Customer Reviews (9)

Not for beginners
This is a book suitable for young Tamil children who already speak colloquial Tamil (their mother tongue) and need to learn the written Tamil (also known as Classical Tamil, which was last time updated in the 13th century). It's not really suitable for foreigners who have had no exposure to this language so far.

a gentle introduction to a very difficult language
Quality materials on Tamil are hard to find.This is definitely a resource worth having.The book begins with the script, (and the author thoughtfully provides handwritten examples), so that a learner can master the basics of writing before moving into speaking, and avoiding the bother of learning a transcription native speakers can't read and that he/she will never use again. The lessons begin with simple conversations on everyday topics and move on to conversations on more difficult and abstract ideas. Each lesson contains extensive lists of useful vocabulary that can quite readily be plugged into the sentence patterns already learned.To get the most of this book, however, one should also obtain the audio and the accompanying grammar manual (both should be available from Cal Berkeley).
The tapes that I obtained were of excellent quality, but the speech is quite slow compared to the astounding rate of speed at which native speakers actually talk;The CDs that accompany Asher's 'Colloquial Tamil', which is also excellent, give the learner a much more realistic picture of what he will encounter when he actually starts to participate in the wonderful world of spoken Tamil.A minus is that there is no answer key for the exercises, which are good and reflect the material presented- this is where knowing a native speaker would come in very handy.

works best with tapes
I've used this book for self-study, but in conjunction with a set of a dozen audio cassettes. I acquired these directly from the publisher, UC Berkeley Langauge Center. I can't imagine using this book without the audio component. Compared to the excellent Asher Colloquial Tamil, the Hart audio does use a very slow pace of speaking, and this is really helpful for the beginning foreigner, the intended audience of this book (Asher's audio is absolutely much more realistic yet uses too much English and is a little too fast at the beginning, I'd say.) As noted, the Hart book is Brahmin Tamil, and the book doesn't tell you that.

Is this really the best book around?
I'm a native speaker of Tamil. I got this book because I never formally studied in school and my vocaublary is very limited.

The introduction goes over the vowels, consonants and how to write conjunct characters. There are a few typos but it's written in a way that would suffice for most people. I was able get along with this book but it occured to my that if you don't already know some Tamil you would be very frustrated.

This is what I mean... Every lesson follows the same format: a conversation (in Tamil), a vocabulary section (with English meanings of Tamil words) and exercises. There is little or no grammar in each lesson. For that you'll have to look at part 2 of the book. Consider Lesson 1 for example. It begins with a conversation written in Tamil with no phonetic translations. (You are expected to have leaned to read the charactes by now.) There is no translation of these sentences to Englist either. You'll have to do that yourself using the vocubalary section. But before looking up a word, you'll first locate and remove from the words any suffixes such as the ingerrogative suffix -a (for yes/no questions) or the suffix -um which means 'and'. the rules for adding the suffixes are not explained. Needless to say you have to figure out lots of rules yourself just to understand a simple conversation. The excercises in lesson 1 want you to convert a few sentences into the negative and to form yes/no questions but the lesson doesn't teach you that. It doesn't even teac hteach youthat the word order is Sub-Obj-Verb, which you need to know to do the exercises.

I wonder if this book was originally written for native speakers to be used in Indian schools. Well, it's pretty unfortunate that this is considered the best book around. Excatly who benefits from this book? You might.. if you already speak the language somewhat and can read the script. Otherwise, if you have studied several foreign languages extensively, have a good background in linguistics and would like to take the challenge of learning a new language on your own.

