Keeping Malayalam
đ¯ Make it daily, and find the reading and cinema that reward it.
đŖī¸ Say these out loud
- ā´ā´¤ā´ŋā´¨āĩ ā´Žā´˛ā´¯ā´žā´ŗā´¤āĩā´¤ā´ŋāĩŊ ā´ā´¨āĩā´¤āĩ ā´Ēā´ąā´¯āĩā´? â ithine Malayalathil endu parayum? đ i-thi-NAY ma-la-YAA-la-thil EN-du pa-ra-YUM What is this called in Malayalam? Point and ask.
- ā´Ēā´¤āĩā´āĩā´āĩ ā´Ēā´ąā´¯ā´žā´Žāĩ? â pathukke parayaamo? đ pa-THUK-ke pa-ra-YAA-mo Could you speak slowly? You will need this one. Malayalam is fast.
- ā´Ēā´°ā´ŋā´ļāĩā´˛ā´¨ā´ â parisheelanam đ pa-ri-SHEE-la-nam training, practice
- ā´ļāĩā´°ā´Žā´ŋā´āĩā´āĩā´āĩā´Ŗāĩā´ā´ŋā´°ā´ŋā´āĩā´āĩā´ â shramichchukondirikkuka đ shra-mich-chu-kon-di-RIK-ku-ka Keep on trying. A single word for a whole sentence â Malayalam in one example.
- ā´ ā´ąā´ŋā´ĩāĩ ā´ā´°ā´ŋā´āĩā´ā´˛āĩā´ ā´ā´žā´°ā´Žā´˛āĩā´˛ đ a-RI-vu o-rik-ka-LUM BHAA-ra-mal-la Knowledge is never a burden. A Malayalam proverb.
- ā´ā´ļā´ā´¸ā´āĩž â aashamsakal đ aa-SHAM-sa-kal Best wishes! Before an exam or a journey.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
đ The fastest way in is cinema
Malayalam cinema is quiet, realistic and full of ordinary conversation â which makes it the best listening material of any Indian language. Watch with Malayalam subtitles, never English.
- Start with family films where people simply talk.
- Read Mathrubhumi or Manorama headlines each morning.
- Then the short stories of Basheer â deliberately plain, funny and easy.
- Then M. T. Vasudevan Nair and Madhavikutty, both Jnanpith-level writers.
đ Among the people
Malayalam was declared a classical language of India in 2013. Kerala's boards examine it at every level, and the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University runs courses for non-native learners.
đ Practise today
- Watch one Malayalam film this month with Malayalam subtitles.
- Read Lesson 1 aloud in the Malayalam script.
- Practise ā´´ and ā´ŗ daily â they are the two sounds that mark a real speaker.
