After a hiatus of a few months, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has begun again and this makes Vigneshwaran M very happy. He can now resume his two-minute video series on his YouTube channel called Lets Learn, where he teaches English to keen learners with the help of the IPL. The English language trainer began the series during the last lockdown when the annual cricket league was being held within a bio-bubble, prior to its eventual hiatus.
An avid cricket fan, Vigneshwaran realised that cricket could help him understand the English language better when he received his first phone. "My love for cricket meant that I would read the commentary on my phone along with a few blogs and also the post-match review. Through this, I was able to improve my vocabulary to a great extent," says Vigneshwaran. However, it was when he was at his home in Kovilpatti during the lockdown that Vigneshwaran realised that he could take his knowledge to the masses. "I had to shift to online classes for training during the lockdown and that's what gave me the confidence to also make videos. I'm not someone who is typically comfortable in front of a camera," states Vigneshwaran.
So, how did he do it? "Cricket is very relatable to every Indian and I thought about using that to help others understand and learn the English language better," recalls Vigneshwaran. "When we teach a new language, we always cite an example from something that students know about to make them understand a new word or concept. This time, all they have to do is watch a cricket match and understand the word or phrase that is being discussed," adds Vigneshwaran. So, on his YouTube channels, viewers can learn the meaning and pronunciation of words like 'onslaught', 'squander' and even phrases like 'Go down to the wire' or 'Slow burn thriller'.
This was not Vigneshwaran's first tryst with YouTube though. Over the last one year, Vigneshwaran has been posting videos on his YouTube channel about methods to approach an interview, build a better résumé and develop other job-related soft skills. But becoming an English language trainer isn't what Vigneshwaran set out to do. He studied Mechanical Engineering from RMK College of Engineering and Technology and even worked at Cognizant for a while before deciding to quit his job. "I didn't want to code or become stuck in the corporate rut. Although I didn't have a formal language training certification, I did complete a Business English Certification during my time at VIT," says Vigneshwaran.
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After quitting his job, he joined SMART Training Resources in Chennai where he honed his skills as a trainer. "I got my first break at Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) where I trained a large number of undergraduate students in soft skills. Currently, I train students of SRM Institute of Science and Technology as well. In the corporate sector, I am working with Cognizant and also Sutherland to train their employees in communication skills," says Vigneshwaran.
