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Designing a syllabus exclusively for heritage language learners requires a thorough study of who the heritage learners are from the point of view of language pedagogy. A close observation of heritage learners from university level intermediate Tamil classes and community schools reveals heritage learners’ lack of knowledge of the formal aspects of language, including diglossia and dialects. Consequently, it is difficult for them to negotiate between their home dialect and the formal style that they learn in school. Any syllabus that targets the needs of heritage learners of Tamil, thus, should address appropriately how their prior knowledge of Tamil can be harnessed in a proper way, so that they can learn to easily switch between formal and informal forms of Tamil. This paper discusses a technologically sound language pedagogy that illustrates how the informal knowledge of Tamil that the heritage learners acquire from Heritage Language Environment (HLE) can be reactivated by supplementing it adequately with formal knowledge, so that heritage learners will gain confidence to participate in authentic speech situations.