Skip to main content#
Glendon Campus Alumni Research Giving to York Media Careers International York U Lions Accessibility
Future Students Current Students Faculty and Staff
Faculties Libraries York U Organization Directory Site Index Campus Maps

Tamil

The Tamil language is spoken mainly in Southern India. It is a member of the Dravidian language family, a group of about thirty languages (about 225 million speakers in total) concentrated in southern India, but also in Pakistan as well. The Dravidian language family is distinct from the Indo-European language family (which includes Hindi and many other Indian languages, Farsi, and the Germanic and Romance languages among others).

Of all Tamil speakers (totalling about 65 million) Over ninety percent live in Tamil Nadu, one of India's four southern states. Tamil is also spoken in neighboring states as well as both a first and second language. Northern Sri Lanka, located across the Palk Bay from Tamil Nadu, has a sizable Tamil speaking minority numbering 20% of the population (3-4 million).

Tamil, however, is not confined to South Asia. It is also spoken by sizable populations in South East Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, and Fiji) as well as in South Africa and parts of East Africa, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and Trinidad, Guyana, Mauritius. It is an official language in India, Sri Lanka, and Singapore.

Courses

  • AP/TAML 1000 6.00 Introduction to Tamil
    This course serves as an introduction to both colloquial and formal Tamil and is intended for students with no active ability in the language. It will develop basic aural, conversational, reading, and writing skills in the language. Prerequisite: No active knowledge of Tamil. Placement Test. Course credit exclusions: None.
     
  • AP/TAML 2000 6.00 Intermediate Tamil
    This course continues the work covered at the introductory level and covers topics and situations relating to Tamil media, literature and culture. Focus is on acquisition of more complex grammatical structures, expanding vocabulary and discourse skills, and on developing competence in a wider range of communicative situations. Open to students with some knowledge of colloquial Tamil. Prerequisite: AS/TAM 1000 6.00 or placement test. Course credit exclusions: None.