1st Edition

Colloquial Tamil The Complete Course for Beginners

By E. Annamalai, R.E. Asher Copyright 2002

    Colloquial Tamil is easy to use and completely up to date!

    Specially written by experienced teachers for self-study or class use, the course offers a step-by-step approach to spoken Tamil. While emphasis is placed on colloquial spoken Tamil, you are given a useful introduction to formal speech and the written language as well.

    What makes Colloquial Tamil your best choice in personal language learning?

    • Emphasis on authentic conversational language
    • Clear explanations on how to pronounce and write the language
    • Helpful grammar notes and reference grammar
    • Comprehensive vocabulary lists (Tamil-English and English-Tamil)
    • Lively illustrations and fascinating cultural insights throughout

    By the end of this rewarding course, you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in Tamil in a broad range of everyday situations.

    Audio material to accompany the course is available to download free in MP3 format from www.routledge.com/cw/colloquials. Recorded by native speakers, the audio material features the dialogues and texts from the book and will help develop your listening and pronunciation skills.

    Introduction, 1 en peeru Murugan My name is Murugan 2 naan viiTTukku pooreen I’m going home 3 enna vee=um? What would you like? 4 haloo, naan Smith peesureen Hello, this is Smith 5 mannikka=um, taamadamaa Varradukku I am sorry that I am late. (Lit: Excuse me for coming late) 6 Mahaabalipuram poovamaa? Shall we go to Mahabalipuram? 7 niinga enge pooriinga? Where are you going? 8 niinga eppa Indiyaavukku vandiinga? When did you come to India? 9 niinga pooTTurukkira ?ras The clothes you are wearing 10 neettu oru kalyaa=attukku pooyirundeen Yesterday I went to a wedding 11 nii enne paakka varakkuu?aadaa Shouldn’t you come to see me? 12 end2e uuru Yaa 2 ?ppaa=am I’m from Jaffna 13 inda e?attukku ep?i pooradu? How do I get to this place? 14 enna sirikkiree? What are you laughing at? 15 naan Tami?naaTTule re=?u naaÒdaan irukka mu?iyum I can be in Tamil Nadu for just a couple of days 16 Tami?le oru siranda nuulu A famous book in Tamil The Tamil alphabet Grammatical summary Key to exercises Tamil–English glossary English–Tamil glossary Index of grammatical terms

    Biography

    E. Annamalai, Asher R.E.

    'Surpasses many of the previous publications not only in terms of the composition of the text but also in the systematic presentation of the text on two tapes and on two CDs.' - Archiv Orientálni. Quarterly Journal of African and Asian Studies, vol. 72