Beginner

• Find learning materials in your native language to help you learn Malayalam. 


• Determine where you need the most help: reading, writing, speaking, listening, or all of the above. 


• Learn the Malayalam alphabet, and start recognizing the differences and correct pronunciation


• Create a study plan that you can work with consistently each week.  A little each week is better than trying to do a whole lot every day, and then failing and giving up. 


• Visit our 'resources' section for Malayalam and review each of the 'beginner' resources.

Intermediate

• By the intermediate stage, you should be able to differentiate the alphabetical differences and be able to pronounce them all correctly. You should also be able to understand some basic frequently used Malayalam words.


• Visit our “resources” section for Malayalam and review each of the “intermediate” resources.


• At the intermediate stage, you need to start mastering pronunciation and increase your vocabulary. 


• Get a hold of a bunch of grammar workbooks, and get honest feedback from native speakers (with Malayalam teaching experience) on your pronunciation.  Make it perfect.  If no one can understand you, who cares about your perfect grammar, right? Watch some movies in Malayalam to understand their culture and better your pronunciation.


• If you haven't already, start reading novels, newspapers, magazines, etc. in Malayalam, and same for watching lots of Malayalam speaking television and listening to lots of Malayalam speaking radio.  Listen and read weekly. 


• It's arduous, but you have to start writing regularly, and on complicated topics.  Most importantly, get them corrected! 


• Find a bunch of YouTube channels you enjoy watching with lots of speaking in Malayalam and subscribe. 


• Find practice groups where you can speak with others. 


• If you can, go visit a Malayalam speaking country, and ideally, go live there for a while. 

Advanced

• By this stage, you should be very familiar with Malayalam words, and a master of grammar and pronunciation.


• Your main focus needs to be increasing your vocabulary.  100% guaranteed you do not have the vocabulary of a fluent native speaker, and that is your mission: to remedy that.  You need to put together a weekly vocabulary growth program. 


• Make sure you are writing regularly and forcing yourself to use new vocabulary.  Note: do not 'guess' in how a word is used.  Only use a word if you know for certain that you are using it in the correct way--otherwise, you are just guessing, and probably reinforcing incorrect usage. 


• Whatever reading and/or listening and/or watching you were doing from the intermediate level, amplify it.  You have to now do three times as much work. 


• It's time to start teaching and leading classes and groups in Malayalam.  You have to find opportunities to speak, debate, and discuss complicated topics, e.g. economics, space travel, religion, history, mathematics, etc.  You must force yourself to expand your horizons in Malayalam. 


• Be sure to start using Break Diving's Fluency Book.  You can find it on the Break Diving Blog. 


• Visit our 'resources' section for Malayalam and review each of the 'advanced' resources.