Learn Tamil for kids, one word at a time
How children learn beginner Tamil with TamilTime: pictures, Tamil script, spoken pronunciation and short interactive lessons, with English instructions throughout.
What is TamilTime?
TamilTime is a free web app that teaches beginner Tamil vocabulary to children. Each word is taught with a picture, the Tamil spelling and audio you can play, then practised through short exercises. It runs in a browser, with nothing to install.
Who is TamilTime for?
Children who already read a little English and are starting Tamil from the beginning — most often kids in Tamil families living outside Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Instructions are in English so a child can follow the lesson on their own, and a grown-up who speaks Tamil makes it better still.
How do children learn Tamil with TamilTime?
A lesson is ten short turns. A new word is introduced with its picture, both spellings and both languages spoken aloud. The same word then comes back in a different shape: choose the Tamil word, pick the matching picture, listen and choose, or match pairs. Seeing a word from several angles is what makes it stick.
Does TamilTime include Tamil pronunciation?
Yes. Every word has an audio clip in Tamil and one in English, and the Tamil spelling is always shown as real text beside it, so a child is never relying on sound alone. The clips are computer-generated speech rather than recordings of a Tamil speaker.
Is TamilTime suitable for complete beginners?
Yes. Every unit is beginner level and starts from single everyday words rather than grammar or sentences. There is no reading test to pass first — a child who knows the English word can begin immediately.
Does TamilTime cost anything or need an account?
No. There is no sign-up, no password and no payment. Progress is saved in your own browser on the device you play on, so clearing your browser data clears it.
What Tamil topics can children learn?
10 topics, ten words each. Each one has its own page with the full word list, the Tamil spelling and pronunciation.
How to get started
Open the lesson catalogue, pick a topic your child already knows in English, and sit with them for the first one. Fruits is the usual place to begin.
TamilTime is meant to support the learning a family or a teacher is already doing, not to replace it.