Colombo, Sri Lanka
The Tamil language has 76 million native speakers and around 6 million who speak Tamil as a second language.
The vast majority of Tamil speakers (69 million) live in southeastern India, as well as in northern Sri Lanka (5 million). This is about a quarter of the population of Sri Lanka.
Tamil is one of the original Dravidian languages of India and, unlike Hindi or Urdu, is not of Indo-European origin. It is one of the oldest still existing languages in the world.
Spoken Tamil is also significantly different from the written form, which is based on the traditional Tamil language.
Suitable for: Beginners and Advanced Learners, Students, Professionals
Content: 1300 words (basic course), 5200 words (complete course), complete grammar, verb conjugations, exercises
Prices: $59.95 (Basic Course), $127 (Complete Course)
Overall Value: 
The Tamil Basic Course contains a vocabulary trainer for the basic Tamil vocabulary (1300 words) with native-speaker audio, as well as grammar explanations and various exercises.
The vocabulary trainer works with a long-term memory method, in which the new vocabulary is checked at increasing intervals.
You can choose between text input, multiple choice or simply confirming whether you knew a word or not.
The exercises include text comprehension questions, filling in word gaps or just vocabulary lists where one side is covered.
The basic course corresponds to the official language levels A1 and A2 (explanation of CEFR language levels).
The Complete Course contains:
Summary: Much cheaper and even better than the famous Rosetta Stone. There is a free demo version available and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Link: Tamil Basic Course and Complete Course
Content: Tamil vocabulary trainer (2000 words), lessons and exercises
Prices:
USD 12 (1 month all 160 languages)
USD 60 (12 months all 160 languages)
Discount offer: USD 199
(Lifetime Access to all 160 Languages)
Overall Value:
The uTalk app teaches about 2000 Tamil words and focuses primarily on playful exercises. There are several exercises to choose from:
The interface of the app is well made and is similar to other apps like Babbel, Duolingo or Mondly.
Summary: Getting access to 160 languages is impressive and the scope (2000 words with native speaker audio and exercises) is also solid.
Link: uTalk Tamil Language Course App
Content: Tamil lessons with native speaker audio
Prices: $14.99 (1 month), $79
(12 months), $149 (unlimited)
Overall Value: 
The Ling language learning app offers lessons for 60 languages and is quite similar to Duolingo or Babbel, which do not offer Tamil courses.
Ling uses "gamified learning", which means learning the Tamil language in a playful way. There are mini-games, levels, experience points, as well as tests and exercises at the end of each lesson.
The vocabulary covers about 1000 Tamil words and phrases, all with native speaker audio and pictures. Grammar is not included.
This app offers a test to determine your proficiency level in Tamil.
Summary: Good ideas that make learning Tamil more fun.
Link: Ling Tamil Language Course App
Content: Tamil video lessons and quiz tests
Prices: $12.99 (one course), $24.99 (4-7 courses bundle)
Overall Value: 
Cudoo is a kind of online university that offers courses with certificates on different topics.
This includes language courses for 160 languages. These are all beginner courses (CEFR level A1 and A2).
For each language there are 1-10 courses and each course has 20-40 lessons.
The lessons each include a short video with new vocabulary and there are short quiz questions below the video.
Summary: The videos are well made, so especially for smaller languages these courses are a good start.
Link: Cudoo Online Tamil Language Course
Content: Tamil lessons and vocabulary trainer with native speaker audio, grammar
Prices: $22 (1 month), $70 (12 months), $255 (unlimited)
Overall Value:
With the Memrise App you can learn over 90 languages.
This includes even very small languages - however, in such cases the language courses are often limited to just a few lessons.
One special feature of the Memrise learning app is the large number of lessons created by users (native speakers).
The quality of these lessons varies greatly though. For example, only the basic forms of verbs are usually taught, without the conjugations. Some languages also do not have an audio recording of the words at all.
Another good idea of the Memrise app are the user-generated tips and mnemonics for each word to help you memorize them.
Summary: User-generated lessons are a good idea. In practice, the quality of the lessons leaves a lot be desired.
Content: Tamil lessons and exercises with voice output and speech recognition
Prices: $9.99 (1 month), $100 (12 months), $200 (unlimited), $400 (163 languages)
Overall Value:
The Bluebird App offers 146 source languages and 163 target languages and dialects, including Tamil.
