Ziegenbalg explained in a number of letters that the books prepared in the Malabar language, to help in the propagation of the Christian faith, were initially written in Portuguese and then translated into the "Malabarick Language" with the help of Indian assistants.
In a letter written in 1708, Ziegenbalg speaks of 26 sermons delivered by him at the church of Tranquebar and two vocabularies of Malabar language prepared by him.