LingoflyTamil
Tamil — Dravidian family, about 80 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: the Tamil script: 12 vowels, 18 consonants and their combinations. This site has 4052 words and 31 letters with audio.
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Demo language: Tamil
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நன்றி
naṉṟi
thank you
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நன்றி
naṉṟi
- excuse me
- please (when asking)
- thank you
- hello
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நன்றி
thank you
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உதவிக்கு ___
Thank you for the help
- வணக்கம் · vaṇakkam
- நன்றி · naṉṟi
- தயவுசெய்து · tayavuseydu
- மன்னிக்கவும் · maṉṉikkavum
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நன்றி
thank you
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நன்றி
thank you
This is a choice based on text. Conversation and remembering over time still need practice and checking.
How answers are counted
Answers stay on this page. Statistics include the demo stage, overall result, interface language and saved counter consent choice, without answer text or a profile.
Where to start
A young course: the words, the lessons and the recordings are all here, but a native speaker has not read it end to end yet. Spot a rough edge? Tell us and we will fix it.
- →Tamil alphabetAll letters with sound
- →Tamil wordsBy topic and alphabetically
- →PhrasebookPhrases ready to use
- →GrammarRules without jargon
- →Reading textsShort texts with translation
- →How to readThe writing course from zero
- →TransliterationThe table, both ways
- →PronunciationWhat you hear and what is hard
- →From scratchWhere to start, and in what order
- →How long to studyAn honest estimate, with caveats
First words
Every conversation starts with them — and so does the first impression: one greeting in the local language and you stop being a stranger within a second.
- வணக்கம்vaṇakkamhellova-nak-kam; hold the double kk about twice as long as a single k — length changes words in Tamil
- நன்றிnaṉṟithank youThe letters ṉṟ sound as 'ndr', so the word runs nan-dri, not na-ri. You will hear it a dozen times a day
- எப்படி இருக்கிறியள்?eppaḍi irukkiṟiyaḷ?how are you?Literally 'how are you keeping?' The ending -iyaḷ is the polite you — the same one you meet all over Tamil
- எப்படி இருக்க?eppaḍi irukka?how are you (informal)?The same question with the polite -ṅga taken off: for a peer, someone younger, a close friend. To an elder or a stranger only the full form eppaḍi irukkiṟiyaḷ will do
- நல்லா இருக்கிறன்nallā irukkiṟaṉI am doing wellThe standard answer to eppadi. Literally 'I am being well': Tamil states a condition where English reaches for a verb
- மன்னிக்கவும்maṉṉikkavumexcuse meBoth an apology and the polite way to open a talk with a stranger — the word you reach for before any question
- தயவுசெய்துtayavuseyduplease (when asking)Opens a request: tayavuseydu, give me tea. Never used as a reply to thank you — that slot stays empty in Tamil
- நீங்கள்nīṅgaḷyou (polite)The polite you: for strangers, elders and everyone you are not on first-name terms with. Its verbs take the ending -iyaḷ
How it sounds
Five words spoken aloud: click the speaker and pick the translation. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
- What is this word?
It is வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam) — hello.
- What is this word?
It is தயவுசெய்து (tayavuseydu) — please (when asking).
- What is this word?
It is அவள் (avaḷ) — she.
- What is this word?
It is யாழ்ப்பாணம் (yāḻppāṇam) — Jaffna.
- What is this word?
It is நல்லா இருக்கிறன் (nallā irukkiṟaṉ) — I am doing well.
Curiosities in Tamil
Tamil is one of the few languages in the world with an unbroken literature two thousand years long: Sangam poetry, written roughly between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD, is still read in the same language today. In 2004 India was the first to declare it a classical language.
Kamil Zvelebil, «Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature», 1992; the Government of India’s classical-language declaration, 2004
About the language
| Native name | தமிழ் (tamiḻ) · tamiḻ |
| Official in | India (Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka and Singapore |
| Also spoken in | Malaysia, the UAE, the United Kingdom and Canada |
| How many speakers | about 80 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue) |
| Family | Dravidian family |
| Script | the Tamil script: 12 vowels, 18 consonants and their combinations |
| Writing direction | left to right |
Hard: a syllabic script and a noticeable gap between written and spoken language.
Easy: no gender for things, strict word order, one rule decides when a letter is voiced.
What people most often take it up for: work in India and Singapore, family, interest in the culture.
How lessons work
A lesson is up to half an hour a day, split into three to five short sessions. A word comes back not on the course's schedule but at the moment you are about to forget it: the interval is computed by an algorithm from your own answers.
- The longer you want to keep a word, the longer the gap before reviewing it can be. To hold it for a week, review it after a day or two; to hold it for a year, after about three or four weeks.checked many timesCepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20–40% of the target interval when you need to remember for a week, and 5–10% when for a year.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- A material reward promised for doing a task lowers the wish to take it up of your own accord once the reward is gone. Praise for what was done, on the contrary, keeps that wish alive.checked many timesDeci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. A material reward promised in advance and the time later spent on the task by free choice: d = −0.44 for finishing, −0.40 for taking part, −0.28 for performance; a reward unrelated to the task, −0.14, not significant. Praise: +0.33.
Frequently asked
Where to start learning Tamil?
With the script: 31 letters are worked through in a week or two, and after that words stop being pictures.
How many people speak Tamil?
About 80 million speakers — an estimate; source: Ethnologue. Nobody runs an exact census of languages, and sources disagree by noticeable amounts.
Is Tamil hard?
A syllabic script and a noticeable gap between written and spoken language. At the same time, no gender for things, strict word order, one rule decides when a letter is voiced.
Where is Tamil spoken?
An official language in: India (Tamil Nadu), Sri Lanka and Singapore. Noticeable communities: Malaysia, the UAE, the United Kingdom and Canada.
Is Tamil in Duolingo?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Duolingo’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Tamil in full: 4052 words, with audio, the script explained, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.