Welcome to the NJ Tamil Class

Learn what you study and then put it into practice                                         - thirukkuRaL - 391

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You can reach me at tamilclassnj "at" yahoo.com ((Replace "at" with the @ sign)

I have noticed that most of the "Tamil" children growing up in non-Tamil speaking regions of the world (USA, Canada, Europe, etc) do not speak Tamil. Often I hear the statement "My son/daughter understands Tamil but does not speak it". When speakers of a language are geographically dispersed, unless special efforts are taken, the language will die out within a generation or two. Thus, my main motivation in setting up this site is to encourage parents to help their children learn Tamil. It will also help those parents, who speak Tamil but did not learn Tamil in school, improve their knowledge of the 'formal' Tamil and teach their children Tamil. Learning just the mechanics of a language is not sufficient. That is why I have tried to include stories, prayers, etc. which also give a strong cultural identity. Also, as far as possible, I have included common situations that children will encounter at home, school, and other areas of their daily lives. This will faciliate them in using and remembering the sentences and reinforce their vocabulary retention. Teenage children and adults who do not know Tamil can also benefit by going through these lessons and other materials. Once you have mastered the material presented here, you may be able to move on to more advanced topics available in other books / web sites. Please send me an email if you find these materials useful. I welcome your feedback to improve and enhance the materials on this site. V. Subramanian