Practice Corner #3
Today, we're just going to read a passage to help you practice those new letters. It's a weird passage, but it should help! I'll give a translation (and the pronunciation) below, as well as an audio file of the passage. But don't check the audio file or pronunciation before deciphering (by) yourself!
Go back to the third lesson to review the other letters we learned before learning the latest letters.
Note: what looks like nrra in Malayalam is actually pronounced /nta/. Also, can you tell what symbol L sounds like? If you guessed /ntha/, you're right! Listen! (Aw, come on, one more little letter can't hurt that much, can it?)
__¨ ÉáÝáÕßÈí §Õßæ¿ ®LÞ ÉøßÉÞ¿ß ¥çN?
__¥æÄÞøá ¥GÞ. »à! ¥ÄßæÈ µ{Ïâ!
__Éæf µ{EßGí ²Káµâæ¿ ÄßøߺîáÕøá¢!
__¾ÞX §KæÜ µáùºîí RùÞxí ÉìÁVQ çοߺîá.
__RùÞxí ÉìÁVQ ®KÞW ®çLÞ ®KVj¢?
__¥ÄßæÈ ®Üß ®¿áJá ÄßKßGí ºJá çÉÞµá¢.
__®æa ¥N ®æLÞøá ÌáißÎÄßÏÞÃí!
__¦çÃÞ? ÈNZ ¾â æÁWÙßÏßæÜ çÉÞµßGí µUX µÏùß!
__ÖøßÏÞ. µâ¿ÞçÄ ®Üß ºJá çÉÞµßGí ¥G ÄßøߺîáÕøá¢!
Translation of the above dialogue (I made it up):
--What's this worm up to here, Mom?
--That's a millipede. Ugh! We should throw it out!
--But once we throw it out, it'll come back again!
--Yesterday I bought some rat powder.
--What does "rat powder" mean?
--Once the rat eats it, it will die.
--What a genius you are, Mom!
--Oh, am I? When we went to New Delhi, a thief got in!
--True. Besides, once the rat dies, the millipede will [still] come back!
You may want to read the pronunciation of the dialogue just below before you move on to the Poetry Section and learn a poem about Rama and Sita's wedding!
Pronunciation:
--ii puzhuvin(u) iviTe enthaa paripaaTi ammE?
--athoru aTTaa. chhii! athine kaLayaNam!
--pakshe kaLanjnjiTT onnukuuTe thirichchuvarum!
--njaan innal kurrachch "rraat pauDar" mETichchu.
--"rraat pauDar" ennaal enthO ennarththham?
--athine eli eTuththu thinniTT chaththu pOkum.
--ente amma enthoru buddhimathiyaaN(u)!
--aaNO? nammaL njuu Delhiyile pOkiTT kaLLan kayarri!
--Sariyaa. kuuTaathE eli chaththu pOkiTT aTTa thirichchuvarum!