Speaking - The Last Lesson | by Alphonse Daudet | Prose
Giving Directions: Example 1
Giving directions is sometimes not an easy job. Here is an example of how to give directions.
Instructions
You are waiting for your friend Raja at the shopping mall. He will get down from the bus at the bus stop in Main street. Give him directions to reach the mall.
After you get down, walk forward along the main street and cross smith street at the zebra crossing. You can see a hospital to your left. Walk straight and you can see the park to your left. Cross the road at the second zebra crossing to reach the shopping mall opposite the park. I will be waiting at the entrance.
Giving Directions: Practice Exercise
G. A road map is given below. Answer the questions that follow with the help of the road map. Work in pairs and discuss to give directions to get to one place from another.
1. You are at the market. You need directions to go the pharmacy.
Step down the road and turn left
Walk along the George Street
Skip the swimming pool and turn right
Enter the Park Street and walk
Skip the bank and turn left
Enter the Control Avenue and walk
Skip the school and shoe shop
Find the pharmacy on your right hand side opposite the hospital.
2. You are in a book shop. Ask your partner to direct you to the Art Gallery.
Step down the road and turn right
Walk along the central avenue
Skip the school and the shoe shop and turn left
Enter the South Road and walk
Skip the hospital and the gift shop in the South Road
Reach George Street and turn right.
You can find the art gallery opposite the shop.
3. Give your partner the directions to go from the Bank to the hotel.
Step down the road and turn left
Walk along the park street
Reach George Street and turn right
Walk along the George Street
Skip the police station on your right
Find the hotel on your right hand side next to the police station
4. Direct your partner from the post office to the market.
Step down the road and turn right
Walk along the Central Avenue
Skip the museum and turn right
Enter the park street and walk
Skip the bank and the swimming pool
Enter the George Street and Turn left
Walk along George street
Find the market on your right hand side
5. Your partner wants to go the library from school. Give suitable directions.
Listening - The Last Lesson | by Alphonse Daudet | Prose
F. Listening Exercise
Listen to the article titled “Remembering Nel Jayaraman”
In pairs, present an interview. One student will be the interviewer and the other would be Nel Jayaraman himself. Two sets of conversations has been given as examples for your help.
Interview Role-Play
Student A (interviewer): Vanakkam sir. For what cause do you organise festivals?
Student B (NJ): I organise these festivals with a difference. I present seeds to all the participating farmers.
Student A (interviewer): Oh! That’s really good, Sir. What do you expect in return?
Student B (NJ): In return I expect them to have double the harvest next year.
Student A (interviewer): Where did you organise the NEL festival?
Student B (NJ):We organize the NEL festival at Adhirangam Village in Thiruvarur
Student A (interviewer): Can you mention how many people congregated for the meeting?
Student B (NJ):Nearly 5000 people congregated for the meeting.
Student A (interviewer): What did you distribute to the farmers?
Student B (NJ):I distributed traditional Paddy seeds to the farmers.
Student A (interviewer): How did you commute to each these villages?
Student B (NJ):I used my cycle or take a bus to commute to those Villages.
Student A (interviewer): Ayya, Do you plan your schedules?
Student B (NJ):No, I don’t plan my schedules.
Student A (interviewer): How could you remain so cool and calm sir?
Student B (NJ): I have an alternative solution for all the problems.
Student A (interviewer): Where was your heart and soul?
Student B (NJ):My heart and soul was always in the fields and seeds.
Student A (interviewer): People say when your popularity grew, you spent less time in the field?
Student B (NJ):I have spent my entire life in the fields only. I never care for any negative comments.
Student A (interviewer): What is your message to the world?
Student B (NJ):If you work selflessly for the society, it will give back.
Answer the questions - The Last Lesson | by Alphonse Daudet | Prose
A. Answer the following questions in two or three sentences:
1. Why did Franz dread to go to school that day?
Franz’s teacher M.Hamel told him that he was going to ask questions on participles. But Franz did not know the first word about participles. So he dreaded to go to school that day.
2. What were the various things that tempted Franz to spend his day outdoors?
Warm and bright outdoors, chirping of the birds at the edge of the woods, and the drilling of the Prussian soldiers in the open field at the back of the saw mill were the various things that tempted Franz to spend his day outdoors.
3. Why was the narrator not able to get to his desk without being seen?
Class had already begun. His classmates were in their places and M.Hamel was walking up and down. So the narrator was not able to get to his desk without being seen.
4. What was Franz sorry for?
Franz was sorry for not learning his lessons.
