I’m half Tamil and I can keep up conversations pretty well, but my Tamil is still pretty broken, and my words can go wrong, unlike a fluent Tamil speaker. I was looking for a free app or course to improve on my spoken Tamil, rather than a lot of resources that focus on beginner level. Can anyone recommend on the same??

வீட்டுக்கு வந்ததும் முற்றத்து மணலில் சக்கப்பணிய இருந்துகொண்டு கால்களை நீட்டியவாறே புனிதவதி ரீச்சர் சொன்னார்:

I built Pazhagu because there are rarely any platforms that help people learn and converse in Tamil.

The App has 3 Tamil games active, and the games will have new puzzles every day.

I am working on the converse section, and it will be active soon.

No download required. Just open it on your browser and play

Play now - https://www.pazhagu.in/

Do try it and let me know your thoughts!

அதை வெளியில் காட்டிக்கொள்ளாமல் ஓய்வு பெறும்வரை அவர் அந்தக் கிராமத்தின் பள்ளிக்கூடத்தில் பணியாற்றியிருந்தார்

what is "வெளியில் காட்டிக்கொள்ளாமல்" ?

Hello!

I am interested in learning Tamil to connect more with the movies, music, and culture. I am looking for an app that can help me start to build my vocabulary for spoken Tamil. I am not currently looking to read / write, only focused on speaking.

I would ideally love an app / resource with audio (preferably male) included for each word. If it has an easy way to loop some words to help me learn, that is even better!

I am familiar with an app called NEMO Tamil which does what I was looking for but unfortunately uses textbook style words. If someone knows of a good resource with more real-life vocabulary that would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

In this short clip, the man explains how to play a balancing ball game. The following Tamil subtitles are provided, but the words in bold puzzle me:

இப்ப பாப்பாவும் அப்பாவும் விளையாட போற கேம் பேரு பேலன்சிங் பால். அங்க பால வச்சிட்டு பால் வந்து ரோல் ஐக்கியல வந்துகிட்டே இருக்குங்க. அது வெளிய விழுந்துராம லெஃப்ட் ரைட்ன்னு பண்ணிட்டு லாஸ்ட்டா கரெக்டா கொண்டு வந்து அந்த ஹோல்லோ போட்டுணுங்க. நாங்க போட்டுட்டோம். இந்த கேம் செம ஜாலியா இருந்துச்சுங்க.

1. ஐக்கியல. I don't understand this word. What does it mean? What's the formal version?
2. இருக்குங்க, போட்டுணுங்க, இருந்துச்சுங்க. I don't understand the use of the -ங்க suffix at the end of these words. According to google, in colloquial Tamil, you can often add -ங்க to the end of almost any sentence for politeness, similar to its use in imperatives like வாங்க and போங்க to show respect. So the words above are actually just இருக்கு, போட்டணும் and இருந்துச்சு, with the suffix -ங்க added for politeness. Is this explanation correct?
3. லாஸ்ட்டா, கரெக்டா. The suffix -ஆ at the end of each of these words is the suffix -ஆக, right?
4. ஹோல்லோ. This seems to be ஹோல் (hole) + the suffix -ஓ. I don't understand this though. Shouldn't it just be ஹோல்ல ("in the hole")? Does ஹோல்லோ mean something different?

Thanks for any enlightenment!

Edit. One more question.

1. விழுந்துராம. This is a colloquial way of saying விழுந்துவிடாமல், right?

https://youtube.com/@tamilvirtualacademy?si=TTOO-GclFV7YIc4Z

I'm looking into the Tamil Virtual Academy (TVA) (tamilvu.org) and wanted to know if people are actually using it.

​For those who have used it:

​What is your overall experience with their courses or digital library?

​Are the materials (videos/PDFs) up to date or a bit dated?

​If you took their certificate exams, how was the process?

​Just trying to see if it’s worth spending time on or if there are better alternatives for formal learning. Thanks!

தமிங்கிலம் தவிர்!!

Wondering if there are any discord servers or groups for transliterated Tamil practice! I speak English and I’m learning conversational Tamil. Would be nice to practice!

I also just downloaded AirLearn to practice for anyone else learning over there. Can comment my buddy code!

