The very first word most learners need is ഞാൻ (njaan) = I, and it starts with a sound English never puts at the beginning of a word. English speakers see the letters nj and say "n" plus the "j" of "jam": "n-jaan". They also turn the ng of എങ്ങനെ (engane) = how into "en-gaa-ne", with a hard g as in "finger". In this episode: • What a nasal is • Nj: the sound in njaan • Ng: the sound in engane • N, n and m • Listening scene • Language bridge • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: മ (ma) = m, lips closed ന (na) = n, tongue tip near the teeth ണ (Na) = N, tongue curled back, as in Episode 5 ഞ (nja) = nj, middle of the tongue pressed to the roof ങ (nga) = ng, back of the tongue raised, as in "sing" ഞാൻ (njaan) = I ഞങ്ങൾ (njangal) = we, not including you ഞായർ (njaayar) = Sunday ഞണ്ട് (njaNDu) = crab മഞ്ഞ (manja) = yellow മഞ്ഞ് (manju) = mist, fog അഞ്ച് (anchu) = five ഇഞ്ചി (inchi) = ginger പഞ്ചസാര (panchasaara) = sugar എങ്ങനെ (engane) = how നിങ്ങൾ (ningal) = you, polite or plural ഇങ്ങോട്ട് (ingottu) = this way, towards here അങ്ങോട്ട് (angottu) = that way, towards there ഇങ്ങോട്ട് വാ (ingottu vaa) = come this way എങ്ങോട്ടാ? (engottaa?) = where are you off to? തിങ്കൾ (thinkal) = Monday നല്ല (nalla) = good ആന (aana) = elephant കണ്ണ് (kaNNu) = eye പണം (paNam) = money വേണം (veNam) = want, need ഉണ്ട് (uNDu) = there is വെള്ളം (veLLam) = water മലയാളം (malayaaLam) = Malayalam എല്ലാം (ellaam) = everything മീൻ (meen) = fish 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.