LingoflyThe tap is leaking in Tamil
Calling the landlord in Tamil. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam), குளியலறையில (kuḷiyalaṟaiyila) தண்ணி (taṇṇi) ஒழுகுது» (oḻugudu) — Hello, water is leaking in the bathroom; «எப்ப (eppa) இருந்து (irundu)?» — Since when? Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: calling the landlord. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
Lines one by one
| Tamil | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam), குளியலறையில (kuḷiyalaṟaiyila) தண்ணி (taṇṇi) ஒழுகுது (oḻugudu) | vaṇakkam, kuḷiyalaṟaiyila taṇṇi oḻugudu | Hello, water is leaking in the bathroom. |
| எப்ப (eppa) இருந்து (irundu)? | eppa irundu? | Since when? |
| நேற்று (nēṟṟu) இருந்து (irundu). சூடான (sūḍāṉa) தண்ணியும் வரேல்லை (varēllai) | nēṟṟu irundu. sūḍāṉa taṇṇiyum varēllai | Since yesterday. And there is no hot water. |
| சரி (sari), ஒரு (oru) ஆளை (āḷai) அனுப்புறன் (aṉuppuṟaṉ) | sari, oru āḷai aṉuppuṟaṉ | All right, I will send someone over. |
| எப்ப வருவியள்? (eppa varuviyaḷ) | eppa varuviyaḷ? | When will you come? |
| நாளைக்கு (nāḷaikku) காலையில (kālaiyila) வருவம் (varuvam) | nāḷaikku kālaiyila varuvam | We will come tomorrow morning. |
| நன்றி (naṉṟi), நான் (nāṉ) வீட்டில (vīṭṭila) இருக்கிறன் (irukkiṟaṉ) | naṉṟi, nāṉ vīṭṭila irukkiṟaṉ | Thank you, I will be at home. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Tamil in this situation?
“வணக்கம் (vaṇakkam), குளியலறையில (kuḷiyalaṟaiyila) தண்ணி (taṇṇi) ஒழுகுது” (oḻugudu) (vaṇakkam, kuḷiyalaṟaiyila taṇṇi oḻugudu) — Hello, water is leaking in the bathroom. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.