English conversation in school

I. The teacher will read the following dialogue. Listen carefully.

Velu : Hai Ranga, how are you?
Rangan : Hai Velu. Fine, thank you. It is early on Sunday. What makes you come, here?
Velu : You know, I am going to talk on ‘Unity is Strength’ in the inter school competition.
Rangan : So what?
Velu : I know something already but I need some more information. I need some incident from ancient literature.
Rangan : Well, I know my brother’s friend, a research scholar in Tamil Literature. Let us ask him.
Velu : Can’t we meet him now?
Rangan : Yes, indeed. He is here with us today. Let us go in and meet him in the room.
(They enter the room. Mr. Nathan is reading a paper.)
Rangan : Mr. Nathan.

Nathan : Yes, what can I do for you?
Rangan : This is Velu, my friend.
Nathan : Hello!
Velu : Pleased to meet you, sir.
Rangan: Velu is taking part in a speech competition on ‘Unity is Strength’. Could you give a few tips from ancient literature?
Nathan : You know how divided the Tamil kings were among themselves.
Velu : They were usually at war with one another, weren’t they?
Nathan : Yes, they were more at war than in peace. Here is an incident of how the great poetess ‘Avvaiyar’ brought about unity among the three kings.
Rangan : She must have been very popular
Nathan : She was a zealous poetess and humane too. Once the ancient Chera, Chola and Pandya kings attended a wedding arranged by her.
Velu : It must have been a unique event.
Nathan : All the three kings attended the wedding.
Rangan : Where was it?
Nathan : At Selaram, now known as Salem. After the wedding Avvaiyar suggested that they stayed back for a few days.
Velu : Where did they stay?
Nathan : The Chera king stayed at Salem, the Pandya king at Veerapandi and the Chola king at Uthamacholapuram. Probably you can build on this incident in your speech. Avvaiyar worked for the unity among these Kings. Her songs are full of humanism.
Velu : I have read ‘Athichudi’ and “Nalvazhi
Nathan : That’s good. Please read more about Avvaiyar and also practise the values found in her poems.

For example, remember this adage.
“Know thee, there are only two castes or classes
Benefactors are the noble and others ignoble “.
Rangan : Thank you, Sir.

Glossary:
unique - /ju:|ni:k / only one of its kind
humane - /hju:|mein/ kind hearted
humanism - /|hju:m@nizm / respect for human interests
ancient - /|einS@nt / of the past
values - /|v{lju:z/ ideals and principles

II. Now practise the dialogue in groups taking roles. Then the teacher will ask you the following questions. Answer them orally.
1. Who is the poetess referred to in the dialogue?
2. Where did the three kings meet?
3. Can you think of another such event from history?
4. Describe a song of Avvaiyar you have read on humanism.
III. The following phrase is used by Velu when he was introduced to Mr.Nathan.
“Pleased to meet you, sir.”
There are different ways of introducing. Karim introduces his friend Ram to his cousin.

Karim : Ram, meet my cousin Abdul
Ram : Glad to meet you.
Abdul : So am I.
Practise the above dialogue taking roles.

IV. a. Listen to the teacher saying the following pairs:
she ----see
full ----pull
zealous---- jealous
b. Listen to the teacher and repeat the pairs of words after her’
/s/ ---/ z /--- /f/--- /p/--- /z/--- /d3/
save --shave-- fan-- pan --zoo-- jew
seat --sheet-- fail-- pail --zest --jest
sign --shine --fill --pill --zinc --jink
sort --short-- fin --pin-- zap-- jap

V. Group work:
1. Name four religions you know.
2. List the holy places and the festivals of these religions.
3. Sit in groups of five, compare your answers and tabulate them as follows: