Spoken Tamil for Absolute Beginners

If you are an English speaker and you want to begin learning Tamil, this is the best book/resource that I've found (I've bought or looked at pretty much everything out there). The supplemental and free Memrise slide decks, audio files, and YouTube videos are a nice bonus. I found this book to be different from others because it's not just a list of vocabulary or phrases to memorize (although it does have those), but rather it teaches basic grammar that allows you to construct simple sentences. The cases and suffixes in Tamil are challenging, but the author explains it clearly with examples and exercises to practice.

The book provides very thorough insights about spoken Tamil, from pronunciation and grammar rules. The book also comes with a vast array of supplementary audio recordings and exclusive videos for each chapters. Once you have the book, contact the author and he will gladly provide you with the materials and a free lesson to help you with the basics!

I'm the kind of person who needs to know how to read and write and learn grammar/conjugations before being able to memorize vocabulary. This is perfect for me. It can be slightly confusing because it's not written in perfect English, it's written by a tamil speaker, but I'm able to work it out. Comes with a Memrise set of vocabulary which goes along with the book!! Memrise could be better because sometimes the English options are capitalized in odd areas and that makes a difference when choosing between two almost identical English answers, you'll notice the pattern and be able to pick the right ones but I'm hoping I'll be able to fix that in the set myself later on.

The best book on the market for those who want to get started in Tamil. Indian languages can be daunting and seem inaccesible but Sanjay has opened the door for English-speakers to learn Tamil. He also offers great support to all those who buy his books. Highly recommended!

I purchased several Tamil language learning books before finding this one. This was by far the best. It was clearly organized in a way that is easy for English speakers to understand, and included a wealth of supplemental materials, helpful information, and even tips on cultural norms. The author, Sanjay D., even provides his contact information and offers a free tutoring session. I reached out to the author and found him to be incredibly friendly, professional, and knowledgeable. After using this book, I was more able to communicate with my Tamil friends and family, and even learned to read Tamil script. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Tamil!

Sanjay is an incredible teacher! He has written this amazing book that is so well-planned and laid out that it makes learning a foreign language much simpler. He includes many tools with the purchase— access to online courses, videos, music, movie links, and more. He is accessible for questions and support by email. Because I was so impressed with his book and helpfulness via email, I have hired him as my teacher. He offers affordable rates and teaches at a pace that is both challenging and something I can keep up with. He has an adaptable approach to teaching; he is patient and fun! He suggests various practices to keep me learning outside the classroom, and he positively reinforces my progress to keep me motivated and confident. By purchasing this book, you are giving yourself more than just an ordinary book. You are opening yourself up to a world of opportunity should you choose to use all the tools Sanjay generously offers. I am sure you will be pleased! Happy learning and expanding your world!

This is a breakthrough book unlike any other for Tamil. My husband and I moved to Chennai a number of years ago. Our shelves are lined with how to learn Tamil text books. We even took a course at the Tamil Institute which helped us read but there was zero practical application. Tamil is a very difficult language compared to Hindi and any Latin based language-at least for an English speaker. But this book cracks the code. It’s written in a way that a language learner would want to logically learn. No more just trying to memorize and hope it’s right without fully understanding it. Thank you, Sanjay. We really appreciate you doing this. It must have truly been a labor of love. It took a lot of work to do this since no other book has done this before. I hope you can get this into all the language schools as the main text book. It’s a necessity. Next time we are in the states, we’ll also get the print book. May you have great success!

Sanjay's 'Spoken Tamil for Absolute Beginners' is a clear and comprehensive guide for anyone embarking on their Tamil language journey. The book's systematic approach, enriched by Sanjay's personal insights, makes the learning process both engaging and effective. Having also interacted with the author and used this book in live lessons, I can vouch for its practicality and relevance in today's world where the Tamil of reading isn't necessarily the Tamil of speaking.

I was interested in learning the Tamil script with basic vocabulary. I was able to learn the basic script from the author's resources on memrise and youtube in less than 2 hours and was able to read basic text (without understanding the words). I would highly recommend this book - I am highly impressed with the effort the author has put into simple lessons and practice artifacts.

I personally do not like this book, there are reviews here that are very enthusiastic about it but I honestly found my Colloquial Tamil book much more easy to understand and much more approachable. The first problem with this book is that the writer INSISTS we learn the written language of Tamil (why is the book called "Spoken Tamil" then?). I know Japanese and I can't say that the writing system is dissimilar. Writing is an essential part of communication but Tamil is not like English, the number of letters and the way they are used is significantly different and more challenging. Tamil makes English look like paint by numbers. This is not necessarily the writers fault but enforcing a dogmatic rule to make the reader learn to write first is very challenging; especially for the self learner. It becomes even more onerous once you learn that (apparently) the written language is very different to the way Tamil is spoken, and that sometimes Tamil is written with English letters for this reason. For beginners in Japanese we allow them to write in English letters because then they become familiar with the sounds, with the way Japanese is constructed with its vowels and slowly the written language is integrated. Writing is not the most premiere form of communication and it becomes utterly arbitrary if you can just type out things in Roman letters. Anyway, besides that the text is written like a textbook, so it's not easy to follow unless by instruction, which may be an attempt by the author to get you to buy his lessons or tutoring; which is fine, we all need money, but the text is marketed as a self learn book, not a textbook. Which is very misleading. So I would say this text is not for Absolute Beginners because as an Absolute Beginner myself I found the text very unapproachable. I give three stars because I want the author to feel encouraged to develop this text into something useable as clearly there are many hours in it, and he is obviously passionate about teaching others Tamil. I just don't think this text is useful for anyone at this point, as it lacks focus and the author doesn't seem to know much about second language acquisition or adult learning.

Fantastic! Worth a lot more than £30, as it comes with lots of other resources thrown in for free. I bought the book without knowing this so maybe these aspects could be better advertised. There is a free lesson with Sanjay, the author, to help with pronunciation and tips on learning Tamil. He has also recorded YouTube videos to help explain the tongue movements for the consonant letters (check these out!) and help through the Memrise app which is much better than pouring over the script to learn the compound letters. He has a formula for learning the Tamil script (and therefore to read in Tamil) which takes maximum 10 hours of time if you follow it religiously. Tamil is a phonetic language so once you have the script you have the ability to learn new words without hearing them spoken by a native speaker (unlike french for example!). He also has audio recordings of the reading practice which you can download as well. This is a full package for learning Tamil - not just a book. It will get you to a level where you can make small talk with Tamil speakers. From there you can learn by practicing to speak the language. I haven’t got on to the grammar sections of the book yet but I can already say this is a wonderful book and anyone wanting to learn Tamil should get this.

Dieses Buch ist wirklich ein fantastischer Start um eine neue Sprache aus einem ganz anderen Kulturkreis zu lernen. Super didaktisch aufgebaut und für jeden Lerntyp verwendbar. Auch gibt es super Tips zu Lernplattformen. Ich bin begeistert, lerne fleißig und bin sooo froh diese Buch gefunden zu haben.

This is a very good addition to your library if you are interested in spoken Tamil. It is well presented in a easy to follow progressive manner. It is helpful if you are familiar with the Tamil script, but it is taught here and as well transliteration is provided. It is certainly evident upon reading that the author is sharing his unbridled enthusiasm for the Tamil language. Also provided are downloadable audio files for pronunciation and for material covered in the book, as well as a key to the exercises included. Highly recommended.