You can now learn French, German in Tamil

You can now learn French, German in Tamil
9 Apr 2009, 0353 hrs IST, TNN

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CHENNAI: Tamil speakers who are not fluent in English will now be able to learn foreign languages as Loyola College is all set to start courses in
French and German, using Tamil as the medium of instruction.

"The idea occurred to us when a student asked whether it would be possible to teach him French using Tamil instead of English. A working knowledge of French, he felt, could help him get a job," said Francis M Peter, director, Research Academy of Cumulative Excellence (RACE), a division of Loyola College that equips individuals with different levels of language proficiency to help them better career prospects. Speaking to journalists here on Wednesday, he said that the concept of using the mother tongue for foreign language instruction had already been tested in the college classrooms.

"We have found that it works well with some of our students who have come from Tamil-medium schools. The new language course aims to equip individuals with a functional knowledge of the language. We propose to select dominant themes of daily life and train people to converse in these aspects. For instance, introducing oneself, asking for directions, purchasing provisions from a grocery store and so on on. We will also give them an understanding of the basic structure of the language so that they can become creative with its usage," said Xavier Raj, an experienced French professor who retired from the foreign languages department of the college.

K Srinivasan, Raj's colleague, the instructor for German at RACE, said that students would find it easy to learn the language as German shared some structural similarity with Tamil. "The vowel sounds in both languages are very similar. This will facilitate easy pronunciation. There are certain simple rules that need to be understood. Once this is done, it easy to read German text. This can happen even after three sessions of three hours each," he said.

Currrently launching the initiative with a basic-level language course spanning 15 days, with coaching for three hours a day, RACE plans to expand it to intermediate and advanced courses as well, Francis Peter said. Scheduled to start on April 15, he said the academy planned to target students who had finished school and were looking to learn new languages during summer holidays.