Spoken Tamil Lesson 1

As in many foreign languages, in Tamil too, there are letters which have sounds that are not available in the English language. One of them is – ழ – which is often denoted by “Zh”. It is pronounced like the letter “L” but with the rolling of the tongue. For example, the word “Tamil” is transliterated as Thamizh (starting with a “Th” sound and ending with a tonguIrolling of the letter “L”). Mind you, there are 2 other letters in Tamil – ல and ள – which are pronounced very much like the normal “L” in English.

Another letter you are likely to come across is – ஞ – which is often denoted by “Gn” and pronounced more like “nj”. For example, this letter is used in Aaranju, which is the Tamil translation of the word “Orange” and sounds similar too. The “nj” part of Aaranju is what you will need when you see words beginning with “Gn”. It may be difficult initially, but with some practice, you will surely master it!

Spoken Tamil is often different from Formal/ Written Tamil, and in order to differentiate the two, we have used the blue color to indicate Spoken Tamil Transliteration (Tamil words written using the English alphabet) and Spoken Tamil Script.

Throughout the lesson plan, the following sequencing has been used:Word/ Phrase/ Sentence in English
1. Word/ Phrase/ Sentence in English
2. Spoken Tamil Transliteration in English
3. Spoken Tamil Script
4. Formal Tamil Transliteration in English
5. Formal Tamil Script

Vazhththu: Thamizhil ‘Vanakkam!’ Solvadhu Eppadi?
வாழ்த்து: தமிழில் ‘வணக்கம்!’ சொல்வது எப்படி?

‘Hello’ is the word that we often use when we meet a person. In the same way, the word used to greet a person in Tamil is

Va-nak-kam
வணக்கம்

Usually a joining of hands is accompanied with the word Vanakkam,
just like when you shake hands to say Hello.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:
Ninaivil Kolga: நினைவில் கொள்க:

• In English, the greeting depends on the time we meet a person.
i.e., Good morning, good afternoon and so on, but in Tamil, a simple Vanakkam is all you need to say, be it any time of the day or night.

• You can say Vanakkam even when you take leave of the person.

• The word Vanakkam can be followed by the name of the person you have met. Example: Vanakkam Sir / Vanakkam Raj.

• If you are greeting a relative, you can use the name of the relationship too. Eg. Vanakkam Uncle / Vanakkam Maamaa (மாமா – Maamaa is Uncle in Tamil). Before we learn how to introduce ourselves, let’s learn about common relationships in Tamil.

Hint- (Wakes up – ezhundhiruppaan, Brushes – pal thaeyppaan, Eats – saapiduvaan, Goes – poavaan)

Prem	08:00	08:15	08:30	09:00
Raj	06:00	06:20	07:00	07:50
Ravi	07:45	08:15	09:00	09:30

1. Raj aararai manikku ezhundhiruppaan – Sari/Thavaru
2. Prem ette kaal manikku pal thaeyppaan – Sari/Thavaru
3. Ravi onbadhu manikku saappiduvaan – Sari/Thavaru
4. Prem aaru manikku school poavaan – Sari/Thavaru