Bai Mau Speaking

7/30/2019 Bai Mau Speaking

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Yes I do, I really (like) dancing. No, I don’t love….Definitely, I am very dancing. Not really, I am not very fond of…Certainly, I am very dancing. No, I don’t think I am interested in…Of course, I am very dancing.

Yes, I dancing.I am very dancing.

It is a time that you can forget about yourself and relax your mind and body. It also gives you agreat deal of inner satisfaction. I think it is a great way to release your stress.

I think it’s the best way to enjoy your time with your friends. You can get close to them andstrengthen your friendship.

I believe, dancing is a wonderful way to exercise your body. It involves vigorous physical activity

and burns a lot of calories. The only way I exercise is by dancing, and that keeps my body fit.

This is a very good way to show your talent before others. I am quiet a good dancer and I get alot of appreciation from people. That gives me great confidence and enhances my personality.

I don’t think I have the talent to dance. I look very awkward when I dance and it gives me verylittle satisfaction.

I don’t have an opportunity to dance. In fact, I live in a very orthodox culture and dancing is notvery popular here. The only people who dance are the professional dancers and it is not very

common among ordinary people. However, I love watching other people dance.

Not in the recent past. But when I was a small girl, I went to a dance school in my village,where I learned some classical dance. I also learned folk dance from a teacher in my regularschool during that time.

No, no one has ever taught me how to dance. I learned dancing by watching videos anddancing with my friends. It is not very difficult to learn simple dancing and I learned it in a veryinformal way.

We have a number of traditional dances in my country, both classical and folk. A very popularclassical dance form in my country is Bharathanatyam. You need many years of training tomaster this dance. It is usually staged during festivals and cultural programmes. It has a veryancient origin and was patronised by kings in the olden times. Dancers perform with gracefuland rhythmic movements and in rich and colourful costumes.

A very popular dancing in my country is a folk dance called ‘Thiruvathira’. This is very a specialdance from my state of Kerala. It is usually performed during the festival season of Onam.Women in groups of eight or ten, dance in a circle, around a lighted traditional lamp. Themovements are simple and graceful and the costumes are also very simple.



I think so. Traditional dancing will be very popular in the future. A lot of parents now send theirchildren to learn traditional dancing and children automatically develop a liking for this type of dancing. Apart from that, there are a lot of competitions in schools and colleges in traditionaldancing. Again, foreign tourists show a lot of interest in traditional dancing. So there is greatpossibility that traditional dancing will be popular in the future.

No I don’t think so. In the future more and more people will be interested in modern dancing,both western and Indian. So traditional dancing will lose its charm for people. Moreover,

traditional dancing requires many years of training and dedication and many people don’t havetime for that. It is also an expensive affair. Again, traditional dancing has a very small audience.So I think traditional dancing will become less popular in the future.

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The person whom I like the most in family is my brother who is just younger to me. We areeight children, I am the second and he is the third.

He doesn’t look like me at all. He rather looks like my mother and is the most handsome personin the family. He is closer to me than any other member of the family, more than even myparents.He is not very good at his studies or in any arts and music, but is very good at heart. He is verygood humoured, and you know, makes everybody laugh with his witty conversation. He has aspecial way of attracting people towards him.

He is a very just person, and if there is a misunderstanding in the family, he is the first personto find a solution to it. When he does something important, he comes to me and talks about it,and he usually he accepts my advice. He is also quite daring and enterprising. Although he isnot very educated he runs a very successful business and lives a happy life.

I like him very much, mainly because he understands me more than any other member of myfamily. He has also supported me and stood with me whenever I had a serious problem ortrouble.So I would say that he is someone I like in my family.

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People in a family can be similar to each other in many ways. They usually resemble each otherin their physical appearance. For example, children look like their parents, in their facial feature,colour, type of hair and so on. They can also be alike, in their character and behaviour.

Not always! There are many daughters who look more like their fathers or other male membersof the family than mothers. That includes their colour, face, hair and so on. But I do think that

most daughters look like their mothers in physical features.



I think it is the same with them as well. There are many sons who resemble their mothers morethan their fathers or other male members of the family.

People are usually more influenced by their family than friends, because as children, mostpeople live with their families. And that is when an individual’s personality is developed. Even

after that, people spend more time with their family members and interact with them moreclosely than their friends. This intimacy with the family members has a great influence in theircharacter formation. On the other hand, friends also have a significant influence in one’spersonality, but not as much as family members.

There are many sources in my country, where people can get information about geneticresearch. I think the most common source is books. You can find books on genetic research inpublic libraries or in bookshops. Apart from that, there are a number of universities and

institutes that does research in genetic studies. There are a lot a lot scientist and professors,who can give information about this subject. I think, the internet is a wonderful source to getinformation about genetic research. If you search Google, you will come across many websitesthat will give you, at least, the primary information about genetic research.

