LingoflyHow to get out of here in Tamil
A person lost in an unfamiliar quarter asks a passerby the way in Tamil. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «மன்னிக்கவும் (maṉṉikkavum), நான் (nāṉ) வழி (vaḻi) தப்பிட்டன். சந்தைக்கு (sandaikku) எப்பிடி (eppiḍi) போறது (pōṟadu)?» — Excuse me, I am lost. How do I get to the market?; «இந்த வீதி ஒரு முட்டுச் சந்தி (inda vīdi oru muṭṭuc sandi). திரும்பி (tirumbi), கோயிலை (kōyilai) தாண்டி (tāṇḍi) போங்கோ» (pōṅgō) — This street is a dead end. Turn around and walk past the temple. Every line can be played right on the page.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a person lost in an unfamiliar quarter asks a passerby the way. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- maṉṉikkavum, nāṉ vaḻi tappiṭṭaṉ. sandaikku eppiḍi pōṟadu?Excuse me, I am lost. How do I get to the market?
- inda vīdi oru muṭṭuc sandi. tirumbi, kōyilai tāṇḍi pōṅgōThis street is a dead end. Turn around and walk past the temple.
- anda vaḻiyāla kuṟukku vaḻiyā pōga ēlumā?Can one take a shortcut along that path?
Lines one by one
| Tamil | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| மன்னிக்கவும் (maṉṉikkavum), நான் (nāṉ) வழி (vaḻi) தப்பிட்டன். சந்தைக்கு (sandaikku) எப்பிடி (eppiḍi) போறது (pōṟadu)? | maṉṉikkavum, nāṉ vaḻi tappiṭṭaṉ. sandaikku eppiḍi pōṟadu? | Excuse me, I am lost. How do I get to the market? |
| இந்த வீதி ஒரு முட்டுச் சந்தி (inda vīdi oru muṭṭuc sandi). திரும்பி (tirumbi), கோயிலை (kōyilai) தாண்டி (tāṇḍi) போங்கோ (pōṅgō) | inda vīdi oru muṭṭuc sandi. tirumbi, kōyilai tāṇḍi pōṅgō | This street is a dead end. Turn around and walk past the temple. |
| கோயில் (kōyil) தான் (tāṉ) அடையாளக் (aḍaiyāḷak) குறியா? அது (adu) எவ்வளவு (evvaḷavu) தூரம் (tūram)? | kōyil tāṉ aḍaiyāḷak kuṟiyā? adu evvaḷavu tūram? | Is the temple the landmark? Is it far? |
| ஒரு பத்து (oru pattu) நிமிசம் (nimisam). கோயிலுக்கு (kōyilukku) பக்கத்தால (pakkattāla) ஒரு (oru) சின்ன (siṉṉa) வழி (vaḻi) இருக்கு (irukku) | oru pattu nimisam. kōyilukku pakkattāla oru siṉṉa vaḻi irukku | About ten minutes. There is a small path beside the temple. |
| அந்த (anda) வழியால (vaḻiyāla) குறுக்கு வழியா (kuṟukku vaḻiyā) போக (pōga) ஏலுமா (ēlumā)? | anda vaḻiyāla kuṟukku vaḻiyā pōga ēlumā? | Can one take a shortcut along that path? |
| ஏலும், ஆனா (āṉā) அது (adu) ஒடுங்கின (oḍuṅgiṉa) வழி (vaḻi). வண்டி (vaṇḍi) போக (pōga) ஏலாது (ēlādu), நடந்து (naḍandu) மட்டும் (maṭṭum) தான் (tāṉ) | ēlum, āṉā adu oḍuṅgiṉa vaḻi. vaṇḍi pōga ēlādu, naḍandu maṭṭum tāṉ | One can, but the path is narrow. A car will not pass, only on foot. |
| சரி (sari). அப்ப (appa) சந்தையின்ர சுத்துவட்டாரத்தில (suttuvaṭṭārattila) பஸ் (bas) நிலையமும் இருக்கா (irukkā)? | sari. appa sandaiyiṉra suttuvaṭṭārattila bas nilaiyamum irukkā? | Good. And in the surroundings of the market, is there a bus station? |
| இருக்கு (irukku). சந்தையின்ர ஆழத்தில (āḻattila), கடையளுக்கு பின்னால (piṉṉāla). தூரத்தில (tūrattila) இருந்தே (irundē) தெரியும் (teriyum) | irukku. sandaiyiṉra āḻattila, kaḍaiyaḷukku piṉṉāla. tūrattila irundē teriyum | There is. Deep in the market, behind the shops. It is visible from afar. |
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?
“மன்னிக்கவும் (maṉṉikkavum), நான் (nāṉ) வழி (vaḻi) தப்பிட்டன். சந்தைக்கு (sandaikku) எப்பிடி (eppiḍi) போறது (pōṟadu)?” (maṉṉikkavum, nāṉ vaḻi tappiṭṭaṉ. sandaikku eppiḍi pōṟadu?) — Excuse me, I am lost. How do I get to the market? 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.