English for today Class Eight Unite one Lesson 01

English for today Class Eight

After we have studied this unit, we will be able to

• read and understand texts through silent reading

• infer meaning from context

• ask and answer questions

• write answers to questions

• write short compositions

Lesson: 1 | Our folk songs

A. Work in pairs. Read out the musical instruments and answer the following questions.

dotara	sarinda	guitar	bamboo flute	drum
tabla	piano	harmonium	ek-tara	violin

1 Can you sing a song?

2 Can you play any of these musical instruments?

3 Do you know anybody who can play any of these instruments? Tell what you know about her/him.

B. Read the text and answer the following questions.

Folk songs are songs sung in the traditional style of a community or country. Here the traditional style includes the themes, words and tunes of the songs that have existed for a long time among the common people.

We have a rich history and collection of folk songs in Bangladesh. Of them Palligiti, Bhatiali, Bhawaiya, Jari, Sari, Gambhira, Lalongiti, Palagaan and songs of Hason Raja are very popular. The traditional musical instruments are usually played with these songs.

Questions

1 Who usually likes our folk songs?

2 Can you name some well known folk singers?

3 Do you like folk songs? If you do, who is your favourite folk singer? Which song or songs do you like most?

4 Look at the musical instruments in Activity A above and say which instruments go well with the folk songs.

5 Discuss in groups whether the modern instruments like the guitar and the piano could be played with the folk songs.

C. Discuss in groups and write a paragraph on the following question. Do you want more or less programmes on folk songs on our TV channels? Why?/Why not?