Ideas for Tamil Instruction for a Child, San Francisco Bay Area

[gautam3]

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Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here at Tam Brams. If this is being posted in an incorrect location, I hope a moderator can move it.

My partner and I had a son September 2021 (he just turned 7 months old), and I am a first gen American whose command of Tamil is spotty, and while I can read and write through my own struggles, I am not fluent enough to feel comfortable that my son will learn Tamil - and if he does, it may not be even decent Tamil. My partner does not speak Tamil and therefore cannot be much of a help as she was born and raised in America as well. My amma, who speaks Tamil, lives in San Diego and does communicate with my son in Tamil but it's not going to be a day to day affair for our son.

We are based in Berkeley, California which is NOT that close to the center of Indian life in the Bay Area (which I believe is Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/San Ramon/Silicon Valley). I mention that because there may be a way to use Nextdoor or something to get in touch with other Tamilians if were were down there. I understand that there is a California Tamil Academy but that isn't really until the child is much older, if not already in traditional school. I'm looking for an interim solution for these critical early years before he can join CTA classes or fit into a Zoom regime with an instructor anywhere in the world. I have no clue what to do. We are not doing day care (we both work at home/run our own businesses), and if there was a Tamil day care, that could be a great option, but I have yet to find one on Google or Sulekha.

I wanted to know what suggestions you all had for me. I'm open to any ideas and budget isn't largely a concern. I would rather start earlier than later for this. Thanks in advance, and if any of you are in the Bay Area I would love to meet you in person once the COVID madness ends.

 

[gautam3]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here at Tam Brams. If this is being posted in an incorrect location, I hope a moderator can move it.

My partner and I had a son September 2021 (he just turned 7 months old), and I am a first gen American whose command of Tamil is spotty, and while I can read and write through my own struggles, I am not fluent enough to feel comfortable that my son will learn Tamil - and if he does, it may not be even decent Tamil. My partner does not speak Tamil and therefore cannot be much of a help as she was born and raised in America as well. My amma, who speaks Tamil, lives in San Diego and does communicate with my son in Tamil but it's not going to be a day to day affair for our son.

We are based in Berkeley, California which is NOT that close to the center of Indian life in the Bay Area (which I believe is Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/San Ramon/Silicon Valley). I mention that because there may be a way to use Nextdoor or something to get in touch with other Tamilians if were were down there. I understand that there is a California Tamil Academy but that isn't really until the child is much older, if not already in traditional school. I'm looking for an interim solution for these critical early years before he can join CTA classes or fit into a Zoom regime with an instructor anywhere in the world. I have no clue what to do. We are not doing day care (we both work at home/run our own businesses), and if there was a Tamil day care, that could be a great option, but I have yet to find one on Google or Sulekha.

I wanted to know what suggestions you all had for me. I'm open to any ideas and budget isn't largely a concern. I would rather start earlier than later for this. Thanks in advance, and if any of you are in the Bay Area I would love to meet you in person once the COVID madness ends.

Any ideas?

 

[a-TB]

in my opinion, no one can learn conversational Tamil unless it is spoken at home or daycare. Your son is only 7 months old and you have lots of time because it will be a year before he is going to speak anything reasonable.

Chinmaya Mission has active weekend classes in the San Jose area and I am sure in other areas, But your son is too young for those classes. Most temples have language classes.

Why do you want your son to learn Tamil when you have not learnt it well enough to speak? Why put that kind of an expectation on the child.

He needs a nuclear family first. That means you may first think of marrying your partner if she is agreeable. It is hard to instill a language expectation or any value on a child that you and your partner dont practice, I am not trying to be harsh, just sharing the truth.

You could consider relocating to India/ Tamil Nadu for few years and do your home based business from there. Your son will learn Tamil since you can find the right environment for him there

All the best

 

[mskmoorthy]

One thing to try out is to expose the child to Tamil music - like Thevaram, thiruppugazh, thiruppavai and thiruvempavai, Kanda shashti Kavacm and some Bhajans. Plenty of youtube links are available. Let the child listen to the songs and he/she will absorb the words. See if this link sounds good. Please see this sample video in Tamil instruction - Learning by osmosis may be the best things.

