Advice for Learning English Through Tamil

Tamil is the primary language of Tamil Nadu, a state of India.  It is also the national language of SriLanka. Though it is spoken widely in India and abroad, still it cannot restrain the need of learning English. Many courses are available to learn English. These courses have all the explanations in English. So it becomes difficult for a Tamil speaker to learn English through such courses.

It is believed that initially it is good to start learning a new language through your native language.  So if you are a Tamil speaker, you should look for such a course which has explanation in Tamil to teach English. The steps included in learning a language are Listening, Understanding the grammar concept, Speaking, Reading and Writing. So look for a program or coaching institute that focuses on all these steps. You may find a lot of educational websites which offer “Learn English through Tamil’ course. Ensure that the course they offer should follow the above stated steps. Other than doing the course you should do some things at your end as well which are discussed here.

Recall how you have learnt Tamil. Since childhood you are surrounded by people who speak Tamil. By listening to them, you eventually have become a Tamil speaker. This applies to learn English also. So listen to as much English as you can. Start listening to English songs. Initially you may find it difficult to understand their lyrics. Don’t panic, listen to the words carefully and try to catch them. Once you get the words, check out their meanings on a dictionary. Once you understand the meaning of the song, you will start singing along!

Next is to watch English news and movies. Prefer a Tamil movie with English subtitles. This will help you in understanding word by word translation. As the movie has dialogues so you learn to speak complete sentence rather than a few words. You can also find some Tamil videos with English subtitles over internet and watch then repeatedly till you catch all the words.  News is the best source to learn vocabulary. Read a Tamil newspaper and then read its English version. See how the news is presented in English. Similarly watch the news in Tamil and then try to watch the same news in English and learn the words used. This will eventually enhance your vocabulary.  You can also search online translators to check Tamil to English translation.

Writing plays an important role in learning English. You can either look for the specific courses that offer “English Writing” exercises. You can take these exercises and write on a topic every day. You can also start writing your daily diary or pen down your thoughts about anything in English. Get it checked by somebody who knows English well. It will help you to know and correct your mistakes.

Lastly, have patience and a positive attitude while learning English. Keep your fear miles away from you. Don’t worry even if you make thousands of mistakes initially. Just focus on correcting them and ensure not to repeat them. It is never difficult to learn a language other than your native language. All it takes is your sincere efforts and discipline.