2.1.1 Discuss the following questions in pairs. And then, share your answers with the class.

(জোড়ায় নিচের প্রশ্নগুলো আলোচনা করো। তারপর তোমার উত্তরগুলো শ্রেণিতে share করো।)

a) Did you interview anyone for any reason?
b) Did someone interview you for any purpose?
c) What was the topic of the interview?
d) What were the questions that had been asked there?
e) What were the responses!
f) Did you share any information about the interview with anyone? If yes, what did you say?

2.1.2 Now, let's interview a friend!

একজন বন্ধুর সাক্ষাৎকার নেই।

Take an interview of your friend to know his/her choice of movies/songs/hobbies/ personality. Firstly, think of 6-10 questions that you will ask your friend and write them down. Then, in pairs interview each other and take notes to use later. Next, share your friend's opinion with the class. Use the given grid to complete the activity. One is done for you.

2.2.1 Reflect on your friend's replies and how you have shared them in front of the class. Then, discuss the following questions in pairs/ groups. Next, share your answers with the whole class.
(তোমার বন্ধুর উত্তরগুলো নিয়ে চিন্তা করো এবং শ্রেণিতে তুমি কীভাবে উপস্থাপন করেছ তা ভেবে দেখো। তারপর জোড়ায়/দলে নিচের প্রশ্নগুলো আলোচনা করো। পরবর্তীতে তোমার উত্তরগুলো শ্রেণিতে শেয়ার করো।)

a) Have you found any differences between the two sentences (your friend's reply and how you retell your friend's reply)? If yes, what are they?
b) Why have you made the changes?
c) Do you share any sentences without making any changes? If yes, why?
d) What are these two types of sentences (your friend's reply and how you retell your
friend's reply) called?
e) Do you think using these two types of sentences is necessary for communication?

2.2.2 Read the following text individually.
(নিচের text টি নিজে পড়ো।)

Entering the class, Mr. Rafiq, a teacher of English, found his students in a very cheerful and relaxed mood. With surprise, he said to his students, "What happened to you all? Is there anything that I missed?" The students replied with a satisfying smile that the education minister had visited their school yesterday and this made them very excited.
"Did the minister come to your class?" said the teacher.
The students replied, "Yes sir, she visited our class and spent some time with us." She 

also asked some questions to which we replied properly. Hearing this, the teacher was very happy and said, "Thank you for your effort. Now we are moving on to our next lesson. Let's try to work with new activities".
But the students wanted to continue talking about their experience with the minister. So, one of the students said, "May we carry on talking about many interesting things that happened yesterday? We would like to share those with you,"
The teacher replied, “Of course, I would love to hear that.”

2.2.3 Imagine you were in that class. And after returning home, you will share with your parents what happened in the class. Now, disenss the following questions to decide on how you will do that.
(মনে করো তুমি সেই ক্লাসে ছিলে। বাড়ি ফেরার পরে তুমি বাবা মাকে বলো class এ কি ঘটেছিল। এখন, তুমি সেটা কীভাবে করবে তার সিদ্ধান্তে আসার জন্য নিচের প্রশ্নগুলো আলোচনা করো।)

a) Will you say everything to your parents that happened in the class or you will tell them the important messages?
b) Will you tell all the messages one after another or arrange them based on their
importance?
c) Will you share the information to your parents in your own words or use the quotation from the given text?
d) Why do you narrate them in that way?
e) Do you think the two different ways of narrating a conversation are both necessary? Give reasons for your answer.

2.3.1 Now, read a note on "Speech in pairs/groups and do the activities that follow.
(এখন দলে/জোড়ায় speech সংক্রান্ত একটি note পড়ো এবং পরবর্তী activity গুলো করো।)

2.3.2 Now, let's have a look at the changes in the verb of reported speech in the indirect speech according to different tenses.
(এখন বিভিন্ন tense অনুসারে indirect speech এর reported speech এর verb এর পরিবর্তনগুলো দেখে নেই।)

Exception: If direct speech expresses habitual facts, universal truth and historical events, the verb in the reported speech does not change.

ব্যতিক্রম: যদি direct speech এ অভ্যাসগত সত্য, চিরন্তন সত্য এবং ঐতিহাসিক ঘটনাবলী প্রকাশ করা হয়, তখন reported speech এর verb টি পরিবর্তন হবে না।)

2.3.3 Read the text in 2.2.2 again and write how you will retell the messages to your parents using your own words. You can start writing your text in the following way-

(Text ২.২.২ আবার পড়ো। কথাগুলো তুমি কিভাবে তোমার বাবা-মাকে পুনরায় বলবে সেটা লেখো। তুমি text টি নিম্নোক্তভাবে শুরু করতে পারো।)
Today entering class, our English teacher, Rafiq sir asked us with a surprise what had happened to us all...

