Tamil, the native language of Sri Lanka and India, is spoken by approximately 100,000 people in the UK. Often considered as a “rare” language in the UK, Tamil interpreters are in demand for many public service requests, such as hospital and police appointments.

If you speak Tamil, or know someone who does, have you thought about interpreting opportunities?

Fact 1:It’s one of the oldest languages. 

The Tamil language is thought to be one of the oldest classical languages in the world. Whilst historians have been unable to provide an exact date of origin, there is evidence suggesting it has been spoken since 500BC. In the 1500s, missionaries published a prayer book in Tamil, making it the first Indian language to be printed and published. It’s also possibly the oldest language in the world which is still used by native speakers in daily life.

Fact 2:It’s the language of kings. 

In the ancient world, the land of the Tamil language and its people was ruled by three lines of kings, the Chera, Chola and Pandiya. The lands they ruled were called Chera Nadu, Chola Nadu and Pandiya Nadu. In today’s world, Tamil is spoken in Tamil Nadu, south-east India and northern Shri Lanka as well as other parts of the world.

Fact 3:It’s celebrated in other countries. 

In 2016, the Canadian parliament announced that every January will be recognised as Tamil Heritage Month, coinciding with the harvest festival, Pongal.

Fact 4:It uses 2 dialects. 

When a language community uses two dialects or languages, it is known as diglossia. These are usually referred to as the high type and the low type. They are used in different ways, for example, the hight type is more formal, and is found in elements of life such as education, literature and religion. The low type is used in everyday conversation and, in the case of Tamil, TV and cinema. The low type is usually learnt at home and the high type is taught later in life.

Fact 5:It uses symbols for certain words.

Similar to Roman numeral, Tamil uses numerals for '10’, ‘100’ and ‘1000’. It also uses symbols for certain words, such as ‘year’ (௵), ‘rupee’ (௹) and ‘credit’ (௷).

If you speak Tamil, or know someone who does, have you thought about interpreting opportunities? Tamil is still considered a rare language in the UK and many public sector organisations are frequently in need of Tamil interpreters.