Cours d'anglais pour la classe de troisième part 9

   

LESSON 2   CIRCUMCISION
Session 1 Reading
Listen, and then read this extract from long walk to Freedom, the autobiography of Nelson Mandela.

                             It is a Xhosa custom that a boy only becomes a man after he is circumcised. When I was 16, justice and I made our way to two grass huts on the banks of the Mbashe River, together with 24 other boys. The night before the circumcision, women came from nearby village. Together we sang and danced into the night.
             When the sun came up, we bathed in cold water. At midday, dress in blankets, we stood in two lines, watched from a distance by parents and relatives. When the drum started beating, we sat down with our legs spread out in front of us.
The old ingcibi ❶ raised his assegai ❷, and with a single blow changed each of us, in turn, from boys into men. As the pain shot through our loins, we cried: ‘ Ndiyindola!’ (‘I am a man!)
Afterwards, the amakhankatha – the guardian – explained to us the rules of entering manhood. We stayed in the huts until our wounds healed.
After the circumcision, there was a ceremony and I was given my circumcision name, Dalibhunga.
❶ Ingcibi: a circumcision expert.
❷ Assegai: a spear
1994 Nelson R. Mandela. Reproduced from Long Walk to Freedom by kind permission of Little, Brown Book Group.
                                 Vocabulary:              words related to initiation

To bathe........................... To have a bath. Or to wash oneself in a bathroom.
Blanket ......................... a large cover, often made of wool used on bed to keep people warm.
Nearby ………………….. near in position, not far away.
Wound ……………………. An injury to part of the body especially one in which a hole is made in the skin using a weapon. Example ‘‘a knife wound’’

                                 Language function: linking sentences with when, as and until                                                                                                          

We are going to study these ways of linking sentences in the past tense.
When = lorsque         As = comme                 until = jusqu’a (ce que)
‘‘When’’ tells us the time at which something happened. The order of the clause can change.
Example: the sun came up. We bathed in cold water.
When the sun came, we bathe in cold water.
We bathe in cold water when the sun came.
‘‘As’’ describes two things that happen at the same time. The order of the clause can change.
Example: the pain shot through our loins. We cried. ‘Ndiyindola!’
As the pain shot through our loins, we cried, ‘Ndiyindola!’
We cried, Ndiyindola as the pain shot through our loins.
Until means happening at a certain time and then stopping.
Example: we stayed in the huts. Our wounds healed.
We stayed in the huts, until our wounds healed.

                             Activity one: join these sentences with the words in bracket.
1- The young men started to beat the drum. The sun came up. (when)
2- The visitor arrived. We served the first cup of strong tea. (when)
3- The boys shouted. They were circumcised. (as)
4- The people shouted. The young boys danced around the huts. (as)
5- He said he was not a man. He was circumcised. (until)
6- We waited. The last people left the party. (until)
( From let's keep in touch workbook 3e )