The Last Lesson
Think as you read (Page No. 7)
Question 1:
What was Franz expected to be prepared with for school that day?
Answer 1:
Franz was expected to be prepared with participles in French language. His teacher M Hamel had
said that he would question the class on participles. And like any other day Fra nz was going to school
without preparation as he had least interest in French language.
Question 2:
What did Franz notice that was unusual about the school that day?
Answer 2 :
Franz noticed two things pretty unusual that day. First, there were people standing in front of
bulletin board and this was not normal. All bad news was known th rough this board only. Secondly,
it was very peaceful at school that day. There was neither noise of children from the class nor the
sound of teacher's stick.
Question 3:
What had been put up on the bulletin-board?
Answer 3:
Till now only bad news was coming from this board. An order had come from Berlin to teach only
German in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine. The Germans had put u p this notice on the bulletin-
board. This was the reason for everyone's disa ppointment that day.
Think as you read (Page No. 8)
Question 1:
What changes did the order from Berlin cause in school that day?
Answer 1:
The students were quiet that day in school. There was no noise of any kind in entire school. In the
back seats of the class, all the villagers were sitting quietly like small children. This Berlin order
uni ted every resident of Alsace & Lorrai ne. Their faces were as if they were paying tribute to native
language and also to M Hamel, a person who served his school and nation for 40 years.
Question 2:
How did Franz's feelings about M. Hamel and school change?
Answer 2:
Franz was an average student and has less interest in studies. Even he was poor in his native language
French. He was about to bunk the last lesson of his class because his teacher M Hamel was about to
ask questions about participles on that day. When he came to know about orders of Berlin and this is
his last lesson of French, his mind changed com pletely. He got sympathetic towards M Hamel and
also for his own language. He felt sad that he had not paid attention till today. Those books which
always seemed like enemies to him today seemed like old friends from whom he is going to be
separated. He was disappointed like all his countrymen.
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Understanding the Text (Page No. 9)
Question 1:
The people in this story suddenly realize how precious their language is to them. What shows you
this? Why does this happen?
Answer 1:
The people in this story realize the importance of their language when orders came from govern ment
that in two French d istricts Alsace & Lorrai ne no one will read or write their mother tongue i.e.
French l anguage. Till now they used to take this language lightly and had little i n terest in it. This is
because the value of anything is known when it is lost. This is the prime reason that all villagers had
come to listen to M Hamel who was teaching last lesson in school.
Question 2:
Franz thinks, "Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons?" What could this mean?
Answer 2:
Franz a little boy like many other French citizens had little or no interest in their native la nguage.
When he came to know about government orders, he felt pity for all French people. He started
thinking that this rule can only run on h umans. He thin ks so because his eyes fall on a pigeon sitting
outside the classroom and he is forced to think if such law can be enforced on animals and birds. The
answer was certainly NO because they aren't slaves, they have no enmity with anyone and they were
free to roam across any borders. Then why such com pulsion on humans. All such thoughts disturbed
him.
Talking about Text (Page No. 9)
Question 1:
"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?
Answer 1:
I t is extremely important for any individual to have sound know how of your mother language. If they
are not good in their native language it can create trouble for them in their own country or overseas.
If a cou ntry attacks another country and takes its people captive, then it is very important to have
good knowledge of language. This is because the attacking country will not know your language and
you can always make planning and dodge them. However, today almost all countries have accepted
English as thei r primary language for comm unication. But in previous century of invasion and slavery
this problem was severe and imposing language was a natural thing.
For exam ple - Pondicherry, where the French East India Company had imposed the people to learn
French.
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Question 2:
What happens to a linguistic minority in a state? How do you thin k they can keep their language alive?
For example:
Punjabis in Bangalore
Tamilians in M umbai
Kan nadigas in Delhi
Guja ratis in Kolkata
Answer 2:
Minori ties in any state obviously feel a bit isolated. They feel very good when they get someone from
their state. They talk on various issues from politics to religion or from food to clothes in own
language. They make thei r own world in a foreign state. But India is a country of Unity in diversity.
I t's a cou ntry of All in One and One in All. Here mi norities are not discriminated on the basis of
physical, culture, gender, social, religious, political, ideologies.
They can keep their language alive by celebrating regional festivals like harvest festival (Onam) of
Kerala in A ugust/September in other parts of the country as well. Elders should tell thei r next
generation about thei r rituals, language, culture and tradition.
Question 3:
Is it possible to carry pride in one's language too far? Do you know what 'linguistic chauvi nism'
means?
Answer 3:
Yes it is possible to carry pride in one's language too far. We should not only feel good for ou r own
language but for others as well. One should not disrespect other's language to give importance to
one's own language. We m ust respect all languages and culture as it bi nds us together. India being a
nation with 121 languages and 19,500 dialects we should teach our next generation to respect each
other's language.
Working with Words (Page No. 9)
Question 1:
English is a language that contains words from many other languages. This incl usiveness is one of the
reasons it is now a world la nguage, For example:
petite - French kindergarten - German capital - Latin
democracy - Greek bazaar - Hindi
Find out the origins of the following
words. tycoon barbecue zero tulip
veranda ski logo robot
trek bandicoot
Answer 1:
Tycoon - Ja panese Barbecue - Spanish Zero - Arabic Tulip - Turkey
Veranda - Portuguese Ski - Norwegian Logo - Greek Robot - Czech
Trek - Dutch Bandicoot- Telugu
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