Crow Song

I am using some youtube videos as language learning tools. This song about a crow dropping rocks into the water jar in order to get a drink is one that I have been studying on and off for a couple of weeks now.



தாகம் உள்ள காகம் ஒன்று
சுற்றி சுற்றி வந்தது
குடிக்கத் தண்ணீர் கிடைக்காமல்
மிகவும் கல்டப்பட்டது
பிறது ஒரு ஜாடியை
வீட்டின் முன்னே கண்டது
எட்டி எட்டிப் பார்த்தது
எட்டவில்லை தண்ணீர்
என்ன செய்தது? அது என்ன செய்தது?
சிறிய கற்களைக் கொண்டுவந்து
அந்து ஜாடியில் போட்டது
தண்ணீர் மேலே வந்ததும்
தாகம் தீர குடித்ததும்
என்ன செய்தது? அது என்ன செய்தது?
தாகம் தீர குடித்ததும்
சந்தோசமய்ப் பற்ந்ததும்
ஆகையாலே நாமுமே
முயற்சி செய்ய் வேண்டுமே

Transliteration and translation notes below the cut.

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Animal Words

Here are some animal words, mostly courtesy of the Subburaj Dictionary on google books.

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Transliterating Tamil

So apparently Blogger/Blogspot have built in transliteration so I may not need to use Azhagi here for typing in Tamil. Azhagi is nice since I can save my work, but it is also nice to have an option outside of the one software. So let's test.

Using built in transliterator:
தமிழ்
Using Azhagi
தமிழ்

Ok, looks like the font and everything comes out the same.

Beginning working with Future Tense

I began with Future tense rather early on because Asher's Colloquial Tamil has an exercise in the first chapter asking if various people are going to the beach.

Because I learn better from seeing the actual grammar rules,  I go to Hart's Grammar Book, and look at Chapter 13 for Future Tense positive.

Basically, verb classes 1-4 add வ் to the dictionary form plus the personal pronoun ending. Class 5 adds ப் and Classes 6-7 add ப்ப். There is an exception for classes 5a and 5b which add உவ் instead of ப். (Now if only I had all the verbs and their classes memorized!) Some are available in one of the lists here.

3rd person future positive is irregular and does not add the normal 3rd person ending, instead it takes the infinitive and adds உம்.

So, some example verbs before going on to the Asher activity:

Future Positive of: வாங்கு (vaanku) "to buy"

வாங்குவேன் I will buy
வாங்குவய் you will buy (singular
வாங்குவீர்கள் you will buy (plural or polite)
வாங்குவான் he will buy
வாங்குவாள் she will buy
வாங்குவார் he/she will buy
வாங்குவார்கள் they will buy
வாங்கும் it/they(it) will buy

Future Positive of: பார் (paar) "to see"

பார்ப்பேன் I will see
பார்ப்பாய் you will see
பார்ப்பீர்கள் you will see
பார்ப்பான் he will see
பார்ப்பாள் she will see
பார்ப்பார் he/she will see
பார்ப்பார்கள் they will see
பார்க்கும் it/they(it) will see

Asher's activity uses போ, a class 3 verb, so I should add வ் + the normal ending.

Exercise 6 Asher
Asking questions in future tense. Fill in the blank style. Italics are my answers.
nii biiccukku poovayaa? நீ பீச்சுக்கு போவயா?
ava biiccukku poovaalaa? அவ பீச்சுக்கு போவாலா?
avanga biiccukku poovaangalaa? அவங்க பீச்சுக்கு போவாங்களா?
Murugan biiccukku poovaanaa? முருகன் பீச்சுக்கு போவானா?
Kalyaani biiccukku poovaangalaa? கல்யானி பிச்சுக்கு போவாங்களா?
peeraasiriyar biiccukku poovaanaa? பேராசிரியர் பீச்சுக்கு போவானா?
onga maanavan biiccukku poovaanaa? ஒங்க மாணவன் பிச்சுக்கு போவானா?

Reviews of Favorite Tamil Resources

There are a number of resources available for learning Tamil. Sometimes it can be hard to navigate or find things at the correct level. This is my current list of resources, which I update regularly.

I have them sorted first by what is available free online and which are hard copy books. Within those categories, I have tried to sort resources by type, author, etc.

