EETHAL FOUNDATION

EETHAL strives to empower the underprivileged youth of the world by improving their education using technology and language training. By helping them acquire specific language skills, we attempt to unlock their potential by having them learn naturally and access world class educational materials and high quality information that are freely available online. On the flip side, EETHAL also strives to enable first generation youth in developed countries to connect with their native roots better by learning and practicing their mother tongue for practical purposes.

EETHAL Foundation is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization, incorporated in the USA. Our Tax ID is 93-2334788. 

There are already a number of great organizations working to improve education. Why do we need yet another organization instead of joining an existing one and help them with their mission?

Languages are more than just a tool for human communication. They are also a means by which one can:

• Get a solid foundational education

• Acquire knowledge and skills that will help them achieve their goals 

• Connect with the cultural roots of their community and shared history

In many parts of the Non-English speaking world, children are required to have bilingual skills to compete with the rest of the world. This can be accomplished by:

1. Get primary education (K-12) in a medium of language that the student speaks at home. For many rural students in India, it’s their native mother tongue. By learning the basic subjects such as Mathematics and Sciences in a language they are most familiar with, they are also able to understand the fundamental  concepts properly without rote memorization.

2. At the same time, teach them practical English language skills as they enter middle school/high school years. Having practical English language skills is often a great enabler for their future academic and professional success.

On the other side of the coin, EETHAL foundation also strives to impart native language skills to children growing up outside of their mother country, such as teenagers born to Indian origin parents in North America. Having these children acquire native language skills help them:

1. Connect with their roots by being able to better communicate with their relatives and others in their mother country.

2. Better access to the writings from great leaders and thinkers from their civilization, from ancient to modern times.

By its unique structure, EETHAL attempts to satisfy these dual objectives of empowering underprivileged children as well as exposing children in privileged environments to their roots at the same time via hands-on programs.

EETHAL Foundation is currently (as of Aug 2023) running the following programs:

• Translation Programs: In this initiative, teen volunteers of Tamil origin from North America work together as teams to translate high quality content from English to Tamil and Tamil to English.

  • Why: The Internet has abundant high quality educational resources, but they are mostly in English. In this program, volunteers translate them to Tamil so that young children and language learners from Tamil Nadu can access them. Sample materials that are translated are Khan Academy website, short stories from the StoryWeaver website and Subtitle translation of TED-Ed videos.

• Spoken English Programs: In this initiative, adult and teen volunteers from North America conduct online Foundational English classes to children in rural areas in India.

  • Why: While it makes sense to support learning in their native language for their primary education, many rural students in Government schools lack even the basic English language skills which puts them under serious disadvantage when it comes to being college ready or to enter the working world. By teaching them foundational English skills, we enable them to overcome this handicap.

Under both of these programs, we attempt to apply the right language under the right circumstances. This means

• For the Tamil youth growing up in North America, English is their day to day language. By exposing them to Tamil, we strengthen their bond to their motherland.

• For the Tamil youth growing up in rural Tamil Nadu, Tamil is their day to day language. By giving them basic English skills, we help them compete among the English speaking global workforce.

EETHAL (ஈதல்) is a Tamil word that means "Giving". At EETHAL foundation, our volunteers give their time, skills and other resources towards the goals of our programs.

EETHAL also stands as an acronym for Education and Empowerment THrough Applied Languages, which captures our intention of using languages as a tool for social betterment.