Malayalam

Malayalam is the language spoken predominantly in the state of Kerala, in southern India. It is one of the 23 official languages of India, spoken by around 37 million people. A native speaker of Malayalam is called a 'Malayali'. Malayalam is also spoken in Lakshadweep & Puducherry.The language belongs to the family of Dravidian languages. Both the language and its writing system are closely related to Tamil; however, Malayalam has a script of its own.

Jaya Malayalam, the (supposedly) first website to actually TEACH Malayalam!

HOW IS YOUR STUDY OF MALAYALAM PROGRESSING?? LET ME KNOW!!!

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS? E-MAIL ME!!!

IF YOU ARE MAINLY LOOKING FOR MY RESEARCH PAPER, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK:

A METHOD FOR ENHANCING SEARCH USING TRANSLITERATION OF MANDARIN CHINESE

You might be interested in seeing my brother's website; it also has quite a bit of interesting information about India! (He also has a link back to my website, so you don't have to click the "Back" button!)

IMPORTANT!!! Make SURE to download Kerala font to read the lessons. IN ORDER TO DO THIS, PLEASE GO HERE: www.jaimalayalam.com/font.htm If you still cannot read the font used on this site, try using Varamozhi. If neither of these work, try using a different browser. (For example, the fonts may not display on Mozilla Firebird. So if you use Mozilla, you might want to use Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Crazy Browser.)

ALSO, if you're using Internet Explorer, Netscape, or Mozilla, you MUST use "User Defined" font by going
Before We Go Anywhere...

Acknowledgements- People I wish to thank

Introduction- Information about Malayalam: what it is, how it got that name, what Kerala is, how Kerala got its name, etc.

FAQ- Not exactly "Frequently Asked Questions," but concerns people have had/may have!

After You Learn the Basic Alphabet...

Pronunciation- You know the letters, but...HOW ON EARTH DO YOU PRONOUNCE THEM?!!

Phonetics- Can you tell how to pronounce /kashTam/ by looking at it? If not, look here!

eLuppamaaya pariikshangngaL- For those who want to quiz themselves over their basic Malayalam letters!

Assorted Info About Malayalam/Kerala/this site

Dialects of Malayalam- On this site, I'm mainly teaching the Central Travancore dialect, which is accepted as Standard Malayalam in Kerala. But what about other dialects, which can be so different?

ØÞÎÞÈc ÕcÞµøâ (Well-Known Grammar)- This page (in Malayalam) explains some already well-known Malayalam grammar rules.

ÉøßµÜíÉÈBZ (Theories)- This page (also in Malayalam) explains Malayalam grammar rules that I found on my own; I seriously doubt there has been any actual written records about these rules.

Advice- Before you go to Kerala, what do you need to know about...well...GOING there?!

Plans for Poetry Sections- Songs and poems that I MIGHT put up eventually!

LESSONS AND INFORMATIVE PAGES!

More letters

Lesson 1- Conjugated letters intro. & double letters chcha, TTa, njnja.

Lesson 2 - Double letters gga, NNa, ppa, SSa, ssa.

Lesson 3 - Double letters ththa, ththha, ddha, nna, mma, LLa.

Lesson 4 - Letters like chcha.

Lesson 5- First non-doubles: nta, ntha, mba.

Lesson 6- Common non-doubles: nka, njcha, NTa

Lesson 7- Rarer non-doubles: gna, NDa, ndha

Lesson 8- Last lesson on conjugated letters: thna, thma, lsa, Nma, thbha, gma

Pazhaya lipi

Lipi- Introduction to pazhaya/puthiya lipi

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 1- Most consonants + u

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 2- Gu, chhu, thu, Su, hu

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 3- Ku, ru

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 4- Consonants + uu

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 5- Consonants + ra

Pazhaya Lipi Lesson 6- Last three letters

Pazhaya Lipi Practice- Read and write...

Right Before You Start Actually Learning Malayalam...

Do You Already Know Some Malayalam?- Guess what these Malayalam words (all related to their English equivalents) mean!

Malayalam Language

Lesson 9- After all that hard work, the first Malayalam language lesson: "Greetings!"

Lesson 10- Lesson #2: "How are You?"

Lesson 11- Lesson #3: "Let's Go To My House Now!"

PRACTICE CORNERS

Practice Corner #1- Practice what was learned from lesson 1; alternative letter for chcha (often used in handwriting).

