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Learning the Dravidian language with passion

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

Keen observers: Foreigners learning Tamil at the Summer School conducted by the Puducherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture in Puducherry.

PUDUCHERRY: For Uli Harlass, a student of Universitas Ruperto Carola at Heidelberg in Germany, learning Tamil comes as a new experience. In the next five weeks, he along with 10 foreign students will learn to read, speak and write in the Dravidian language at a summer camp.

Taking Tamil to foreigners, especially those involved in research studies, the Puducherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture started its annual Tamil Summer School for Foreigners on July 14.

“We offer two levels — basic and intermediate for the foreigners. The duration of the course is six weeks and will go on till August 23. We receive students from US, Germany, Russia, Canada, Italy, France, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan. This year, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations is sending three students from Poland for a one-year intensive course in Tamil as part of the exchange programme,” Director of the Institute M. Soudarssane said.

By learning Tamil, the foreigners who are pursuing Ph.D would be able to interact with the people during field work. For a few, learning oriental languages was part of their curriculum, while others wanted to understand Tamil to learn Carnatic music or bharathanatyam, he added.

While the basic level was for those who were new to the language, the intermediate was for students who can write in Tamil. The course teaches them to learn the scripts, write words and communicate in the language.

As for Mr. Harlass, learning Tamil would help in his research works. A student of Indology and Comparative Religions, he said, “Tamil is totally different from the western languages. I am enjoying learning the language.”

For a field-level experience of the language, the institute takes the students on weekly field trips. “We take them to places where people converge such as temples, markets and other shops once a week,” senior lecturer G. Ravishankar said.

Apart from regular classes for six days a week for six hours everyday, the institute has organised for art demonstrations for the students.

“Once a week, we will organise demonstrations of various cultural and art forms such as painting, music, and dance to show our cultural aspects to the students. These will include bharathanatyam, vocal and instruments. We will also conduct tutorials in the afternoon to discuss the lessons taken in the morning,” he said.

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