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The Last Lesson
How did Franz’s feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
M. Hamel on that day spoke in a gentle tone. “My children ! This is the last lesson I shall give you .... This is your last French lesson. I want you to be very attentive”. These words were a great thunderclap to Franz. He hardly knew how to write. Though he was sorry for not learning his lesson. He hardly knew how to write French. Though he was sorry for not barring his lesson as a new very little about the language french. Suddenly he developed a strange fascination his language. His books which seemed a nuisance only a while ago, were his “old friends now.”
After 40 years of faithful service M. Hamel was going away. Franz felt all this must have broken his heart. He would never see him again. This idea was quite painful to Franz. He forgot all about his ruler and how cranky the teacher was.
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The people in this story suddenly realise how precious their language is to them. What shows you this? Why does this happen?
Franz thinks : “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons ?” What could this mean ? (There could be more than one answer).
‘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.” Can you think of examples in history where a conquered people had their language taken away from them or had a language imposed on them?
What happens to a linguistic minority in a state ? How do you think they can keep their language alive?
For example:
Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in Mumbai
Kannadigas in Delhi
Gujaratis in Kolkata
Is it possible to carry pride in one’s language too far? Do you know what linguistic chauvinism means?
English is a language that contains words from muny other languages. This inclusiveness is one of the reasons it is now a ‘world language.’
For Example:
petite – French
kindergarten – German
capital – Latin
democracy – Greek
bazaar - Hindi
Find out the origins of the following words.Notice the underlined words in these sentences and tick the option that best explains their meaning:
“What a thunder clap these words were to me !”
The words were:
“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.”
It is as if they have the key to the prison as long as they
Don’t go so fast, you will get to your school in plenty of time. “You will get to your school.”
I never say him look so tall. M. Hamel
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