Tamil is one of the longest surviving, classical languages in the world. It has over 80 million speakers around the globe and has rich literature and ethnic culture. It is the official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is also an official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore and has significant numbers of speakers in Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji, and South Africa. The Tamil culture and Tamil language are inseparably glued to each other. To understand the Tamil culture and heritage one must learn Tamil language. Tamil as a spoken language heads back to 2,500 years. By attending online Tamil classes to learn Tamil from Powerkid Tamil Academy, you open up a whole world of possibilities. Learn written Tamil and spoken Tamil in English through our online Tamil classes with direct interaction and engagement from native Tamil speakers.

Do you live abroad and wish to take Tamil to the next generation by helping your kids learn Tamil? Here, we from Powerkid Tamil Academy provide one-on-one Tamil classes to help children and adult learn Tamil alphabet, spoken and written Tami in levels from basic to advanced levels. We impart the basics of the Tamil language, while also training the learner to read and write short sentences and also to build a basic conversation. We teach children to read poems, comprehensions, Tamil texts like Kural, Aathichudi, Kondrai Vendhan, Moodurai, Nazhvazhi poems, etc. Learn Tamil easily and effortlessly, from anywhere, anytime from Powerkid.

Get versed in Tamil script

Just like English, Tamil is written left to right in horizontal lines. Symbols from the Tamil script represent phonetic units including consonants and vowels. Hence, it’s syllabic rather than alphabetic. Tamil script has 12 vowels(uyir ezhuthukal), 18 consonants (mei ezhuthukal), and a character called ‘ayta ezhuthu’ that is neither a constant nor a vowel. It comprises a total of 247 phonetic combinations and many of these are written by adding diacritical marks to the basic 31 letters to indicate changes. Learn Tamil alphabet flawlessly from Powerkid Tamil academy. Help your children learn written Tamil and spoken Tamil in English through our online Tamil classes. 

Learn Tamil vowels

The Tamil script has a total of 12 vowels. When they appear at the beginning of the syllable, the vowels are written as independent letters. The form depends on their pairing with consonants and whether they are short or long vowels. Long vowels are held two times longer than short vowels. To represent vowels, diacritic marks are added to the end of the consonants in most cases, otherwise to some other locations. Learn written and spoken Tamil in English at Powerkid.

அ a ஆ aa

Tamil consonants carry the inherent அ a sound, so அ does not change the sound when added to the consonants,க.

When ஆ aa is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark is added to the end of it, as in கா kaa

இ I and ஈ ii

When இ i is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark is added to the end of the consonant, as in கி ki.

When ஈ Ii is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark is added to the top of the consonant, as in கீ kii

உ U and ஊ uu

When உ  u is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark is added to the bottom of the consonant, as in கு Ku.

When ஊ uu is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark is added to the end of the consonant, as in கூ kuu

எ E and ஏ ee

When எ e is added to a consonant, a modified form is placed in front of the consonant, as in கெ ke.

When ஏ ee is added to a consonant, a diacritic mark representing it is placed in front of the constant, as in கே kee.

ஐ ai

When ஐ ai is added to a consonant, a modified form is placed in front of the consonant, as in கை kai.

ஒ O and ஓ oo

When ஒ o is added to the constant, the diacritic marks for e and aa are placed surrounding the object as in கொ ko.

When ஓ o is added to the constant, the diacritic marks for ee and aa are placed surrounding the object as in கோ Koo.

ஔ au

When ஔ au is added to the constant, the diacritic mark for e is placed at the beginning of the constant, and another diacritic mark is placed at the end as in கௌ Kau.

There are some combinations that do not follow the above rules. Learn all the rules effortlessly from native Tamil speakers from power kid academy, and learn spoken and written Tamil in English.

Learn Tamil consonants

There are a total of 18 basic consonants in Tamil, that are divided into vallinam, mellinam, and idaiyinam which are hard, soft, and medium consonants respectively. Learn Tamil consonants from Powerkid, and learn spoken and written Tamil in English from native speakers.

மெய் எழுத்துகள்

Vallinam – வல்லினம்- க் k, ச் ch, ட் t, த் th, ப் p, ற் tr.

Mellinam – மெல்லினம் – ங் ng, ஞ் ng, ண் n, ந் n, ம் m, ன் n.

Idaiyinam – இடையினம் – ய் y, ர் r, ல் l, வ் v, ழ் l, ள் l.

There are a few consonants borrowed from Sanskrit which are used in contemporary spoken Tamil not much in classical penned Tamil. Learn Tamil consonants and exceptions by signing up to our online Tamil classes from Powerkid Tamil Academy. The letters are enlisted below.

•  ஜ் j
• ஷ் sh
• ஸ் s
• ஹ் h
• க்ஷ் ksh
• ஸ்ரீ srii

Sounds such as F and Z are indicated using a special letter ஃ akh, aayudha ezhuthu.

Listen to audio recordings of Tamil vowels and consonants

Efficient grasping of Tamil vowels and consonants can be done by hearing them more often. This can be achieved by downloading audio recordings from YouTube or asking a native Tamil speaker to read them aloud for you. 

Learn Tamil through the L-S-R-W framework from Powerkid!

The L-S-R-W defines the four essentials for Tamil language learning. The essential skills required for language learning include Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Mastering all the four skills allow learners to comprehend and produce spoken language for proper and effective interpersonal communication. This is a proven method to impart language education to students and adults. This is a special training methodology equipped in our Powerkid academy. 

Here we describe the phases briefly,

1. Listening phase: We work on improving the ability of the learner to decipher and perceive the Tamil resources in audio format. 

2. Speaking phase: We work on the ability of the learner to transform their thoughts in Tamil into a perceivable oral format.

3. Reading phase: We work on improving the ability of the learner to decipher and perceive the Tamil resources in written format.

4. Writing phase: We work on improving the ability of the learner to transform their thoughts in Tamil into a perceivable written format.

Learn Tamil through the L-S-R-W framework, and learn spoken and written Tamil in English from our online classes.

Conclusion

Expand your Tamil learning horizon by signing up for your Powerkid Tamil online classes at www.powerkidtamil.com to learn written and spoken Tamil through English. We provide fully customized, one-on-one, highly interactive sessions held at various levels with unlimited study resources and tools. Learn Tamil from native Tamil-speaking, well-qualified teachers. Grab the opportunity now! Call us at  +1 (512) 575-3590 or +91 74033 33135 and book your demo session.