The arc of a friendship in Kerala — how it starts, what the stages are, and one particular sentence that foreigners routinely misread. The vocabulary first: കൂട്ടുകാരൻ (koottukaaran) — friend, male കൂട്ടുകാരി (koottukaari) — friend, female സുഹൃത്ത് (suhruthu) — friend; more formal, and used in writing പരിചയം (parichayam) — acquaintance, familiarity പരിചയപ്പെടുക (parichayappeduka) — to get acquainted അടുത്ത കൂട്ടുകാരൻ (adutha koottukaaran) — a close friend ബന്ധം (bandham) — a relationship, a connection വിശ്വാസം (vishwaasam) — trust Then the six stages, in the order they actually happen. Stage one is the introduction: പരിചയപ്പെട്ടതിൽ സന്തോഷം (parichayappettathil santhosham) — glad to have met you What makes this class worth your time is the misread sentence at the end. There is a thing Malayalis say to friends that sounds, to an English ear, like a polite brush-off — and means very nearly the opposite. Getting it wrong has cost more than one newcomer a friendship they did not realise they were being offered. In this class: • The friendship vocabulary, from stranger to close friend • The six stages, and roughly how long each one takes • What Malayalis actually do to move a friendship forward • The sentence foreigners misread, and what it really means Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.