Dr. RASHMI -Linguist

Reshmi is an excellent teacher who takes care to understand the needs and level of students. She uses an advanced approach that is sensitive to the differences between formal and everyday language and she goes out of her way to clearly explain how Malayalam works. Her approach to this difficult language is designed to overcome the problems faced by non-native speakers of the language, in particular, focusing on the correct pronunciation of new sounds and the need to understand how the language is actually spoken and used.

For context: I am an American born Malayali. I have decent listening ability, poor speaking ability, and only basic reading and writing skills that I learned recently. I have been trying to learn Malayalam on and off for the past few years and found it very difficult caused by a lack of educational resources. I started learning with Reshmi and wow, big difference. She teaches me with a university level textbook written by an American professor so it is a very manageable mix of Malayalam practice and English explanation. There are so many explanations in here of grammatical quirks that get me speaking colloquial Malayalam. For years, I have been making pronunciation errors that Reshmi has cleared up. Now I am having conversations with my parents in Malayalam and working my way up to reading paragraphs. If you have the basics down and are willing to work, I highly recommend you choose Reshmi as your teacher.

PDF on verb usage & conjugation, pattern of verb usage. Great lesson, thanks Dr. Rashmi!

My lesson with Reshmi was great, she is very positive and intuitive as a teacher, and takes time to talk through concepts. I last learned beginners Malayalam as a child, and the lessons encouraged rote learning. I'm looking forward to learning more about conversational Malayalam which will help me in the long-term!

Rashmi is a fantastic teacher who makes learning Malayalam very accessible. Her materials are incredibly detailed, breaking down complex topics in a way that makes them easy to understand and review later. Beyond the coursework, she is supportive and patient during our lessons. I always feel comfortable asking questions, and her encouragement has made a huge difference in my learning process.

I’ve been taking Malayalam lessons with Dr. Rashmi R. Nair on italki for the past six months, and I couldn’t be happier with the experience. She is a highly qualified and professional teacher who brings both structure and warmth to every session. Her lessons are well-paced, thoughtfully designed, and tailored to my learning goals. The positive reviews from her previous students are absolutely accurate—she’s patient, encouraging, and makes learning Malayalam enjoyable. I’ve made steady progress and genuinely look forward to each class. Highly recommended for anyone serious about learning Malayalam!