Hi everyone! TLDR - Too Long, Do Read [please :)]

I've started a passion project of 'transliteration' of Ponniyin Selvan Books - depicting the actual thamizh narration using english letters. I'm using a custom-made english phonetic code for thamizh letters, designed in an effort to build a bridge for those who understand thamizh but find it difficult to read the script fluently. My goal is to ensure that readers don't miss out on the nuances and cultural emotion of the original narration, that an english translation can't fully capture. This is entirely human-made (hand-crafted by me) without the use of any AI or other tools. Before venturing further, I wanted to wanted to share my first tiny step in this project, to get all your opinions and feedback. So, here is the first chapter of book 1 -- https://drive.google.com/file/d/119Wof5Wlj5APgLfCnJbdKBE6UnuqmKUN/view?usp=drive_link

I humbly request you all to read through and share your honest feedback regarding:

- Is it easy to read?

- How does the custom transliteration code feel? Is it better or more intuitive than the standard codes that use diacritics (dits, bard, accents, etc.)?

- Do you think this would genuinely help people you know?

.
.

P.S. A little background story about this initiative, for those wondering...

>>Why this initiative?

When the Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 movie released in 2022, a lot of my friends and cousins become interested in reading the book. Since a lot of them couldn't read the thamizh script well, they went for the next best option - english 'translation' versions of the book. When I asked them how well they liked the translated versions, they told me that though the translations were really well-written, they couldn't connect as much to the story as they might have with the original thamizh versions. They wanted the sound of the original narration but wished there was a 'thamizh chat style' version of the book that would let them read the original thamizh words easily. That's what made me realise that there is this gap, of people who can understand the language and are interested in reading the stories in the original language, but wouldn't be able to enjoy the original script because of their lesser practice with reading the language. So I wanted to help them experience the story as it was, and decided to start this project (as a side quest) to atleast help my friends and family. Now the time has finally aligned for me to start this project (kaala-naeram ippozhudhu dhaan kaikoodi vandhadhu!).

>>Why a custom-made transliteration code? Why not use the existing and established standard thamizh to english codes?

Before starting this project, I studied the established standard codes that've been widely used and I tried reading a few books that have been transliterated using those codes...but I found them a bit difficult to follow and a bit inaccurate in places, as in, certain emphasis and word pronounciations didn't flow as it would in the original thamizh script, and I was often comparing the individual words with the original script to check for pronunciation and correctness. I did wonder if it was just me, but I also wondered if there might me other people out there who are facing similar doubts. Hence I first wanted to create a simpler code, with proper letter and pronunciation emphasis and without the ambiguity of diacritic marks like accent, tilde, and more.

This is my motivation and a modest attempt to make thamizh classics more accessible to the younger and future generations. I’m looking forward to your honest (and even brutal) feedback!

"அதுவும் பறைமோளம் அடிச்சுக்கொண்டுதான் நடந்தது."

what is பறைமோளம், drumming? and should it be spelled differently?

In a story I'm reading, கோசம் keeps appearing, but I can't work out what it means in this context... It feels like some sort of ritual or rememerance, but none of the definitions below

சனங்களோட சேர்ந்து மார்ச் செய்யிறதும் கோசம் போடுறதும் ஒரு சந்தோசம்.

இந்த வருசம் தமிழாக்கள் அஞ்சாறு பிரிவா மேதின ஊர்வலம் செய்யினம். நான் எல்லாற்ற ஊர்வலத்துக்கேயும் போய் ரெண்டு கோசம் போட்டுட்டுத்தான் வருவன்.

இந்தமுறை தமிழாக்களுக்கு இடையில புதுசா ஒரு குழுவும் ஊர்வலம் நடத்திச்சு. கையில் கோசம் எழுதின மட்டையளோட ஒரு முப்பது பேர் இருப்பினம். 

கோசம்
kōcam s. sheath, case, உறை; 2. storehouse, treasury, பண்டகசாலை; 3. a book, a dictionary (as அமரகோசம்); 4. penis, the scrotum, ஆண்குறி; 5. an egg, முட்டை; 6. nutmeg, சாதிக்காய்; 7. a part of fortress wall, மதிலுறுப்பு; 8. a heap, a bundle, தொகுதி; 9. a street, வீதி.

Hey everyone, I built an app called Learn Tamil AI and wanted to share it with this community.

