Lingoflyடாக்டர்
- டாக்டர்ḍākṭardoctor
“டாக்டர்” (ḍākṭar) — doctor in Tamil. Noun, level A1. On the signboard they write the bookish word, in speech everyone says the English 'doctor'. In a live sentence: “டாக்டர் என்ன சொன்னார்?” (ḍākṭar eṉṉa soṉṉār) — What did the doctor say? You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ட, ா, க, ், ட, ர, ். A word from the everyday Tamil course, level A1.
In short
| Written in Tamil | டாக்டர் (ḍākṭar) |
| Read in Latin letters | ḍākṭar |
| Translation | doctor |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
On the signboard they write the bookish word, in speech everyone says the English 'doctor'
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.
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 “doctor” in Tamil?
«டாக்டர்» (ḍākṭar), read “ḍākṭar”. In a live sentence: “டாக்டர் என்ன சொன்னார்?” (ḍākṭar eṉṉa soṉṉār) — What did the doctor say? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1; written with the characters ட, ா, க, ், ட, ர, ்.
How is “டாக்டர்” (ḍākṭar) written in Latin letters?
ḍākṭar. 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?
On the signboard they write the bookish word, in speech everyone says the English 'doctor'. 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 this 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.