 

[Lucyr]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here at Tam Brams. If this is being posted in an incorrect location, I hope a moderator can move it.

My partner and I had a son September 2021 (he just turned 7 months old), and I am a first gen American whose command of Tamil is spotty, and while I can read and write through my own struggles, I am not fluent enough to feel comfortable that my son will learn Tamil - and if he does, it may not be even decent Tamil. My partner does not speak Tamil and therefore cannot be much of a help as she was born and raised in America as well. My amma, who speaks Tamil, lives in San Diego and does communicate with my son in Tamil but it's not going to be a day to day affair for our son.

We are based in Berkeley, California which is NOT that close to the center of Indian life in the Bay Area (which I believe is Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/San Ramon/Silicon Valley). I mention that because there may be a way to use Nextdoor or something to get in touch with other Tamilians if were were down there. I understand that there is a California Tamil Academy but that isn't really until the child is much older, if not already in traditional school. I'm looking for an interim solution for these critical early years before he can join CTA classes or fit into a Zoom regime with an instructor anywhere in the world. I have no clue what to do. We are not doing day care (we both work at home/run our own businesses), and if there was a Tamil day care, that could be a great option, but I have yet to find one on Google or Sulekha.

I wanted to know what suggestions you all had for me. I'm open to any ideas and budget isn't largely a concern. I would rather start earlier than later for this. Thanks in advance, and if any of you are in the Bay Area I would love to meet you in person once the COVID madness ends.

Hello, we live in Martinez and have the same struggle. Not sure how we can connect? Maybe we can start our own group.

 

[tbs]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here at Tam Brams. If this is being posted in an incorrect location, I hope a moderator can move it.

My partner and I had a son September 2021 (he just turned 7 months old), and I am a first gen American whose command of Tamil is spotty, and while I can read and write through my own struggles, I am not fluent enough to feel comfortable that my son will learn Tamil - and if he does, it may not be even decent Tamil. My partner does not speak Tamil and therefore cannot be much of a help as she was born and raised in America as well. My amma, who speaks Tamil, lives in San Diego and does communicate with my son in Tamil but it's not going to be a day to day affair for our son.

We are based in Berkeley, California which is NOT that close to the center of Indian life in the Bay Area (which I believe is Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/San Ramon/Silicon Valley). I mention that because there may be a way to use Nextdoor or something to get in touch with other Tamilians if were were down there. I understand that there is a California Tamil Academy but that isn't really until the child is much older, if not already in traditional school. I'm looking for an interim solution for these critical early years before he can join CTA classes or fit into a Zoom regime with an instructor anywhere in the world. I have no clue what to do. We are not doing day care (we both work at home/run our own businesses), and if there was a Tamil day care, that could be a great option, but I have yet to find one on Google or Sulekha.

I wanted to know what suggestions you all had for me. I'm open to any ideas and budget isn't largely a concern. I would rather start earlier than later for this. Thanks in advance, and if any of you are in the Bay Area I would love to meet you in person once the COVID madness ends.

hi
just contact freemont hindu temple or sunnyvale hindu temple...they can help for your request...just info..

im from north east usa.....we teach tamil in our temple....

 

[gautam3]

@Lucyr Thanks for your reply! I can't find a way to DM you here

 

[lastratstanding]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting here at Tam Brams. If this is being posted in an incorrect location, I hope a moderator can move it.

My partner and I had a son September 2021 (he just turned 7 months old), and I am a first gen American whose command of Tamil is spotty, and while I can read and write through my own struggles, I am not fluent enough to feel comfortable that my son will learn Tamil - and if he does, it may not be even decent Tamil. My partner does not speak Tamil and therefore cannot be much of a help as she was born and raised in America as well. My amma, who speaks Tamil, lives in San Diego and does communicate with my son in Tamil but it's not going to be a day to day affair for our son.

