He’s Instagram’s recent fave English teacher. He vouches for a distinct American accent and is hurtling towards a million followers. Meet Dhiraj Takri, a 21-year-old from Odisha, who has become a social media sensation as users from across the country are sharing his reels where he is seen teaching spoken English in a near-perfect American accent. But what really will surprise you is that Takri himself has “never received any formal education and actually failed [his] class 12 exams”.
Takri shares how he began learning the language in 2019 and started working on getting the right American accent about two years later, ie in 2021. “I wanted to sing the Christian songs at my church (sic),” he recalls, adding, “I wanted to be able to understand native English speakers. I did not want my accent to hold me back... Now, I create content that is helping people learn the language with a native accent via memes and movie clips in a unique desi style where people can have fun!”
The content creator initially did face his share of trolling. He recalls, “When I first started uploading videos in August 2023, I would get comments calling me chapri and whatnot. But it has changed now. There are hardly any negative comments now. The internet has become a kinder place, perhaps because people can relate to my humble background.”
{{/usCountry}}The content creator initially did face his share of trolling. He recalls, “When I first started uploading videos in August 2023, I would get comments calling me chapri and whatnot. But it has changed now. There are hardly any negative comments now. The internet has become a kinder place, perhaps because people can relate to my humble background.”
{{/usCountry}}But such hardships only made him stronger, as Takri feel proud today for having made it even with “limited resources”. “I am the third of five children in my family. Earlier, my mother used to sell bangles to support us but my eldest brother runs the household now. All of them are very happy for me and enjoy my videos,” he gushes, adding “I am going to continue teaching and bettering my accent because right now, it’s a mix of Indian, British and American accents. I am a melting pot of accents!”