Archive for May, 2012

Tamil Lessons (Vowels and Consonants)

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

Tamil Lessons   தமிழ் பாட ங்கள்

Tamil Vowels and Consonants Lessons

Tallahassee, FL 32317

May 24, 2012

I have spent few hours and made some simple Tamil Lessons on vowels and consonants and added them to my Tamil website: tamil.somasundaram.us/tamil_lessons.html and  to tlh-tamilsangam.somasundaram.us

The lessons cover Tamil vowels and consonants and are meant to be simple tools for parents of Tamil loving people whose children are born in places where Tamil is not routinely taught. The lessons are both in English and Tamil. The parents or those interested in learning Tamil language can use them to teach others or learn Tamil themselves. I will continue to add more lessons whenever I find time to do. Please contact me if you find it useful.

In  Tamil Lessons 01 and o2 we will learn the vowels.   In  Tamil Lessons 03 and o4 we will learn the consonants.  I will introduced all thirteen (13) of the vowels and eighteen (18) consonants in the lessons with columns for the Tamil vowel letter, its English pronunciation, the Tamil word, the same word transliterated in English, word equivalent in English, and a picture of the word. My intention is to make it easier for parents of Tamil loving people to give a resource to teach Tamil to their children. If you find this useful, please contact me at: mail@somasundaram.us. I will continue to add more lessons when I have time. Please let me know its usefulness and give your suggestions. Please feel free to use it, but contact and let me know that you are using it. I want to know whether my efforts have an impact. Thanks.

இந்த முதல் பாடத்தில் தமிழ் உயிரெழுத்துக்களை படிக்கலாம். தமிழ் உயிரெழுத்துக்கள் பதிமுன்று (13). அவையனைத்தையும் இந்த பக்கம் தொடங்கி இன்னும் இரண்டு பக்கங்களில் பார்க்கலாம். உயிரெழுத்து, அதன் ஆங்கில உச்சரிப்பு, தமிழ் வார்த்தை, வார்த்தையின் ஆங்கில உச்சரிப்பு, ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு, வார்த்தையின் படம். இந்த பாடங்கள் உதவியாக இருந்தால் தயவு செய்து என்னை தொடர்பு கொள்ளவும்.

Provost visits my lab

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

Provost visits my lab

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

 

Today my university Provost visited my lab. This was part of tour of our unit. Everything went well. She spent about 3 minutes in my lab.

Oak (Rat) Snake in front yard?

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

oak-or-rat-snake_01.jpg

Oak (Rat) Snake in front yard?

Tallahassee, Florida

Thursday, May 17, 2012

When I came home from my evening errand around 7:30 PM and try to park my car in the driveway, I noticed a long (3 1/2 feet, ~1 meter long) thin light brown (wheat colored) snake crawling across the garage door. It moved slowly and stopped. There was enough light as my house faces North and the Sun from the Western sky was falling right on my drive way.

I  went inside the house and grabbed two sticks and my camera and took some pictures and recorded a short video. I wanted to find out whether it was poisonous snake but no local snake experts were around. So I tried to grab it using the long stick. The snake quickly turned around and put out its tongue and didn’t strike or open its mouth. I then chased it around the house.

My friends said it is a Oak snake or rat snake. What do you think?

oak-or-rat-snake_011.jpg

Speak at Dept of Health

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Kick-off Event

FL Department of Health

Office of Minority Health Affairs | State-wide telecast

Tuesday, May 8, 2012, 12:00 Noon to 1:30 PM

Today I gave a 30 minute presentation about Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration at the Florida Department of Health’s Office Minority Health Affairs’ celebration of Asian Pacific American Health Initiative.

I was invited to give this talk as one of the four events the Florida Dept of Health’s Office of Minority Health Affairs will telecast state-wide to the benefit of various members. This was the first year this department included Asian Pacific Americans as one of their constituents who need to be included.

The staff did a wonderful job of preparing the webinar and telecast. My talk was about 35 minutes which was followed by a Q+A session and video broadcast of recent Asian American Heritage Month Celeberation at Montford Middle School in Tallahasssee.