MDES UN1101

I learned enough to have simple conversations in Tamil, describe things that I have done/will do in the future, and write & read Tamil script. Jay also led us through various cultural exposure activities, including listening to songs, watching Tamil movies/videos, and talking to native speakers.

This class was a comprehensive introductory course to the Tamil language. We started off by learning the Tamil script, how to read the alphabet, foundational grammatical rules (sentence structure, tenses, verb forms, adjectives etc), how to form simple and compound sentences and eventually how to write cohesive paragraphs in Tamil. We also learned an extensive amount about the spoken and written differences of Tamil, including pronunciation and grammatical differences which can be especially confusing for non-native speakers. Additionally, we were exposed to a variety of different mediums of Tamils. We learned to read ancient Tamil poetry and literature, short stories, listen to historical and contemporary songs and watch movies with an understanding of the Tamil in them in addition to a vast amount of cultural background on Tamil people and Tamil history.

I learned how to speak, write, and read basic Tamil.

Jay is a caring, attentive, and knowledgeable professor. I've rarely asked a question that he didn't have a logical answer for -- "why" are certain conjugations/definitions the way they are, what is the origin of a particular phrase, etc. His perspective as a non-native speaker is also something that I related to as an American, and I feel like it helps him explain complex grammatical concepts in a more theoretical way. 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Fall 2024 Course: MDESUN1101_001_2024_3-ELEMENTARYTAMILI : MDESUN1101_001_2024_3 - ELEMENTARY TAMIL I Instructor: Jay Ramesh

Tamil Grammar, Tamil script, and a good introduction to the language overall

Spoken and Written Tamil are very different ! Reading/writing are challenging but i think im improving!