5. Why were the old villagers sitting in the last desk?
The old villagers were sitting in the last desk to honour and thank M.Hamel’s forty years of faithful service and showing their respect for the country.
6. What were the thoughts of the narrator’s parents?
The narrator’s parents preferred him to work on a farm or at the mill so as to have a little more money.
7. Why does M. Hamel say that we must guard our language?
When people are enslaved, as long as they hold their language, it is as if they had the key to their prison. M. Hamel says that we must guard our language.
8. M. Hamel was gazing at many things. What were they?
M. Hamel was gazing at everything in that little school room.
9. When and how did M. Hamel bid farewell to the class?
When the Church clock struck 12, M.Hamel bid farewell to the class. He wrote “Vive La France” on blockboard and told the students that the school dismissed and let them go.
B. Answer the following questions in about 100-150 words:
1. We appreciate the value of something only when we are about to lose it. Explain this with reference to the French language and M.Hamel.
Lesson : The Last Lesson
Author : Alphonse Daudet
Theme : Importance of mother tongue - condition of France after the Franco-Prussian war.
Characters : M.Hamel, Franz, Village people
Outlook : Mother tongue - important - people - attend the class - M.Hamel - taught - last lesson
Two districts of France, Alsace and Lorraine were taken over by the Prussians during Franco-Prussian war. The people were compelled to leam German instead of French. When they knew, French will no longer be taught to them, they realized its importance. Suddenly they developed an inclination towards learning French. The students, the village people, old Hauser, the former mayor, the former post master, and several others were present in the class. They wanted to attend the last French lesson. They eagerly brought their old form primers to leam the language. The French teacher M.Hamel said that the French language was the most beautiful, clearest and logical language in the world. He advised them to guard their language. He explained the lesson with all patience. The whole class keenly learned their last French lesson. Thus they appreciate the value of their language, only when they are about to lose it. With this reference we can understand that we appreciate the value of something only when we are about to lose it.
ESSAY
Introduction
Late realisation
The last lesson
Importance of French
Conclusion
Introduction
In this lesson ‘The Last Lesson’ the author clearly depicts the condition of France after the Franco-Prussian war. Two districts of France, Alsace and Lorraine were taken over by the Prussians. The French were compelled to learn German language.
Late realisation:
When they knew French will no longer be taught to them, then only they realized its importance. Suddenly they developed an inclination towards learning.
The last lesson:
The students, the village people, old Hauser, the former mayor, the former post master, and several others were present in the class. They wanted to attend the last French lesson. They eagerly brought their old form primers to learn the language.
Importance of French:
The French teacher M.Hamel said that the French language was the most beautiful, clearest and logical language in the world. He advised them to guard their language. He explained the lesson with all patience. The whole class keenly learnt their last French lesson.
Conclusion:
Thus they appreciate the value of their language, only when they are about to lose it. With this reference we can understand that we appreciate the value of something only when we are about to lose it.
Moral:if you are late you may lose some valuables
2. Give an account of the last day of M.Hamel in school.
Lesson : The Last Lesson
Author : Alphonse Daudet
Theme : M.Hamel’s class - Importance of mother tongue - condition of France after the Franco- Prussian war.
Characters : M.Hamel, Franz, Village people
Outlook : M.Hamel - best dress - Quiet classroom - villagers - last lesson - not scold Franz - could not speak - long live France.
The French teacher M.Hamel was dressed in his Sunday’s best. Instead of noisy classroom everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. The village people, old Hauser, the former mayor, the former post master, and several others were present in the class. They gathered there in order to honour and thank M.Hamel’s forty years faithful service and of showing their respect for the country. M.Hamel did not scold his student Franz, though he was late to the class. Franz was sorry for not learning his mother tongue properly. M.Hamel said that it was the last French lesson. M.Hamel said that the French language was the most beautiful, clearest and logical language in the world. He also said that they must guard their language. At last he overcame with his emotions, he could not speak and so wrote “Vive La France” on the black board. He told the students that the school was dismissed and let them go. Thus the last lesson brought the importance of need of mother tongue in the students and the village people through M.Hamel.
ESSAY
Introduction
M. Hamel and his class
Villager’s tribute
Franz’s realization
Hamel’s announcement
Hamel’s emotions
Conclusion
Introduction
In this lesson ‘The Last Lesson’ the author clearly depicts the condition of France after the Franco-Prussian war.
M. Hamel and his class:
The French teacher M.Hamel was dressed in his Sunday best. Instead of noisy classroom everything was as quiet as Sunday morning. The village people, old Hauser, the former mayor, the former post master, and several others were present in the class.