The Tamil language course in this app includes the following:
The Bluebird App does not have grammar lessons. Instead, you are supposed to understand the grammar "implicitly" from the examples, same as in Rosetta Stone.
Summary: The video lessons and the interface require some getting used to, but the exercises are quite varied. Especially for smaller languages, this app is an acceptable alternative.
Content: Tamil lessons with native speaker audio, grammar, culture
Prices:
USD 12 (1 month and 70 languages)
USD 120 (1 year and 70 languages)
Overall Value:
The Mango Languages App offers 70 languages, including Tamil.
This app also has some grammar lessons and cultural explanations. The explanations in English are all recorded and well done.
However, the number of lessons for learning Tamil is quite small, which means that this app is only suitable for absolute beginners.
There are no exercises, except for the repeated vocabulary tests.
You can also record your own pronunciation in the app and compare it with the recording of a native speaker.
Summary: Good quality, but not much vocabulary. Only for absolute Tamil beginners.
Content: Tamil lessons and exercises
Prices: $19.99 (1 month), $40 (3 months), $60 (6 months)
Overall Value: 
The Lingo Play App offers language courses for 70 languages. It offers "gamified learning", which means learning vocabulary in a playful way.
Each Tamil lesson offers the following exercises:
There is also a multiplayer mode and competitions where you can test your Tamil skills against other people.
Summary: Overpriced Tamil course that does offer some good exercises, but is not better than other similar apps.
Content: Vocabulary trainer for Tamil learning
Prices: $9.99 (1000 words), $59 (1000 words in 50 languages)
Overall Value:
The Simya App for Android and iOS is purely a vocabulary trainer for 50 languages, including Tamil.
The free version contains 300 words and has very frequent "ad breaks". The paid version (without ads) also contains only 1000 words and phrases.
All the words have native speaker audio and you can use the app offline too.
Tamil grammar and verb conjugations are not included in this app.
Summary: Not really worth it, as there are much better alternatives like Mondly, Rosetta Stone or even Duolingo.
Content: Tamil lessons with native speaker audio and speech recognition, grammar
Prices: $35 (second language for free)
Overall Value: 
The Linguashop educational software ("TeachMe") is available for over 90 languages, including Tamil. It also includes an audio CD.
The native speaker audio and speech recognition are relatively good.
However, the interface of the learning software is quite chaotic and there are no exercises — only lessons where new vocabulary is presented.
It is also unclear how many words are included in this Tamil learning program. There is no information about this on the website.
Some grammar lessons are included — however, these are basically just images with short texts.
Summary: Poor quality for a relatively low price. You get language courses for two languages when you buy, one as a free bonus.
Colanguage: Find Skype teachers
Overall Value:
At Colanguage you can arrange face-to-face language lessons online via Skype with language teachers around the world (from $5-10 per hour).
In addition to using apps, it is definitely a good idea to also practice with native speakers in order to learn Tamil properly.
Tandem: Find a language exchange partner
Overall Value:
Instead of hiring teachers, you can also find people who are interested in a free language exchange online via Skype.
It is completely free of charge, but you have to act as a language teacher for the other person half of the time.
| Learning App | Subscription? | Price | Systems |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 Minutes (Basics) |
Apps |
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| 17 Minutes (Complete) | Apps |
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| uTalk | Apps |
||
| uTalk |
month |
Apps |
|
| uTalk |
months |
Apps |
|
| Ling |
Apps |
||
| Ling |
month |
Apps |
|
| Ling |
months | Apps |
|
| Cudoo (one course) |
Access |
||
| Cudoo (complete) |
Access |
||
| Memrise | Apps |
||
| Memrise | month | Apps |
|
| Memrise | months | Apps |
|
| Bluebird |
Apps |
||
| Bluebird |
month |
Apps |
|
| Bluebird |
months |
Apps |
|
| Mango | month | Apps |
|
| Mango | months | Apps |
|
| Lingo Play |
month |
Apps |
|
| Lingo Play |
months |
Apps |
|
| Simya (1 language) |
|||
| Simya (50 languages) |
|||
| Linguashop |
Best Tamil Online Course:
17 Minute Languages
Best App to Learn Tamil:
uTalk App
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