first time I am seeing a foreigner speak Malayalam. Congratulations!,” and Elizabeth bursts out into a happy laugh.
Elizabeth Keyton, Eliza aka Eli as the gram calls her is a social media sensation for a unique reason. She is an American and chronicles her Malayalam learning journey on her Instagram account: eli.kutty. The methods that she uses to learn one of the most difficult languages in the world is creative and artistic.
Her Instagram account has over 12,500 followers, most of whom are Keralities settled across the world.
The meet and greet on Kozhikode beach had her Instagram followers coming in to see her. Eliza works in Dubai as an English teacher and it was through her Indian friends that she had her first tryst with Malayalam. Later when she found her soulmate in Arjun Ullas, a Malayali, she set out to learn his mother tongue.
She found it hard to come across materials to learn the language. So she started an Instagram account to document her learning process and thereby help out anyone who may want to learn the language.
Being a teacher herself she thought of how people might want to learn and hence incorporated pictures and other creative elements while learning. She regularly uploads Instagram posts such as the verb of the week, word of the week, grammar tips...the pictures and art work, which make learning from her account fun.
Around March 2019, her account blew up and gained a lot of followers. She has also launched her Youtube channel ‘Learn Malayalam with Elikutty.’
“There are a lot of factors that fascinate me about this language. A single word has so many regional variations. And also, how old the language is. It is also interesting to see how many English words are used in common parlance here, but with a Malayali touch,” says Eliza.
“A Malayali follower of mine, who is married to a Swiss and settled abroad once sent me pictures of her kids, with a message, these are your new students. The expat malayalis want their kids to learn the language,” adds Eliza.
This is Eliza’s third trip to Kerala, Munnar is her favourite place here, while ‘Meen Pollichathu’ is her favourite dish and ‘Ayyo’ is her most frequently uttered Malayalam word.