We will finish the job in Tamil

How the whole thing sounds

The situation: a craftsman and a client discuss unfinished repairs. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.

• ▶
  வேலை ஏன் இழுபடுது? ஒரு கிழமையில முடியும் எண்டு சொன்னியள்

  vēlai ēṉ iḻubaḍudu? oru kiḻamaiyila muḍiyum eṇḍu soṉṉiyaḷ

  Why has the work dragged on? You said you would finish in a week.
• ▶
  மழையால ரெண்டு நாள் நிப்பாட்ட வேண்டி வந்தது. நேற்று திரும்பத் தொடங்கினம்

  maḻaiyāla reṇḍu nāḷ nippāṭṭa vēṇḍi vandadu. nēṟṟu tirumbat toḍaṅgiṉam

  Because of the rain we had to stop for two days. Yesterday we resumed.
• ▶
  சுவரு இன்னும் கரடுமுரடா இருக்கு. பூச்சு ரெண்டு அடுக்கா போட வேணும்

  suvaru iṉṉum karaḍumuraḍā irukku. pūccu reṇḍu aḍukkā pōḍa vēṇum

  The wall is still rough. The coating needs two layers.
• ▶
  அது எங்கட கணக்கில இருக்கு. ஒழுங்கா முடிக்கிறம், கவலைப்பட வேண்டாம்

  adu eṅgaḍa kaṇakkila irukku. oḻuṅgā muḍikkiṟam, kavalaippaḍa vēṇḍām

  We have allowed for that. We will bring it to perfection, do not worry.
• ▶
  கதவின்ர பூச்சு உரிஞ்சு போச்சுது. அதையும் புதுப்பிக்கிறியளா?

  kadaviṉra pūccu uriñcu pōccudu. adaiyum puduppikkiṟiyaḷā?

  The coating on the door has peeled off. Will you renew it too?
• ▶
  புதுப்பிக்கிறம். ஒரு கோளாறு இருக்கு — கீல் துருப்பிடிச்சிருக்கு, அதை நீக்கிடுவம்

  puduppikkiṟam. oru kōḷāṟu irukku — kīl turuppiḍiccirukku, adai nīkkiḍuvam

  We will renew it. There is one glitch: the hinge has rusted — we will fix it.
• ▶
  எல்லாம் விதிப்படி செய்யிறியளா? பாதுகாப்பு விதிகளையும் கடைப்பிடிக்க வேணும்

  ellām vidippaḍi seyyiṟiyaḷā? pādugāppu vidigaḷaiyum kaḍaippiḍikka vēṇum

  Are you doing everything by the rules? Safety rules must be observed too.
• ▶
  எல்லா விதிப்படியும். வெள்ளிக்கிழமைக்குள்ள முடிச்சிடுறம் எண்டு வாக்கு தாறன்

  ellā vidippaḍiyum. veḷḷikkiḻamaikkuḷḷa muḍicciḍuṟam eṇḍu vākku tāṟaṉ

  By all the rules. I promise to complete it by Friday.

Lines one by one

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 times
  Teimouri, 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 times
  Xiong 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.

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