Practice Corner #2- Practice for Lesson 2; alternative letter for ppa (often used in handwriting).

Practice Corner #3- Practice for Lesson 3, short note introducing nta, ntha.

Practice Corner #4- Practice for Lesson 4, ending lesson on double consonants.

Practice Corner #5- Practice for Lesson 5, another 3 letters.

Practice Corner #6- Practice for Lesson 6, another 2 letters.

Practice Corner #7- Another 3 letters, practice for Lesson 7

Practice Corner #8- The "ra/rra," "va," and "ya" signs; continuation to lipi

Malayalam Language

Practice Corner #9- Practice for Lesson 9 (Unit 1)

Practice Corner #10- Practice for Lesson 10 (Unit 2)

Practice Corner #11- Practice for Lesson 11 (Unit 3)

POETRY SECTIONS

Poetry Section #1- First poem by Nambiar (Badelicious! Food) & vocab.

Poetry Section #2- Second poem by Nambiar (Bheema and Hanuman chez Nambiar!), (short?) intro. to Kathakali and Ottamthulli, vocab.

Poetry Section #3- Third poem (by Nambiar?? I don't think so!): Sitayinte Vivaaham (Sita's Marriage)

Sisirakala- The whole lyrics to the movie song

Poetry Section #4- Lyrics & translation to first part of the song

Poetry Section #5- " " " " second " " " "

Poetry Section #6- " " " " third (and final!) " " " "

Thaazhampoo- All of the lyrics to yet another song!

Poetry Section #7- First part of Thaazhampoo

Poetry Section #8- Second part

Poetry Section #9- Third part

Poetry Section #10- FOURTH and final part!!

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!!

Kuttanum Menavanum

Poetry Section #11- First part of Kuttanum Menavanum

Chemmeen Extra Special Movie: Intro- A rough synopsis of Chemmeen

JOKES! YOOHOO! (?)

Jokes #1- Joke from Sab Ka Laabh Zindabad (strange Hindi-ish play), how a Malayalee spells "moon."

Jokes #2- Grapa Fruita? and The King of Paayasams

Jokes #3- What Was That Supposed To Mean???

Jokes #4- Kozhi (Corey) Is A (")Chicken(")

Jokes #5- Bobanum Moliyum: "Aamukham"

Jokes #6- "The Good, The Bad, and the Very Impatient": piñatas

Jokes #7- Sadharam Movie Summary

Jokes #8- How Many Malayalees Does It Take To Screw In A Light Bulb?

Jokes #9- "Waterfall"

Jokes #10- Paara Magazine: "The Westerner, his wife, and I"

Jokes #11- Cold Tea Doesn't Exist

Jokes #12- Who Said Anything About Communism?!

Jokes #13- As My House Was Muckled, I Chuckled...

Jokes #14- "Brokenlivered"

Jokes #15- Potato River

Jokes #16- Outrageous Prices

Jokes #17- Bland Food

Jokes #18- Indian Names

Jokes #19- Get Me The Cane!

Jokes #20- The Pleasures of Boiled Rice

Jokes #21- "Khasakkstan"

Jokes #22- The Cow in Iraviperoor

Jokes #23- So What Do You Speak Better: Tamil or Gibberish?

Jokes #24- (Don't) Do What Now?!

Jokes #25- ElectriCIty! On...Something Or Other ("Safe"?) :-P

Jokes #26- Hulchul

Jokes #27- One lakh vs. 91 crores

Jokes #28- Fun and fin...ance

Jokes #29- The Odd March

Jokes #30- The Trouble with the Internet

Jokes #31- D'aya, biyu, uku...

Jokes #32- Dating à la Malayalie

Jokes #33- Malayalam is Spelled Just like It's Pronounced...NOT!!!

Jokes #34- Present #1, Present #2...Did I Forget Something?

VEGAM VEGAM MALAYALAM!

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! - "Malayalam Quick Quick!" Going to Kerala? Learn enough Malayalam for survival!

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #2 - The numbers 0-99

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #3 - Numbers (contd.) 100-899

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #4 - Numbers (contd.) 900 and beyond!

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #5- Autorickshaw Phrases

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #6- At the Market I: Essential Food

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #7- Fruits

Vegam Vegam Malayalam! Lesson #8- Vegetables