Picture books for kids play a major role in developing children’s early language skills. Pictures facilitate the readers’ comprehension of the text. Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids app uses this proven technique to help kids develop comprehension in Tamil language.
Graded Readers are books that have had the language level simplified to help second language learners read them. The language is graded for vocabulary, complexity of grammar structures and also by the number of words. They are made to cater for all levels from beginners through to advanced.
Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids app targets preschool and primary school children learning Tamil as their second language. It aims to focus on the reading and comprehension elements of their Tamil language development.
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Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids app is the first of its kind Graded Readers in Tamil language across both digital and print domains.
The app is a digital library of Graded Reader books. It uses contextual illustrations to aid comprehension. The books are grouped into gradually increasing difficulty of book levels.
The app can be used to develop the reading and comprehension ability of kids who want to learn Tamil as a second language. The app can be used by kids either by themselves or with the assistance of parents. It could also be used as a digital reading library by any Tamil language educational institutes.
It would complement other learning activities the children may undertake such as communicating in Tamil in home and community environments, attending language schools, participating in Tamil cultural activities etc.
For young learners, reading a book in a second language would be a daunting task. They would find too many unknown words and be presented with language way beyond their level which would make understanding the book very difficult.
Graded readers are books especially written for language learners. They employ a limited set of grammar and vocabulary which allows learners to enjoy reading without struggling. Each story page includes an illustration to aid comprehension.
If learners start with graded readers they won’t have to stop and look up lots of unknown words in the dictionary. Graded Readers can be an excellent way to motivate your children and they should be a really enjoyable part of the language learning experience.
Studies show learners who use graded readers improve reading speed, reading fluency, help develop and enrich already known vocabulary, and improve their ability to move from working with words to working with ideas when reading.
Beginner learners may need parent or adult assistance when starting to read on Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids. These early learners may be able to read the books they have already completed on their own.
Since the early level books use repetitive words predominantly, children should be encouraged to attempt to pronounce these words on their own. As they develop their reading skill and climb up the book levels, kids would be able to read on their own. Since new books are released on a continued basis, children can move between different book levels as they wish.
“Repetition is the mother of all learning.” As per this good old phrase, which is originally a Latin proverb, it is recommended to read the same book multiple times to achieve language fluency. Developing a daily reading habit on Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids would greatly accelerate reading, comprehension and overall language development.
Tamil Picture Books 4 Kids app is developed and brought to you by Tamil Graded Readers Inc. (TGR), a non-profit organisation based in Melbourne, Australia.
TGR was established to develop a multi-device, a multi-platform accessible collection of graded readers (or in simple terms ‘Tamil Picture Story Books’) to develop reading and general Tamil language skills of children.
Talking in the native language is vital for a youngster’s general improvement. Being conversant in the native language, which is otherwise called the local dialect, benefits the youngster from numerous points of view. It associates one to their way of life in their community, guarantees better psychological improvement, and helps with the learning of different dialects.
The members of TGR identified a lack of books “available” for families, which are suitable for kids learning Tamil as a second language. TGR was founded to address this gap by developing a Graded Readers based library of books on a digital platform, which would be easily accessible by many families.
TGR is run by 100% volunteers with the generous support of well-wishers and donors.