In general, I think people in my country have a positive attitude towards genetic research. Theyknow it has a lot of benefits in terms of better agricultural production and prevention of manygenetic diseases. However, some people are worried about genetically modified foods. They fear

that it can be dangerous to human health.

I think both government and private companies should jointly or separately fund geneticresearch. It should not be the monopoly of either of the parties. If private companies alone fundgenetic research the benefits of the research may not reach the common man, because of theirprofit motive. So government also has the responsibility to fund it, so that every body enjoys thebenefits.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….

My favourite musical instrument is the flute. (I love listening to the flute, the most). I havealways wondered why I like flute. May be, it is because of its simplicity or because of it sweetsound. Flute has a very soothing music and it goes directly into your heart. I think it is veryeasy to learn flute, but I am not sure. Anyway, I like it.

Not really, I don’t think I have the talent for it. So I have not seriously tried. When I was small,

I just used to play with the harmonium, but actually, I could never play any proper notes. Even



now, I love to press the keys of the electric keyboard and I like to hear the sound. But I havenever learned to play any musical instrument.

Yes I play the keyboard. I started leaning it at a very early age. My mother bought me a toypiano when I was a small kid. I started playing it on my own. Later, I went to a music school,where I leaned to play the electric organ. Now I play it quiet well.

It is good in one way. As children, you have the time and interest in learning a musicalinstrument. In think learning a musical instrument can give a lot of confidence to children.They will learn to perform before other people. They can be proud of the fact that they knowhow to play a musical instrument. It is the best way to know whether a child had the taste forit. However, we should not force a child into it, especially if he doesn’t have the talent for it.

No I don’t think children should learn a musical instrument. It is the time for them to play andenjoy games. Playing a music instrument is a very serious job. It requires a lot of patience anddiscipline. So I think it is better not to force children into it at an early age. If they have thetaste and talent they will learn it later.

I think, it is not easy to learn a musical instrument without the help of a teacher, because youhave no one to clear your doubts. Not only that, you can never learn it, systematically. Thereare people who learn musical instruments like guitar with the help of a book or through theinternet. But, I don’t think you go can very far, in this way.

Why not! There are a lot of people who learn musical instruments without the help of ateacher. You can get books and lessons from the internet. The advantage is that you can learn

at your own pace and convenience. Then why go for a teacher.

I have been playing badminton for the last few years. This is something that I really enjoy.

When I started I wasn’t a good player. Over the years I have improved tremendously. Everyday I wait for the evening to play badminton.

I play it in our college campus. We have an indoor court and so the wind doesn’t disturb ourgame.

I play with my colleagues at work. There are about 6 to 8 people who play regularly and if youdon’t reach the court in time, you don’t get to play the first game. After a game is over, usuallythe losers have to give chance to the other players, who wait outside.



I think this has definitely kept me fit. I have lost about 6 kilos in the last 2 years, just because Iplay this game. I have no other exercise and I don’t need any. I can eat anything I like and Ican burn my extra calories in the game. Now my body has become very flexible and I haveimproved my stamina. My movements have become easy and my body is much more flexiblenow. I can even run up steps without panting. My cholesterol and blood sugar levels are muchlower than before. So this is something healthy that I enjoy doing.

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Most people, in my country do some kind of manual labour and that keeps them fit. They don’tneed any other exercise. The farmers work in the field and there are a lot of people who work in constructions and similar manual jobs. The middleclass white collar workers and the richpeople are also very health conscious and do regular exercises like jogging, walking in themorning or playing some games. There are some people who work out in gyms to keepthemselves fit.

The most common exercise, that people in my country do, to keep themselves fit, is to go for awalk. If you get up early in the morning and look at the streets, especially in cities, you can see

a lot of people walking by the side of the road. There are also a lot of evening walkers as well.Some jog or cycle or do some exercise or play some games. There are a lot of people who visitgyms to be fit. Yoga is another popular exercise that people are interested in.

It is extremely important for people to engage in some kind of regular exercise, especially after30 or 35. Otherwise we will be prone to common lifestyle diseases like, high blood sugar orblood pressure. Heart ailments are very common among people who have no physical exercise.Regular exercise can give your body a lot of immunity against such diseases. It can burn yourextra fat that causes all these ailments. So, regular exercise is essential for people to keep

themselves fit.

See, people have a valid reason for thinking so. People today love comfort and luxury and theywant to satisfy their appetites at any cost. Rather than cooking at home, they love to eat out,at restaurants and fast food joints. Fast food may be tasty but contains a lot of fat that is notgood for health. Previously people used to walk or engage in some kind of manual work. Thatis not the case today. Personal vehicles and modern devices have made their life easy andpeople have great aversion towards sweating their body. This lifestyle naturally invites diseases.

