This is probably about as off-topic as my posts go, but I figure there are more than a few Indians here, and I find myself more lost looking for material to try and pick up and practice this language (as someone who speaks neither Hindi nor Tamil), either on the web or in bookstores, and the one book I do have on the language (thanks to a very generous colleague) focuses on vocabulary and not so much on practising sentence construction and grammar.Typically I find it easiest to learn a language when I first learn to read and write complete sentences in it, which a phrasebook does not teach.Any advice, links, etc? Fortunately, this is largely recreational instead of practical, and I wouldn't be surprised if the best advice I get is to learn Tamil first

This is no help at all but I was reminded of a character sketch of the proprietor of a specialist rare and antiquarian Indian bookshop near the British Museum. Seeing a young woman looking at "Teach yourself Gujerati" he suggests the quickest way is to "marry a Gujerati boy and learn from the slaps of your mother-in-law".

QuoteOriginally posted by: exotiqThis is probably about as off-topic as my posts go, but I figure there are more than a few Indians here, and I find myself more lost looking for material to try and pick up and practice this language (as someone who speaks neither Hindi nor Tamil), either on the web or in bookstores, and the one book I do have on the language (thanks to a very generous colleague) focuses on vocabulary and not so much on practising sentence construction and grammar.Typically I find it easiest to learn a language when I first learn to read and write complete sentences in it, which a phrasebook does not teach.Any advice, links, etc? Fortunately, this is largely recreational instead of practical, and I wouldn't be surprised if the best advice I get is to learn Tamil first Well I don't if this is useful but columbia has a language resources center that would be a good place to start. There are lots of people in the medical profession who speak this as well. My dentist's assistantfor one!. Another idea is to plan a trip..

Just curious why do you want to learn Malayalam of all languages ( offcourse the obvious guess is you have got a hot girlfirend from Kerala !!!! If that is the case then she can be your tutor)? Anyway coming back to the topic I think it will be very difficult for someone to learn Malyalam from scratch in US. I really doubt if it is worth the effort. Other than in Kerala no body speaks that language. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India and if you know English you can easily manage. For tourist who venture to the villages and small towns in Kerala language is not a problem as English is well understood.

Double

> I wouldn't be surprised if the best advice I get is to learn Tamil first ExotiqHow about a 6-month stint living with the Tamils Taigas, room and food paid for, that's total immersion I think you would learn it quick.

Exotiq I take it you have some background in Malayalam or a relative etc...http://www.vidhyarambham.com/aboutcd.aspThis should be reasonably good.Btw Samudra your logic that because kerala has the highest literacy everybody knows english. Not true. Literacy.NE. English knowledge. True, many people do know english but its still a bit of a problem in the small towns.

QuoteOriginally posted by: exotiqthe one book I do have on the language (thanks to a very generous colleague) focuses on vocabulary and not so much on practising sentence construction and grammar.try amazon eg:Malayalam Grammar (Hardcover) Malayalam (Descriptive Grammars)

Welcome home to the point that Malyalam is no Hebrew.The best way to learn is to get the dictionary that Ppauper's pointed to and then watch Malyalam movies with subtitles.

QuoteOriginally posted by: GreenspoonWelcome home to the point that Malyalam is no Hebrew.The best way to learn is to get the dictionary that Ppauper's pointed to and then watch Malyalam movies with subtitles.

http://www.geocities.com/malatutor/I' also curious as to why you want to learn Malayalam...on a semi related note last year I wanted to improve my Hindi.I went into waterstones and were only a couple of books in this area....Went into there last month and they had 3 whole shelves on the subject.....Found it an interesting observation....