tamil
Tamil
Tamil
Essays
- Lots of info on the history, relationship to other languages, dialects, script, phonology, grammar & vocabulary.
- Article on the Tamil script, its origin, a chart of all the letters and a collection of links.
- Article with diagram, on the history, grammar, relationship to other languages, script, role in society & language variation.
A Profile of the Thamil Language by V. Thangavelu, 2006
- Essay on the history, literature & grammar of Tamil.
Learning Indian Languages: A French View by Gwenola Cillier, 2002
- Article about the various difficulties one student faced in learning Tamil.
- Short essay on Tamil speakers, literature, written & spoken forms and influences from other languages.
Courses
- 12 units with videos, dialogues, readings, interactive exercises, tests, conversations & a chat room for students. Great resource.
Intermediate Tamil by K. Krishnamoorthypic
- Intermediate coursebook with texts, dialogues, pictures, exercises, audio and grammar explanations.
Websites
- Very useful site with guides on the alphabet, grammar, pronunciation, culture, literature and vocabulary.
- PDF grammar lessons, practice materials including songs, wordlists, quizzes, alphabet charts, links and more.
Web Assisted Learning & Teaching of Tamil
- Exercises, reading materials, grammar, alphabet guide, conversations, tests etc for beginning to advanced level students.
- Downloadable guides on the script, verbs, songs, rhymes, stories, wordlists and grammar.
- Lots of links, essays and downloads related to learning Tamil.
- Large phrasebook for travellers, with pronunciation guide and romanization.
- Tamil poems, science articles, downloadable dictionaries and language games.
- Interactive exercises with audio for learning Tamil vocabulary.
- Lots of beautiful animated videos with rhymes, stories, Telugu script, games, worksheets and lots more. Really nice resource.
Script
Tamil Script: Learner's Manual by S. Radhakrishnan, 2002
- Comprehensive book on writing & reading the Tamil script with exercises, handwriting help and info on the development of the script.
Learn Tamil through English by Pollachi Nasan, 2007
- 48 lessons teaching the Tamil script, with audio and animations showing how to write each letter.
- 6 progressive lessons teaching the Tamil script, with reading practice. No audio unfortunately.
- Animations showing how to write the Tamil script.
Scripts of all of Asia & Brahmi Scripts
- Comparative charts of Asian & Brahmi descended scripts.
E-books
Tamil Textbook by இளங்கோ சேரன், 2004
- Concise grammar guide with 38 chapters.
A Grammar of Spoken Tamil by H. F. Schiffman
- Online reference book with short explanation of grammar points. Uses Tamil script.
タミル語研修テキスト (Tamil Language Training Textbook) by H. Yamashita, 1986 (no. A164-165)
- Some complimentary copies may be available from the university if you e-mail them.
Peace Corps Conversational Tamil by J. Beinstein & others, 1961
- Drill based course with an agricultural focus. Only uses romanization.
First Lessons in Tamil by G. U. Pope, 1856
- Old-style grammar translation method but uses the Tamil script.
Student's Manual of Modern Formal Tamil by L. Lisker & S. Vaidyanathan, 1966
- Huge book with Tamil texts, comprehensive grammar explanations & exercises. Uses both script & romanization.
Intermediate Tamil: A Self-Instructional Method by H. Schiffman, 1975
- Grammar based course with lots of drills, dialogues, cultural notes etc. Unfortunately only uses romanization.
A Progressive Grammar of Common Tamil by A. H. Arden, 1910
- Old but explains the grammar, alphabet, tenses etc well. Uses Tamil script throughout and includes useful vocab lists at the back.
A Companion Reader to Arden's Progressive Tamil Grammar by A. H. Arden, 1914
- Exercises & vocab lists for the grammar, as well as authentic short stories in Tamil script & translation. Old but seems very useful.
- Lots of Tamil textbooks and poetry & prose readers for different school grades.
- School textbooks for Tamil and other subjects through Tamil available to download or view online.
Onomatopoeia in Tamil by V. Gnanasundaram, 1985
- Words describing sounds in romanized Tamil, could be useful for spicing up your vocabulary.
Blogs
- Links to resources, commentary on language learning, grammar notes, readings in Tamil, songs, vocabulary lists etc by a learner.
- New blog with info on the language, basic notes, and songs and music in Tamil.
Forums
- Small forum with a few useful posts.
- Small but active forum with several useful threads and active learners of Tamil.
Authentic Material
BBC Tamil & China Radio International
- News items and radio in Tamil.
- Radio segments in Tamil on art & culture, the news, children's programs etc.
- Tamil movies, live TV & radio, songs to listen to, videos etc. Really great resource.
- Movie reviews and movies available to watch online.
- Loads of fun interactive courses. Although taught through Tamil there's plenty of useful stuff, like vocab games, songs etc.
- Daily broadcasts in Tamil about Christianity & the Catholic world.
- Two stations broadcasting live Tamil radio 24/7.
- Online news in Tamil.
- Biographies of prominent Tamil authors and audio readings.
Technical
Digital Dictionaries of South Asia
- Online searchable dictionaries, including one which is Tamil-Tamil.
Tamil Dictionaries & Reference
- Comprehensive listing of dictionaries available to buy, view online or download.
Sinhala/Tamil Online Dictionary
- One-way searchable dictionary for comparing Sinhala and Tamil, with audio.
- A Firefox & Windows download for typing phonetically in Tamil. Simple & easy to use.
- Online tool for typing phonetically in Tamil. Easy to use.
UniNagari: The simple, no-frills Indic typewriter
- Online tool for typing in Tamil using the online keyboard layout.
- Several different fonts to download with a picture showing keyboard layout.
- Picture showing what letters on an English keyboard are used to type which Tamil letters.
How to Read & Write Tamil Characters In Dutch & English
- Info on the alphabet, a chart of all the letters and help installing Tamil fonts.