You understand Amma perfectly, then you switch on the TV news and it sounds like another language. Malayalam has a strong gap between the speech of the home and the language of writing, notices and newsreaders. English speakers either panic at the news or, worse, start speaking like a newsreader at the dinner table, which sounds stiff and comic. In this episode: • One message, three registers • Short forms at home, full forms in writing • Everyday words and formal words • The news voice • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Learn Spoken Malayalam at Home: a complete course in everyday spoken Malayalam for English speakers. Native Malayalam pronunciation, every phrase in Malayalam script, Manglish and English, plus a language bridge comparing Malayalam with other world languages. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.