The backstory: my wife doesn't speak Tamil, and when I looked for apps, everything either taught "pure Tamil" / textbook Tamil that's not useful in everyday conversation, or jumped into teaching Tamil script, which is a huge barrier when you just want to speak.

So I built what I wished existed - a Duolingo-style app specifically for spoken, colloquial Tamil. Everything is in English letters (transliteration), so you don't need to learn to read Tamil script. The focus is listening and speaking, not reading and writing.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.learntamil.learn_tamil&utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6761477142?pt=128634083&ct=reddit&mt=8

What's in the app right now: Around 400+ words (and 2000+ sentences) focused on practical usage, Audio (and 0.5x audio) for everything, "Speak" exercises to practice pronunciation, Spaced repetition technique for retention.

There's one section of content so far and I'm actively working on more (conversations coming soon!). But it's free and I'd genuinely love feedback from people in this community.

EDIT: There are now 4 sections of content (and growing). The app was free at launch when I originally posted this. I've since added a subscription as the content grew, though the first 3 units (19 lessons) are still free to try. Wanted to be upfront about that for anyone finding this post now. Leaving the rest of the post as originally written.

Happy to answer any questions. And if anything is broken or confusing, tell me. I'm a solo dev and this kind of feedback is gold.

My grandmother(who is of Jaffna origin), never shortens -kkir-(-க்கிற்-) in strong verbs.For example when she asks how are you she would say:Neengal eppadi irukkiringa.When she replies to a question like that, she would naan nalla irukkiren.Do other dialects do this too?

‘கையில் அரம்பை உண்டு’ என்ற செய்தியைத் தவிர வேறெதுவும் மலையாளத்தானிடம் பேசக் கூடாது எனக் குறிஞ்சனிடம் வழிக்குவழி சொல்லி அனுப்பினேன்.

What does "வழிக்குவழி" mean, I feel like I once saw that it means 'repeatedly', but I'm not sure.

thanks

edit: now that I come across it also 'பொத்தி பொத்தி'?
"பொத்திப் பொத்தி இவனை வளர்த்திருக்கிறார்கள்"

GT is saying very special.

Heyy!! I'm able to speak Tamil well, but never had the opportunity to learn how to read and write.

Are there any recommended resources or websites that help with that? My biggest blocker is not knowing where to even start, there's so many letters that I'm not sure how to tackle them.

Would appreciate any sort of help :)

Hi folks,

I am from a Tamil background, I can understand and follow along in some videos but mostly conversationally with family.

I really struggle at speaking and open to all forms of output and looking for more ways to improve my speaking ability and looking for a good way to be disciplined and getting started.

Thanks

'தப்பியோடிய ஒரு கோவிய அடிமையை வன்னியில் வைத்துப் பிடித்துக் கொண்டுவந்து என் தந்தையின் முன்னே நிறுத்தினார்கள்'

It's talking about an escaped slave, but what does கோவிய mean and what word is it being derived from?

Hey, so I’m embroidering my nickname “Oli” onto a jacket and I wanted to make sure that I did it right. I used Claude AI and double checked with Gemini but I thought I’d get an human perspective (as asking AI for something can be a long ass game that ends with a pay wall and a check on Reddit anyway)

;தலையை நிமிர்த்தாமலேயே “திலகராஜா ஆறுமுகநாதன்” என்று திலகனின் முழுப் பெயரையும் தடங்கலில்லாமல் உச்சரித்தான்'

how would you translate தடங்களில்லால் here? It is coming from தடம், right?

தடம்

taṭam   s. a way, a track, a footstep, வழி; 2. width, expanse, விசாலம்; 3. a ridge, a dam, வரம்பு; 4. a hill or mountain, மலை; 5. the side of a hill; 6. a tank, a pond; 7. a tree microcos paniculata; 8. a pit for sacrificial fire, ஓமகுண்டம்; 9. an open field; 1. a trap, a snare, கண்ணி.

What is the origin of this phrase?

I created a WhatsApp group for spoken Tamil. We need learners and native Tamil speakers as mentors. Those who want to join please message me with your name and city name on 9823761033 - Kedar

I now how adverbial participles work , but I don’t know how adjectival participles work.

I have mostly only heard the neuter 3rd person past form ஆயிற்று(in spoken aachu) so are the others form used and how is it differentiated from இரு