CHENNAI: For many students, Tamil class has long meant dense textbooks, memorised answers, and a quiet struggle to keep up.
It’s a language they hear all around them, yet often find it difficult to connect with academically.
What if learning the semmozhi becomes as easy as playing games on our computer? And, imagine grammar is unpacked, vocabulary is contextualised, and lessons are designed to feel less like instruction and more like discovery? The answer lies in lyricist and researcher Dr Madhan Karky’s innovative initiatives.
“I used to visit quite often and interact with the students in Tamil. But they mostly respond in English. When I wondered why, the students informed me that they were allowed to speak only English on campus. Even if the school allows, they are tuned to speak English spontaneously. While writing lyrics for a song, I was carried away by the thought of how I can take our words, grammar and literature to the next generation,” starts Madhan Karky, who was determined not to follow the conventional way. With more than 13 years of his research put into place, he decided to build interactive platforms to make his vision a reality through Payil and Thambaa Tamil Labs.
His 50-member team, which includes linguists, programmers, designers and writers, have been teaching Tamil for kids across 35 countries previously. “With our learnings from those experiences, we built tools and took them to schools in Tamil Nadu. However, in Madurai, children struggled to understand the working of those tools. We took the feedback and worked on it to make the tools more accessible. The major aim of making these tools is to incorporate Tamil in day-to-day lives,” he says.
The team has been working on Payil and Thambaa Tamil Labs for two years now. Instead of limiting themselves to reimagining curriculum in books, they aimed to broaden the scope to keep students engaged and thus started Thambaa Tamil Labs. But why the name Thambaa? “We wanted a name that was playful yet meaningful. So, Thambaa can be thambi (brother), and the short form of Thamba means Tamil Paadam. Another meaning is that if we split Tham-baa, it signifies Our Song. Thambaa is our playful and friendly mascot, for whom the kids will pass through different levels, win sugarcanes and balls to feed and play with him,” explains the lyricist.
At a time when students are hardly interested in learning languages, this reimagination has made them fall in love with Tamil and also enjoy the process. “After our first lab session, the teacher shared that the students were very excited for the next lab session and were dancing and singing the poems they learnt. I visited three schools after six months and spoke to the management and parents. They emphasised extending the sessions, as they are now witnessing a profound interest among kids to learn Tamil. Payil and Thambaa Tamil Labs will not only keep the students curious, but also engage with the teachers. While giving them the Payil books, we also hand over the answer key and evaluation methodology. The syllabus is designed systematically by giving 80 per cent for theory and 20 per cent for practical labs,” Madhan Karky shares.
Initially, the team started with six schools in Chennai, Madurai and Tirunelveli. Now, they are working with 28 schools, which they are planning to increase to 30 by next year. “With our database, we can analyse class and school-wise on where the students are performing well and the areas they are struggling with. This helps us to tweak our curriculum according to the requirements. To date, we have reached around 7,300 students. Apart from learning the language, we also evaluate their creativity and logical thinking, and produce monthly reports, showcasing their performance against the world average.” These initiatives aim to strike a balance between Tamil speaking, listening and writing skills.
The curriculum starts from Kirukal (scribbling) in the foundation level to the first year of college.
The database of Payil and Thambaa Tamil Labs is quite fascinating and astonishing. The Nooli section features 1,650 books, exclusively in this lab. “Our Paatu category has 360 poems, and the topics feature anything and everything, including thermodynamics and photosynthesis in Tamil. This helps them to learn complex concepts easily. The poems are originally composed by the team. The 60 games will test the students’ verbal, listening, comprehension, writing and also observational skills. As there are multiple dialects of spoken Tamil, Pechu Tamil is currently in process,” he elucidates, adding that there are around 15 lakh words in Chol (dictionary), comprising terminology from the Sangam to the Gen Z era.
The books section includes stories of various personalities across the world. The complexity increases with each level according to the grades of the students. “There is a song, Pagir, which emphasises the beauty and importance of sharing. Without their knowledge, students understand the moral aspects of life and become emotionally intelligent,” he states with a broad smile. Moreover, students learn Tamil typing as well.
Personalised learning and AI are taking over. The way school functions will undergo a major transformation in the near future. “They will become learning centres, and teachers will be facilitators. Interactive learning will be in the spotlight. We have spoiled an entire generation with gadgets. Now, it is time to make the best use of the gadgets. Yes, kids are losing attention because of short-form videos. Through our platform, we gradually grab their attention and also monitor at which point they zone out. This will increase their attention span,” he adds.
The podcast series, with 150 episodes on a wide range of topics, will map students’ listening skills.
Madhan Karky’s vision doesn’t stop with just learning Tamil. It extends beyond that and integrates into building careers based on the Tamil language. “What are the benefits of learning Tamil? That was a question that prompted us to venture into this. We wanted to keep the reason in the future, and not in the past, citing ancient grammar and literature. The focus should be on how Tamil can help in building a better career. In our labs, we have a section which has complete details about different Tamil-based professions and how to groom ourselves for the same. We also provide vocational courses and parallel careers through the Centre of Excellence. For example, a law student can enroll in a voice acting course. We are also signing up with companies to ensure the students get placement opportunities as well,” notes the entrepreneur.
Technology poses a huge challenge. Not many government schools are well-equipped with computers, and not all the remote villages have strong internet connectivity. “For the places with low-speed internet facilities, we tweak our tool to match the low bandwidth. I believe that the government will soon implement personalised learning in our state,” Madhan Karky hopes. Another challenge was to convince schools that follow traditional learning methods.
The team is looking to expand to other countries, including the USA and Europe. “Not just that. When I complete the curriculum and resources for the Tamil language, I will start to focus on Telugu and Kannada in the near future. For Tamil, we already have resources for 35 to 40 weeks, without any repetition. We are also working on a virtual reality space library, which will come into use by 2027.”
From this January, the team started organising the International Tamil Olympiad, along with Silverzone Foundation India. With these many visions ahead, Payil’s ultimate goal is to make discoveries with Tamil as a base and create job opportunities. “We want to build more scholars to research the Tamil language. It will travel with them for all their lives. Through Tamil, we want students to know the world and moral values,” concludes Madhan Karky.