In 1998 when Mr. Thomas had come to a village near Madurai on a fellowship, his friend introduced him to professor K.V. Ramakoti, who taught him spoken Tamil for a year. But that didn’t help as ...

More than 80 million people worldwide, including 360,000 Americans, speak Tamil, one of the world's oldest languages. The resolution coincides with Pongal, a major Tamil festival that begins in ...