This book's language is Brahmin-centric -- use with caution
I gave too much weight to the Amazon reviews when deciding between this book and Ron Asher's Colloquial Tamil. As a complete beginner who will soon spend a year in semi-rural Tamil Nadu, I want a book that will get me up to speed as soon as possible. Hart's book is very good for learning to read. Unfortunately, a lot of the basic vocabulary (like "how are you?") is used only by Brahmins. It wouldn't be a problem if Hart specifically noted this, and also gave alternate phrases, but she doesn't. Although I'm a Brahmin, I want to be able to communicate with all types of people without giving offense. So, I ultimately decided to go with the Asher books. And, unlike the reviewer of Asher's CDs who found that the speakers spoke too fast, I think they are very good at approximating native speech patterns. However, the Asher book and CD should be used in conjunction -- which is not clear from the Amazon page.If I hit you you will die. ... Read more

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The TamBrahm Bride is a light-hearted journey through the dizzying world of south Indian arranged marriages predominantly populated by astrologers, matchmakers and NRI grooms. Rivettingly told, the story may be set in the Indian context, but has a universal appeal that echoes the sentiments of a global audience. ... Read more

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Students, researchers, and patients can find reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information in “The Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer,” a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures.

Product Description
The article is excerpted fromGale Encyclopedia of Cancer
The resource students and researchers will turn to for reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information, the Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer is a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures. The Encyclopediaincludes entries covering cancers, cancer drugs, treatments, sideeffects and diagnostic procedures. Entries typically include thefollowing elements:

• Causes and Symptoms
• Definition
• Description
• Diagnosis
• Prevention
• Resources
• Risks
• Special Concerns
• And more

An appendix provides complete contact information for cancercenters, national support groups, government agencies and researchgroups. Features include anatomical illustrations of the major bodysystems, a subject index and approximately 200 photographs and drawings. ... Read more

Product Description
The article is excerpted fromGale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health.
This 5-vol. set provides more than 850 entries covering topics innursing and allied health written for students and professionals in thefield. Alphabetically arranged entries cover topics in body systems andfunctions, conditions and common diseases, issues and theories,techniques and practices, and devices and equipment. The Encyclopediacovers all major health professions, including nursing, physicaltherapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, medical labtechnology, emergency medical technology, dental assistance,pharmacology and nutrition. In addition, the set features approximately400 photographs and illustrations; appendices of related organizations,agencies and associations; and a general index.

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This digital document is an article from Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed., brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 2364 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The third edition of this authoritative, comprehensive, in-depth medical guide features information on medical topics in language accessible to adult laypersons. Disease/disorder articles typically cover definition; description; causes and symptoms; diagnosis; treatments; prevention; and more. Test/treatment articles typically cover definition; purposes; precautions; preparation; risks; normal and abnormal results; and much more. ... Read more

Product Description
The article is excerpted fromGale Encyclopedia of Cancer
The resource students and researchers will turn to for reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information, the Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer is a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures. The Encyclopediaincludes entries covering cancers, cancer drugs, treatments, sideeffects and diagnostic procedures. Entries typically include thefollowing elements:

• Causes and Symptoms
• Definition
• Description
• Diagnosis
• Prevention
• Resources
• Risks
• Special Concerns
• And more

An appendix provides complete contact information for cancercenters, national support groups, government agencies and researchgroups. Features include anatomical illustrations of the major bodysystems, a subject index and approximately 200 photographs and drawings. ... Read more

Product Description
The article is excerpted fromGale Encyclopedia of Cancer
The resource students and researchers will turn to for reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information, the Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer is a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures. The Encyclopediaincludes entries covering cancers, cancer drugs, treatments, sideeffects and diagnostic procedures. Entries typically include thefollowing elements:

• Causes and Symptoms
• Definition
• Description
• Diagnosis
• Prevention
• Resources
• Risks
• Special Concerns
• And more

An appendix provides complete contact information for cancercenters, national support groups, government agencies and researchgroups. Features include anatomical illustrations of the major bodysystems, a subject index and approximately 200 photographs and drawings. ... Read more

Product Description

Students, researchers, and patients can find reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information in “The Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer,” a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures.

Product Description

Students, researchers, and patients can find reliable, up-to-date and clearly written information in “The Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer,” a comprehensive survey of 120 cancers, cancer drugs, traditional and alternative treatments and diagnostic procedures.