The skill that keeps you inside Malayalam is not vocabulary. It is knowing what to say in the three seconds when you are lost. When speaking goes wrong, most learners switch to English, and the conversation never switches back. This kit gives you five sets of repair lines: slowing people down, saying you did not understand (with എനിക്ക്, not ഞാൻ), asking for a word or its meaning, holding your place while you search, and describing your way around a missing word. The second half adds asking to be corrected and gently keeping the conversation in Malayalam when someone switches to English, then a full situational drill. Words and phrases in this class: പതുക്കെ പറയൂ (pathukke parayoo) – please speak slowly ഒന്നൂടെ പറയാമോ? (onnoode parayaamo?) – could you say it once more? എനിക്ക് മനസ്സിലായില്ല (enikku manassilaayilla) – I did not understand മനസ്സിലായി (manassilaayi) – got it മലയാളത്തിൽ ഇത് എന്താണ് പറയുക? (malayaalathil ithu enthaanu parayuka?) – how do you say this in Malayalam? അതിന്റെ അർത്ഥം എന്താണ്? (athinte artham enthaanu?) – what does that mean? എങ്ങനെ എഴുതും? (engane ezhuthum?) – how do you write it? ഒരു നിമിഷം (oru nimisham) – one moment ഞാൻ ആലോചിക്കട്ടെ (njaan aalochikkatte) – let me think അതിന്റെ പേര് എനിക്ക് അറിയില്ല, പക്ഷേ (athinte peru enikku ariyilla, pakshe) – I don't know its name, but ശരിയാണോ? (shariyaano?) – is that right? എന്റെ തെറ്റ് തിരുത്താമോ? (ente thettu thiruthaamo?) – could you correct my mistakes? ഞാൻ മലയാളം പഠിക്കുകയാണ്. മലയാളത്തിൽ സംസാരിക്കാമോ? (njaan malayaalam padikkukayaanu. malayaalathil samsaarikkaamo?) – I am learning Malayalam. Could we speak in Malayalam? In this class: • Slow them down: പതുക്കെ പറയൂ and the politer -ആമോ forms • Not understanding, and saying മനസ്സിലായി the moment you do • Fillers that keep you in Malayalam, and talking around a missing word • Asking to be corrected, and what to say when they switch to English Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.