Summary

Malayalam Mission is an online course designed for children aged 9–16, although it will accept children aged 6+. It teaches reading, writing, and listening, and there’s an accompanying app (Google Play, App Store). The website is entirely in Malayalam, which can make registering for the course tricky. Go to this webpage, click the green button, and fill out the form. The course tells the story of a girl of Indian heritage visiting her grandparents in Kerala. She doesn’t have Malayalam as a native language, which allows students to learn alongside her as she navigates life in Kerala. The lessons have been designed by volunteer teachers. We haven’t been able to try out the course, as it requires you to be a child. However, we have used the app, which contains the textbooks as well as some supplementary reading and listening activities. We were impressed by the amount of free Malayalam material available and the child-friendly design and activities. That said, we would recommend studying it with the help of a parent or teacher, especially if you or your child is a complete beginner. Bear in mind that it assumes existing knowledge of the Malayalam script, and does not use any English.