We are based in Berkeley, California which is NOT that close to the center of Indian life in the Bay Area (which I believe is Fremont/Milpitas/San Jose/San Ramon/Silicon Valley). I mention that because there may be a way to use Nextdoor or something to get in touch with other Tamilians if were were down there. I understand that there is a California Tamil Academy but that isn't really until the child is much older, if not already in traditional school. I'm looking for an interim solution for these critical early years before he can join CTA classes or fit into a Zoom regime with an instructor anywhere in the world. I have no clue what to do. We are not doing day care (we both work at home/run our own businesses), and if there was a Tamil day care, that could be a great option, but I have yet to find one on Google or Sulekha.

I wanted to know what suggestions you all had for me. I'm open to any ideas and budget isn't largely a concern. I would rather start earlier than later for this. Thanks in advance, and if any of you are in the Bay Area I would love to meet you in person once the COVID madness ends.

Hi Gautam ji. Please send mail to [email protected]

 

[prasad1]

Top 10 Tamil Classes Near Me in Berkeley, CA

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For Tamil:

Tamilforkids – This is a lovely account where the founder shares resources, ideas to promote learning Tamil and also has some great resources for preschoolers to early primary.

Vaaranambooks – The founder writes and produces lovely books, many which are Singapore themed that can resonate well with our local kids.

Noolmonsters – Another great resource, especially for little ones. She does sing-a-longs and has been working on creating well illustrated stories and products for young children to learn Tamil.

From a FB post

How to Teach Your Kids tamil Even If You Don't Speak It? - Powerkid Academy | Learn Tamil Online

If you don’t speak Tamil and still wish your children learn Tamil, admitting them to online Tamil classes helps. As a parent, you can co-learn with them.

powerkidtamil.com

Bay Area Tamil Manram | Every.org

Bay Area Tamil Manram is a non-profit, non-political, and non-partisan organization

www.every.org

 

[Krishnan.vp]

You might want to think about why you want to teach your child tamil in the first place.

Brahmins learn and practice tamil to enrich it. The prayers that we have like devaram, thirupugazh and 4000 Divya prabhandham capture the essense of true tamil literature. Which is a far cry from the tamil that we read and write now.

Dravidians use tamil for separatist purposes to create pirivinai vaadham and cast brahmins as aryans. These dravdians cannot pronounce Ya, ra, la, va, zha, lla which is the beauty of the language but post youtube videos of themselves going around telling people that tamil is the worlds oldest language.. Yuck!!

Tamilians dont know much of anything and blindly swallow the current school syllabus which blares that karunanidhi wrote and created tamil grammar.

And in foreign countries like Singapore where Tamil is a national language.... well its a completely different story. I have been in singapore for 5 years and noticed that the chinese have two main spoken dialects mandarin and hokkien. Mandarin is used by the educated and learned people for law, business and government purposes. Hokkien is used by the uneducated worker and labour people. Hokkien is also a national dialect so that communication can be established with the labour work force. Tamil is also in much the same category in that country as also malaysia, its a dialect used to communicate to the labour class and poor people.

So its better to first determine who you are - brahmin, dravidian, tamilian or foreign resident and then choose the appropriate reason for learning tamil. And also hopefully analyse the fundamental reason for doing so.

Hmmm.. A bit harsh isn't it.

But its the truth.

 

[sravna]

I really appreciate that you are considering having your child learn Tamil. Along with it consider inculcating practical ideals to your child like relating the scriptures to day to day living and day to day or larger challenges and problems. There is nothing to beat our holy books in this regerd but the impression that prevails is they are not suited for the pragmatic reality. Some creativity and persistence are required to make things work for you.

Sorry I am beginning to digress. But i spontaneously look at the necessary context in which any endeavor needs to be set for it to be really effective.