If you are totally new to Tamil, check out my post on How to Learn the Tamil Alphabet.

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Index of Tamil Commands/Imperatives

Tamil Affirmative Command general rules:

• Non polite form: use the base (dictionary) form of the verb
• Polite form: Base form of the verb + ங்கள்

Tamil Negative Command general rules:

• Non-polite form: infinitive + ஆதே
• Polite form: infinitive + ஆதீர்கள்

Index of Posts
Affirmative/Positive Commands:

• Basic commands and simple sentences
• Plural/Polite commands from Hart Lesson 3
• Imperative examples from Balasubramaniam Unit 28; same sentences with English translation.

Negative Commands

• Infinitives and Negative Commands from Hart, Lesson 4, Tamil for Beginner's
• Negative Commands from Lesson 15 of the Duke pdf.
  

Index of Tamil Music Related Posts

Here I will focus on children's educational music for the most part because children's music in general usually has clearer pronunciation and simpler grammatical forms. There are a number of blogs dedicated to modern Tamil music, so I will not recreate what they have already done-- links are provided to good sources.


Index of Tamil Music Posts:

• Children's song based on a famous Tamil story about a clever crow
• Children's song about a rabbit leaping and running away... 
• Children's song: White Rabbit (second version)
• Children's song: Elephant
• Children's Song: Suriyan/Sun
• Children's Song: Kurangu/Monkey
• Children's Songs: Puppy/ நாய் குட்டி (3 versions)
• Children's song: Squirrel, ஸஃஉஇர்ரெல்/ அணிலே அணிலே 

Outside Sources:
The blog Tamil Paadal Varigal, has a ton of music from Tamil Language Movies. It gives the music in Roman and Tamil characters, but not in English translation.

Index of Tamil Future Tense Posts

Tamil Future Tense Positive general formation rules:

• Class 1-4: Root + வ் + pronoun ending
• Class 5: Root + ப் + pronoun ending
• Class 6-7: Root + ப்ப் + pronoun ending

Tamil Future Tense Negative general formation rules:

• Infinitive + மாட்ட் + pronoun ending
• Except: It/அது which forms future tense negative by Infinitive + அது

Index of Future Tense Posts:

• Beginning Working with Future Tense
• Future Tense work based on Asher's Colloquial Tamil Chapter 1 
• Future Tense Lesson 9 from the Duke pdf
  
• Present and Future Tense Irregular Verbs Lesson 10 from the Duke pdf 
• Future tense of அது  
• Future Tense Negative Lesson 24 from the Duke pdf

Index of Tamil Vocabulary Lists

Vocabulary is usually best learned in context, so I don't make a lot of lists, that being said, here are the ones I have:

Vocabulary Lists

• Animals
• Colors
  
• Making words plural based on livemocha flashcards
• Numbers
• Basic Grammar and Punctuation Terms
• Body Parts Vocabulary
• Common Verb List
• Website Tamil
• List for Commands work from Balasubramaniam 

You can view the list of flashcards I have made on Livemocha here.

There is another language learning site, Word Champ, which has a good set up for flashcards.

This is a nice printable list from tamil.net: dictionary.pdf

Index of Tamil Present Tense Posts

Tamil Present Tense Positive general formation rules:

• Add (க்)கிற் + pronoun ending to the base root of a verb.
• Strong verbs (classes 6 and 7) take க்கிற் and weak verbs (classes 1-4) take கிற். 
• Class 5 verbs have their own special rules

Tamil Present Tense Negative general formation rules:

• Take the infinitive of the verb and add --வில்லை

Index of Tamil Present Tense Blog Entries:

• "What Do You Do?" Chat notes and Conjugation of "sey" to do, in the Present Tense
• Present Tense and Direct Object Lessons 2-3 of the Duke PDF
  
• Present Tense: Lesson 4 of the Duke PDF
• Present Tense Review. Conjugations of to do, to hear, to see, to come, to be, to sit, to stand, to go, to talk, to eat, to bring
• Direct Object and Present Tense Lesson 5 from the Duke pdf
• Present Tense Conjugation practice Lesson 6 from the Duke pdf
• Present and Future Tense Irregular Verbs Lesson 10 from the Duke pdf
• Negative Present and Past Tense Lesson 23 from the Duke pdf