Villager's tribute:
They gathered there in order to honour and thank M.Hamel’s forty years faithful service and of showing their respect for the country.
Franz’s realization
M.Hamel did not scold his student Franz, though he was late to the class. Franz was sorry for not learning his mother tongue properly.
Hamel’s announcement
Mr. Hamel said that it was the last French lesson. Mr. Hamel said that the French language was the most beautiful, clearest and logical language in the world. He also said that they must guard their language.
Hamel’s emotions
At last he overcame with emotions could not speak and wrote “Vive La France” on the black board. He told them that the school was dismissed and let them go.
Conclusion:
The Last lesson brought the importance of need of mother tongue in the students and the village people through M.Hamel.
Moral: Never give up your mother tongue, Never lose your identity.
chirping (v)- making a short, sharp high pitched sound (usually by small birds or insects)
bustle (v)- move in an energetic manner
unison (n)- simultaneous utterance of words
rapping (v)- striking with a series of rapid audible blows
thumbed (v)- a book which has been read often and bearing the marks of frequent handling
cranky (adj.)- strange
Saar- a river in northeastern France and western Germany
Angelus (n)- a Roman Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Jesus and including the Hail Mary, said at morning, noon, and sunset.
“Vive la France!”- is an expression used in French to show patriotism. It's difficult to translate the term literally into English, but it generally means “Long live France!”
This lesson is set in the days of France-Prussian war. France was ruled by Bismarck. Prussia then consisted of what now are the nations of Germany, Poland, and parts of Austria. The Prussians defeated the French and the districts of Alsace and Lorraine fell into the hands of the Prussians. The oppressors not only wanted the territory but dominated over the language and culture of the Germans, thus to take away their identity. Read the lesson to find out what impact this had on life at school.
I started for school very late that morning and was in great dread of a scolding, especially because M. Hamel had said that he would question us on participles, and I did not know the first word about them. For a moment I thought of running away and spending the day out of doors. It was so warm, so bright! The birds were chirping at the edge of the woods; and in the open field back of the saw mill the Prussian soldiers were drilling. It was all much more tempting than the rule for participles, but I had the strength to resist, and hurried off to school.
When I passed the town hall there was a crowd in front of the bulletin-board. For the last two years all our bad news had come from there — the lost battles, the draft, the orders of the commanding officer — and I thought to myself, without stopping, “What can be the matter now?”
Then, as I hurried by as fast as I could go, the blacksmith, Wachter, who was there, with his apprentice, reading the bulletin, called after me, “Don’t go so fast, bub; you’ll get to your school in plenty of time!”
I thought he was making fun of me, and reached M. Hamel’s little garden all out of breath.
Usually, when school began, there was a great bustle, which could be heard out in the street, the opening and closing of desks, lessons repeated in unison, very loud, with our hands over our ears to understand better, and the teacher’s great ruler rapping on the table. But now it was all so still! I had counted on the commotion to get to my desk without being seen; but, of course, that day everything had to be as quiet as Sunday morning. Through the window I saw my classmates, already in their places, and M. Hamel walking up and down with his terrible iron ruler under his arm. I had to open the door and go in before everybody. You can imagine how I blushed and how frightened I was.
But nothing happened. M. Hamel saw me and said very kindly, “Go to your place quickly, little Franz. We were beginning without you.”
a. What kind of news was usually put up on the bulletin board?
b. What was the usual scene when school began everyday?
I jumped over the bench and sat down at my desk. Not till then, when I had got a little over my fright, did I see that our teacher had on his beautiful green coat, his frilled shirt, and the little black silk cap, all embroidered, that he never wore except on inspection and prize days. Besides, the whole school seemed so strange and solemn. But the thing that surprised me most was to see, on the back benches that were always empty, the village people sitting quietly like ourselves; old Hauser, with his three-cornered hat, the former mayor, the former postmaster, and several others besides. Everybody looked sad; and Hauser had brought an old primer, thumbed at the edges, and he held it open on his knees with his great spectacles lying across the pages.
While I was wondering about it all, M. Hamel mounted his chair, and, in the same grave and gentle tone which he had used to me, said, “My children, this is the last lesson I shall give you. The order has come from Berlin to teach only German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The new master comes tomorrow. This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive.”
What a thunderclap these words were to me!
Oh, the wretches; that was what they had put up at the town-hall!
