"Tamil is very important to us," said Syed Ekhteyar Ali, director of the South Asian Language Program at U-M and professor of both Hindi and Urdu. 

"All of our South Asian languages that we teach here (Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu) are spoken in at least two countries and Tamil is no different. 

"However, Tamil is the only language spoken in South India and belongs to the Dravidian language family. We knew we needed it back in the curriculum not only to enrich, but to broaden our offerings by adding the precious South Indian and Sri Lankan language and cultural contents. Now we have Prathim Raviraj in our team and we are very happy to welcome her." 

Raviraj grew up in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. She studied at the University of Peradeniya, earlier called the University of Ceylon, in Sri Lanka, ultimately earning master's degrees (Mphil) in Tamil and Tamil literature. She started her career as a university lecturer. 

"I was always very interested in learning languages and literature," said Raviraj. "Tamil is spoken in so many countries around the world. It is a universal language that has its own set of traditions and culture and literature." 

The bulk of her career was spent working for the Sri Lankan government in various roles, which included teaching Tamil and Sinhala, training around 3000 trainers on how to teach these languages, running translation studies, and being a visiting lecturer all over the country. She trained everyone from government officers to Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka's two main languages. She has played her role as resource person all over the country in language teaching, Translation studies, curriculum development and syllabus preparation. 

Raviraj is currently teaching all three levels of Tamil, and she has students who are just beginning, all the way to heritage learners who can read and write the language. Her goal is to grow the student base each semester. 

"I know the interest is there," Raviraj added. "We just need to ensure all the students know that we are teaching Tamil again." 

For more information on U-M South Asian language programs, please visit the university's Asian Languages and Cultures website at https://myumi.ch/egdZw.