Malayalam-too tough

Aahaaaa…..Finally got something to post about. Was suffering from writer’s block... he.. hee.he. Spent a few days at my granny’s place with net access denied and got back home just this weekend. Now when I am back to blogsville something has taken back my writing skills. Thought too much about what to post and my mom could see a smoke coming through my ears.

Now getting back to topic. Since I had no special work to carry on I was ransacking my shelves to find some good old books to read. My hands fell on a book and it was my Malayalam book. When my exams got over I was bent on making mom help me learn Malayalam. That turned out to be a disaster. Though I am a malayalee, being born and brought up in Chennai is the only reason I can’t read and write my mother tongue. That’s a shame. I wanted to learn before I reach trivandrum for my training at TCS. So with the same vigor I bought a book to help me, since mom had certain confusion with new version and started learning the alphabets. After some rigorous sessions of learning the ultimate point was that I couldn’t remember them at all. Then when it came to dictation I made too many mistakes to trigger my sweet mom’s anger. Thus my Malayalam tuition with mom ended up with fights and sulks.

Yesterday retrieved that book back and started off again –Phase 2. This time I decided not to take mom’s help. This time with the help of online tutor. I never knew this was sucha difficult language. I was amazed by the variety [also irritated]. One of the problems in learning to write/read Malayalam is the large number of letters in the alphabet. The problem is further aggravated by the changes in scripts introduced from time to time. To start with there were 56 letters, one of the largest number for any language. These letters may belong to these broad categories: equivalent to the vowels; equivalent to the consonants; conjugated alphabets. There are 15 vowels and 36 consonants in addition to the many conjugated and miscellaneous letters. The conjugated letters are combinations of two consonants, but they are written distinctly. Oh my God!!!!

With all these problems I am reconsidering my options. Is it that necessary to learn mother tongue?

Comments

aaromal said…
don wori ,u wont dieout in trivandrm widout malayalam.
Janani said…
@Mazhavill
Welcome to my blogworld..

@Ramanujam
Yeah I know that but still not knowing mother tongue..hmmmm doesn't sound good...
Btw thnks for visiting my blog.. Do keep visiting :-)
Has to be me said…
Whether u learn malayalam or not, just be happy & be urself! :)
aaromal said…
yeah it dosnt sound gud.bt bing a malayalee i kno how malayalam s avoided here unlyk tamil.
Harish said…
Know what..my mom is a half malayalee. So when i was waiting for the call just as you...i learnt a little bit of erading and writing malayalam. When i went to my friends house and was reading the name of the magazine cover his mom gave him a nice disgruntled look :-)
btw...there is no harm in learning another language..
Janani said…
@HTBM
Yeah Agreed...Salam to U...

@Ramanujam
Ha.. Ha.. It is not the question of importance of language here, Just a new language into the basket. Thats it.

@Harish
It will take a week for me to finish a paper.. So in that case you sound better ;)
Manoj said…
hmmm...absolutely... u WILL need to learn ur mother tongue...

I had all the problems u had when trying to learn my mother tongue (telugu)... but just that I didnt prefer to adopt these methods... books, magazines are just so boring to learn the latest accents & tweaks in a language...

I watch TV / Radio Telugu Channels and try to read film names & other writings out there... This will also help to keep up with the changes in a language... This is how I am staying close with Telugu community...

Wat do u say?
Lijin said…
Hi janani, nice to see ur post again.

Its difficult to learn a new language , i kw. but taking this much time and difficulty for learning mothertongue...ummm..not good :) And im sure frnd you will learn it within one month of ur joining date here in Thiruvananthapuram. Its not very difficult as you think. The grammer is tough but not the language.

Try this :)
"ente priyapetta koottukarikku Oru nalla bhavi aasamsikkunnu. Veettile ellavarodum aneshanam parayanam ketto”

And How was ur days with ur grany? Is there nothing to post abt it?
Janani said…
@Manoj
yessu..thats what I am following. But alphabets theriyanum le.

@Lijin
hmm.. Those words in malayalam. Check this out :-)
Föus ‹ïiödˆ JòˆñJjï¼ñ Hjñ Ekë glï Boùoï¼ñªñ. lþðšïökë Fkëlöjêañù AöEnEù djiEù öJöˆê

Nothing special about my trip.
Anonymous said…
writer's block ah....

seri seri no comments....

u dunno to read n write...me dunno to speak either.... :))) edho konjam konjam....no no koracchu korachhu ariyum....but i can read upto an extent...courtesy buses there durin my inplant training....(no englipis boards in buses at all...)
aaromal said…
wen r u comn 2 kerala
aaromal said…
this s th frst tym im makn comnts 4 sm blog (i wasnt usd 2 it).blogn s a nice thing than i thought.
pls read my blogs,n giv me sm tips 2 improv ( 4 im a novice here).ny way ur blogs r nice
Janani said…
@Golmaalgopal
Seri seri.. kandukathee. ithu ellam sagacham...

Hmmm.. naanum athai thaannambi irundhen. BUt sathi nadanthu pochu. Read my next post to know that :-)

@Ramanujam
Sorry no trip to kerala.
btw I saw your blogs. 3 blogs at the same time :o
Will surely comments to your posts.
Anamika Anyone said…
Malayalam is horribly tough..I believe even Sanskrit is easier..But it is,after all your mothertongue..
Hmmmm..what a conundrum..
KC! said…
freeya vidu, mother tongue is indeed important to learn, aana avalo kashtama irundha take it slow. But later ur kids shouldnt forget the roots just coz you were lazy to learn the language, illaya?
Janani said…
@Usha
Freeya vittuten.. kkonjam konjam kathu vechukiteen. Apuram enn kids ennai asingama parka kudathu le athu ku safe guard pana thaan.
KK said…
Malayalam avaluv kashtama?? Its os difficult to talk... however I prononce my friends say that I am wrong... But I was able to read a few words... using my tamil knowledge :)
Anonymous said…
entha aniyathi.. entha preshnam.. malayalam ariyilla so wat.. tamil theriyum. hindi aatha hai, u know english, telugu osthunthi..
Janani said…
@KK
Yeah pronunciation is bit difficult. But letters are even more confusing.

@Bricktop
Ha. Haa.. athum pothum nu solla vareengala..ithu kuda nala thaan irukku.
btw unga malayalam superba irukku
മാതൃഭാഷ പഠിക്കാന്‍ ഒരായിരം ആശംസകള്‍!!!
If you can read this, your malayalam is good now.
Admin said…
Hi,

i want to learn malayalam language both to write & speak in person. If you know any one who can teach me in chennai please contact me seuluvme@gmail.com

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