My last French lesson! Why, I hardly knew how to write! I should never learn anymore! I must stop there, then! Oh, how sorry I was for not learning my lessons, for seeking birds’ eggs, or going sliding on the *Saar! My books, that had seemed such a nuisance a while ago, so heavy to carry, my grammar, and my history of the saints, were old friends now that I couldn’t give up. And M. Hamel, too; the idea that he was going away, that I should never see him again, made me forget all about his ruler and how cranky he was.
c. Other than the students, who were present in the class?
d. Why did Mr. Hamel say it was the last French lesson?
Poor man! It was in honour of this last lesson that he had put on his fine Sunday clothes, and now I understood why the old men of the village were sitting there in the back of the room. It was because they were sorry, too, that they had not gone to school more. It was their way of thanking our master for his forty years of faithful service and of showing their respect for the country that was theirs no more.
While I was thinking of all this, I heard my name called. It was my turn to recite. What would I not have given to be able to say that dreadful rule for the participle all through, very loud and clear, and without one mistake? But I got mixed up on the first words and stood there, holding on to my desk, my heart beating, and not daring to look up.
I heard M. Hamel say to me, “I won’t scold you, little Franz; you must feel bad enough. See how it is! Every day we have said to ourselves, ‘Bah! I’ve plenty of time. I’ll learn it tomorrow.’ And now you see where we’ve come out. Ah, that’s the great trouble with Alsace; she puts off learning till tomorrow. Now those fellows out there will have the right to say to you, ‘How is it; you pretend to be Frenchmen, and yet you can neither speak nor write your own language?’ But you are not the worst, poor little Franz. We’ve all a great deal to reproach ourselves with.”
“Your parents were not anxious enough to have you learn. They preferred to put you to work on a farm or at the mills, so as to have a little more money. And I? I’ve been to blame also. Have I not often sent you to water my flowers instead of learning your lessons? And when I wanted to go fishing, did I not just give you a holiday?”
e. What was Franz asked to tell? Was he able to answer?
f. Why did Mr.Hamel blame himself?
Then, from one thing to another, M. Hamel went on to talk of the French language, saying that it was the most beautiful language in the world — the clearest, the most logical; that we must guard it among us and never forget it, because when a people are enslaved, as long as they hold fast to their language it is as if they had the key to their prison. Then he opened a grammar and read us our lesson. I was amazed to see how well I understood it. All he said seemed so easy, so easy! I think, too, that I had never listened so carefully, and that he had never explained everything with so much patience. It seemed almost as if the poor man wanted to give us all he knew before going away, and to put it all into our heads at one stroke.
After the grammar, we had a lesson in writing. That day M. Hamel had new copies for us, written in a beautiful round hand — France, Alsace, France, Alsace. They looked like little flags floating everywhere in the school-room, hung from the rod at the top of our desks. You ought to have seen how everyone set to work, and how quiet it was! The only sound was the scratching of the pens over the paper. Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones, who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks, as if that was French, too. On the roof the pigeons cooed very low, and I thought to myself, “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?”
Whenever I looked up from my writing I saw M. Hamel sitting motionless in his chair and gazing first at one thing, then at another, as if he wanted to fix in his mind just how everything looked in that little school- room. Fancy! For forty years he had been there in the same place, with his garden outside the window and his class in front of him, just like that. Only the desks and benches had been worn smooth; the walnut-trees in the garden were taller, and the hopvine that he had planted himself twined about the windows to the roof. How it must have broken his heart to leave it all, poor man; to hear his sister moving about in the room above, packing their trunks! For they must leave the country next day.
g. What did M. Hamel say about the French language?
h. How many years had M. Hamel been in the village?
But he had the courage to hear every lesson to the very last. After the writing, we had a lesson in history, and then the babies chanted their ba, be bi, bo, bu. Down there at the back of the room old Hauser had put on his spectacles and, holding his primer in both hands, spelled the letters with them. You could see that he, too, was crying; his voice trembled with emotion, and it was so funny to hear him that we all wanted to laugh and cry. Ah, how well I remember it, that last lesson!
All at once the church-clock struck twelve. Then the *Angelus. At the same moment the trumpets of the Prussians, returning from drill, sounded under our windows. M. Hamel stood up, very pale, in his chair. I never saw him look so tall.
“My friends,” said he, “I—I—” But something choked him. He could not go on.
Then he turned to the blackboard, took a piece of chalk, and, bearing on with all his might, he wrote as large as he could —* “Vive La France!”
Then he stopped and leaned his head against the wall, and, without a word, he made a gesture to us with his hand — “School is dismissed — you may go.”
