With the number of students able to fluently grasp Tamil in primary classes dropping drastically, an app called “Chutti Tamil Arichubadi” is hoping to come to the rescue.

Focusing on student needs, the app has options for learning the script, practicing writing and consulting a dictionary. Thus, the app provides flash-card like sequences of 247 letters along with audio of their correct pronunciations, turns the mobile screen into an erasable slate to practice letters, and provides a dictionary that claims to be more comprehensive than any other app-based offering currently available.

Says Bakthachalam, Head of Research and Development at Eduplay India, the company behind the app, “According to various surveys, including ours, about 40% of students find it difficult to grasp Tamil language in primary classes. Students also face problems in getting the sounds of Tamil letters right.”

Although this problem has been recognised for some years now, he says, no app was available that sufficiently integrated sounds and images.

The trial version of the app will be launched soon, and it will be available for download from July 4 on the Google Play Store.

The organisation plans to popularise the app through its existing tie-ups with schools in Tamil Nadu. “We have been in the education sector for 25 years and we have tie-ups with 800 schools in Tamil Nadu. We will be asking the teachers to ask parents to download this app to teach students Tamil in a more interesting manner,” he said.

He added that the company also aims to provide technological support for teaching Tamil to schools that require it.

The app will be available on the Google Play Store for Rs 50.