Tamil is one of the greatest classical literature and tradition of the world. It predates the literature of other modern Indian languages by more than a thousand years. Its oldest work, the Tolkappiyam, contains parts that, judging from the earliest Tamil inscriptions, date back to about 200 BCE. . It has its own poetic theory, its own grammatical tradition, its own aesthetics, and, above all, a large body of literature that is very unique. The subtlety and profundity of its works, their varied scope , and their universality qualify Tamil to stand as one of the great classical traditions and literature of the world. Tamil is one of the primary independent sources of modern Indian culture and tradition

There are 75 million Tamilians around the world. Though the majority of them live in Tamil Nadu, there are substantial Tamil populations in SriLanka,Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji and South Africa. Tamilians are very passionate and proud of their language. The language is generally refered as 'Tamil Thai' meaning Mother Tamil. Showing disregard to the language in front of a Tamilian is like disrespecting ones mother.

Tirukkural, one of the world's greatest works on ethics in Tamil. There is not a facet of human existence that is not explored and illuminated by this great literature. The phrase which follows, is one of Thriukurals verse.

What we know can be held in the palm of our hand,
however what we don't know is as big as the world itself.
--Thiruvalluvar.

Spoken Tamil is different from written Tamil. If you are a traveler or student who wants to communicate with the local people then Tamil is fairly simple. With the exception of few words, most of the adjectives and verbs are neutral gender words. Each region has its own dialects. Dialect differ distinctly in Triunevali, Coimbatore, Thanjaor,Madurai and Chennai. The dialect spoken in the capital Chennai, is usually considered not pure, since it borrows words from Telegu,Urudu and English. You will be learning the most commonly spoken Tamil which will be understood in any Tamil society.

In TamilNadu, respect does not comes with age. Anyone from a college student or taxi driver or vendor or higher offices is addressed with respect. The suffix ,'inga', is used for both the genders. The verb 'come' which is 'va' in Tamil must be verbalized as 'vanga'. Eat which is 'sapidu' must be said as 'sapidunga'. Unless you are referring to an animal or non living thing, speaking without the suffix will highly offend the other person.

Oh yes, one more suggestion: Be ready to make mistakes. This is possibly the most difficult lesson to learn. As Charlie Parker, said it very well:
"If you don't make mistakes, you're not trying hard enough!"

The key to understanding the way Tamilians think is to become familiar with their language. We start with common phrases and go on to learn more specific expressions. Feeling nervous and awkward with your first language attempts is natural...but "getting by" simply takes patience and an interest in your surroundings. A taxi driver will know you want to go somewhere, and a waiter will anticipate that you want a meal. And those exchanges that fall in between, well, that's where the confusion and the fun come in.