தன்னார்வலர்
“தன்னார்வலர்” (taṉṉārvalar) — volunteer in Tamil. Noun, level B1. Than, 'self', plus aarvam, 'zeal'. The word is young and bookish, but the island knows it from the work of community groups. In a live sentence: “தன்னார்வலர் கடற்கரையை துப்பரவு பண்ணினாங்க” — The volunteers cleaned up the shore. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters த, ன, ், ன, ா, ர, ், வ, ல, ர, ். A word from the everyday Tamil course, level B1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | தன்னார்வலர் |
| Read in Latin letters | taṉṉārvalar |
| Translation | volunteer |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
- தன்னார்வலர்taṉṉārvalarvolunteer
Why it looks that way
Than, 'self', plus aarvam, 'zeal'. The word is young and bookish, but the island knows it from the work of community groups
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- தன்னார்வலர் கடற்கரையை துப்பரவு பண்ணினாங்கtaṉṉārvalar kaḍaṟkaraiyai tupparavu paṇṇiṉāṅgaThe volunteers cleaned up the shore
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “volunteer” in Tamil?
«தன்னார்வலர்», read “taṉṉārvalar”. In a live sentence: “தன்னார்வலர் கடற்கரையை துப்பரவு பண்ணினாங்க” — The volunteers cleaned up the shore. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level B1; written with the characters த, ன, ், ன, ா, ர, ், வ, ல, ர, ்.
How is “தன்னார்வலர்” written in Latin letters?
taṉṉārvalar. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Than, 'self', plus aarvam, 'zeal'. The word is young and bookish, but the island knows it from the work of community groups. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.