2.3.4 Now, read the following note on summary. Then write a summary of the text that you have written in activity 2.3.3. Finally, share your summary in pairs/groups.
(এখন summary সংক্রান্ত নিচের নোটটি পড়ো। তারপর activity 2.3.3. তে লেখা তোমার text-টির Summary লেখো। সবশেষ summary- টি দলে/জোড়ায় শেয়ার করো।)

2.3.5 Read the following short conversation and the text that follows. (নিচের সংক্ষিপ্ত কথোপকথন ও text টি পড়ো।)

The Bizhu Festival

Mahmud always enjoys meeting new people. Last week's journey was no exception. His father has recently been transferred to Rangamati. So, Mahmud's entire family was shifting from Rajshahi to Rangamati. They first reached Dhaka, and from there they went to Rangamati. In Dhaka, at the bus counter, they met another family going to Rangamati. All of them were waiting for the bus to come.
Finding nothing to do in particular, Mahmud started a conversation with a girl sitting next to him. The girl's name was Madhumita Chakma. She told Mahmud that he could call her Madhu. They were of the same age, and they started a conversation. Mahmud told her that they were moving to Rangamati to stay there. And Madhu informed him that she was going to her village to celebrate their local festival, called Bizhu. Mahmud admitted that he didn't know much about that festival.

Madhu said, "Bizhu is the main festival of our Chakma community to celebrate the new year. It starts on Chaitra Sankranti and lasts for three days On the first day, Phool Bizhu, we start the festival by offering flowers to Lord Buddha. We pray that May we all live in peace and have good health. Then we float flowers in lakes and rivers to bid goodbye to misfortune and seek divine blessings."
Mahmud said, "Oh, okay. It is very similar to our Pohela Boishakh."
Madhu said, "I am not sure, let's ask my grandmother." And they both did
The grandmother replied, “Yes, my dear, they are quite similar”

Mahmud asked Madhu's grandmother, "Can I also call you grandmother?" Grandmother said, "Of course, dear."
"Where do you get so many flowers?" Mahmud wondered
Madhu replied, "We collect flowers from the neighbourhood. Some flowers are picked from neighbours without even asking their permission. "Don't they mind?" Mahmud asked
The grandmother replied, “Actually, we are a very intimate community, so permission is not required for a small issue like this.”

She continued, "Mul-Bizhu, or the main day of the festival, starts with a bath ritual. We help shower elderly parents or grandparents so that we can seek their attention and win their blessings before Starting the auspicious day."

"We cook many delicious foods for that day. Banschuri and pajon are made for our friends and family."
“What is pajon, grandmother?”

"It's a delicious vegetable cuisine, dear. We make it for our Bizhu festival"
"Oh, it is similar to the way we make special foods like- various pitha and payesh for our Nabanna."
Grandmother said, "We pass the last day, Gojjye Ponjye, (the last day of bizu festival, literally means roll around) with relaxation and try to be as happy as possible so that we can pass the whole year with peace and prosperity. Also, doors are open for people from every community to join our celebration
"Don't you think it closely resembles the way we celebrate the first day of the new year?"
“Yes, you got that right.”

“Don't you want to know more about Nabanna?”

“I would love to.”

Mahmud proposed, “Let's go to my mom.”

Madhumita asked Mahmud's mether, “What does Nabanna mean, aunty?”

Mahmud's mother replied, "Nabanna is our country's biggest agricultural festival, celebrated across our country. Nabanna is a Bengali word that means 'new crop'. We celebrate Nabanna to hail the new crops and harvests. It is usually celebrated with food, dance, and music in Bangladesh. It is a festival of foods, many local preparations of cuisines like pithas are cooked and offered." She added, "In this celebration, the villagers welcome their neighbours and guests with chira, muri, moa-murki, many kinds of pithas, and some other local foods."

Mahmudsaid, "How similar they are! Mahmud and Madhumita both became astonished by the similarities of the ir festivals. They both came to the conclusion that they celebrate the same things in different ways.

2.3.6 Check the word meanings in the table given below to understand the text clearly.

(Text টি ভালোভাবে বুঝার জন্য নিচের সারণিতে প্রদত্ত শব্দার্থগুলো দেখো।)

2.3.7 Now, read the text again (referring to 2.3.5) and summarize it in one paragraph. Follow all the steps given below to write the summary.
(এখন text (২.৩.৫) টি আবার পড়ো এবং এক অনুচ্ছেদে summarize করো। Summary লেখার সব ধাপগুলো অনুসরণ করো।)

In the first step, read the text attentively and identify the main ideas of the text. For example, "Bizhu, the main festival of the Chakma community' is one of the main ideas. You can also write the supporting details to explain your main idea.

• Secondly, write all the main ideas in a list
• Then, write the introductory sentence of the summary
• Now, turn all of your main ideas into sentences
• Here, combine all the sentences into one paragraph Do not forget to use con- necting words/cohesive devices to make your summary meaningful
•  Now, check the use of punctuation marks, spelling, grammar, and organization of the summary, and do the necessary edits.
• Finally, write the final draft of your summary

Now, exchange your copy in pairs to check it again. Finally, submit it to your teacher

2.4.1 It's time to write a summary in groups!
(এখন দলে summary লেখার পালা!)

The following instructions are to guide you. To do the activity-

• First, discuss and select a story/drama/poem/short film/news article
• Then, read the book/article/poem or watch the drama/film during your free time
• Next, collect the necessary information (main ideas) to write the summary and note them down
• Later, discuss and decide the main ideas of the selected story/drama/poem/short film/news article
• Also, decide whether you need to write any supporting details or not. If you need any, write them down
• It's time to check, whether you use appropriate cohesive devices or not to connect the ideas.
• Here, organize all the ideas into a paragraph
•  Now, write the summary individually and check in groups.
• Finally, do the necessary edits and submit it to the teacher

New Words::

exception, Chaitra Sankranti, last, bid, neighbourhood, intimate, hail, harvest, offer, astonish