“Tamil 1” – first Tamil school book published in Norway

தமிழ்

_{This post is based on the original Facebook post from 16th July 2020.}

“Tamil 1” is the first Tamil school book published in Norway for the mother tongue education (morsmålsopplæring) at Norwegian governmental schools. This book was designed for year 1 students.

The project was conducted by Kulturbro publisher in Norway with the economical support from Nasjonalt Læremiddelsenter (National Teaching Aids Center). It was published in Oslo in 1995. Then in 1997 “Tamil 2” was published by same published with the economical support from Nasjonalt Læremiddelsenter (National Teaching Aids Center).
https://kulturbro.no/boker/index.htm#morsmalslareboker_for_minoritetsspraklige_barn

Tamil 1 book details:
Author: Philominammah George
Tamil consultants: Nagaratanam Ratnasingam and Dhayalan Velauthapillai
Norwegian consultants: Hilde Traavik and Anne-Lis Øvrebotten
Illustrator: Freda Magnussen
Publisher: Kulturbro Forlag AS
Place of publication: Oslo
Year: 1995

Tamil 2 book details:
Author: Philominammah George
Tamil consultant: Dhayalan Velauthapillai
Norwegian consultant: Anne-Lis Øvrebotten
Illustrator: Freda Magnussen
Publisher: Kulturbro Forlag AS
Place of publication: Oslo
Year: 1997

“Tamil 1” and “Tamil 2” are no longer being reprinted. It was received as photocopied pages of the original book. Caroline Thevanathan, daughter of Philominamma George, has the original book as her personal archive.
This book is at Norwegian libraries. But I am trying to find out if the book is preserved at a Norwegian archive. Hence having material at a library and an archive is two different things.

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Disclaimer:
Due to the lack of or fragmented archives or limited access to archives in Tamil society, it has been challenging to get access to available sources that can support oral history interviews.
In this situation, writing about diaspora Tamil history will be a dynamic process which may change its shape and be updated over time. Thus, we welcome the public to provide feedback with any verifiable sources in the case of need for correction in the factual information in this website.

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_{Reproduction of this article is allowed when used without any alterations to the contents and the source, DsporA Tamil Archive, is mentioned.}

Updated: 18.10.2020