Native Tamil 'speaker' here. My parents put me in English medium school with Hindi as second language (Several years of Sanskrit as well) to survive outside so

Native Tamil 'speaker' here. My parents put me in English medium school with Hindi as second language (Several years of Sanskrit as well) to survive outside south India (they suffered outside South India, for not knowing Hindi; they trained themselves in it and gave easier way to me learn other languages). But since I didn't have formal education in Tamil, a highly sophisticated language evolved over (2000-3000 years); I can't write or read genuine version of it (can do some guess work based on familiar characters from common media). But I can speak in Tamil fluently since my family speaks in Tamil, also at several times my friends who are into Tamil literature have been amazed by my choice of vocabulary when speaking in Tamil. I think, 1. I compensate for my lack of knowledge in reading/writing Tamil by listening keenly to the language. 2. I can say from first hand experience that, the OP is also benefitted by living in an environment where he gets to listen to Tamil quite regularly; enough to give him understanding of the language.