The simple answer is laziness. Today many people do not have the discipline to lead a healthylife. They love comfort and convenience in everything that they do. In fact, they don’t realisethat their comfort and luxury are going to end soon. They need to face the reality sooner thanlater.

It is the individuals themselves who are responsible for making their lifestyles healthy. It isone’s personal freedom to lead a healthy lifestyle. Government has nothing to do with it. Nogovernment can interfere into such personal affairs. Government can’t ask people to eat this or



that. The only thing that government can do is to spread awareness about this issue. Nothingmore than that.

The best way to encourage people to live in a healthy way is to spread awareness about theconsequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. This can be done through the media like television andnewspapers. At an early age, children should be given education about the importance of ahealthy lifestyle. It should also be included in the curriculum. Moreover, sports should be made

compulsory in schools. Another effective way is to give gym and sports facilities in factories andoffices.………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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Most people in my place travel to work using public transport system. We have bothgovernment and private bus services that are very efficient and frequent. The bus fares are alsoquiet moderate, and that makes it the favourite mode of travel for ordinary people to go towork. People, who go to longer distances to work, usually make use of trains. We have a

number of short distance trains, which are very inexpensive. A lot of people also have their ownprivate vehicles to go to work. Most young people have their own motor bikes. The moreaffluent go to work by car.

Traffic problems are quite frequent in my area, especially during the peak hours of morning andevening, when people travel to work or study and back. Many roads are very narrow andcannot hold the increasing traffic volume at a time. So traffic moves at a snail’s pace, especiallyduring the rush hours. There are also a lot of puddles on the roads especially during the rainyseason and manoeuvring them would further slow the traffic down. There are constant repairs

on the roads which are both slow and ineffective and traffic is often diverted through narrowerroads making the situation still worse.

Traffic problems affect me very badly. I need to reach work on time and very often theunexpected traffic snarls and jams do not let me do it. I have made it a point that I start a bitearlier from home, so that these unexpected delays do not affect me much. Another problem isthat driving in high gear in the traffic jam, exhausts your fuel tank very fast.

The first thing that the government should do is to widen the roads with immediate effect and

that can definitely reduce the problem tremendously. Another area that the authorities can look into is to engage a big company to construct roads that can last for a longer period of time. Itwould definitely reduce the constant repairs on roads. People also should be made to obeytraffic rules very strictly.

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In fact I don’t play any games at the moment, because I don’t have the time or opportunity forit. It is very difficult for you to play a game once you get out of your school or college. Thereare very few playgrounds for the public in our area.

May be, I will talk about the game I played when I was in college. I was very interested insoccer, and I played in the forward line. It was usually played in the evening when the sun wasnot very warm and that preserved a lot of your energy. I hope you know that football requires

a great deal of running and if it is very hot your steam will run out fast.

I usually played with my college mates. We would break into two teams and sometimes thenumbers would vary from seven to twelve, depending on the number of people who wereinterested in playing the game. It always used to be great fun to play with your mates in a veryfriendly atmosphere. Since everybody knew each other there were hardly any hard tackling orrough play. Everybody enjoyed the spirit of the game.

We played in the football ground, just in front of our college. It was quite a big ground and sowe had to run around a lot, but that gave us a lot of physical fitness.

I enjoyed playing soccer because there was a thrill in scoring goals and winning. You keptimproving with every game and that gave you a great deal of motivation and competitive spirit.Even during the day, when you were not playing you kept thinking about the game. So it wasgreat fun and I always waited for the evenings to play soccer.

Games have changed tremendously over the years. When we were children the standard of thegame or the players was not as good as it is today. Moreover, newer rules have been

introduced to make it more appealing to television audiences. I think the speed of the gamehas considerably increased. There is much more money in sports and games today, so moreand more young people are interested in making it a full time career. That was not the casewhen I was a child.

Yes, it has definitely been a positive change in all ways. Games have become more popular andplayers get much better rewards. Televised games have made it possible for people to watchgames in the comfort of their homes rather than going to a stadium. Watching games hasbecome a very easy affair. Overall, the standard of the game has improved.

Children are physically very active and you can’t keep them idle for a long time. They alwayslike to be with their friends, playing some games. Psychologically, at their age they can’t think of engaging in a serious activity for a long time. Playing games would occupy them time in avery effective way; otherwise they are going to create some mischief at home.………………………………………………………………………………..

My family is a very small one. I have my wife and daughter. My wife is a nurse and daughter is

studying in high school.



In fact, I have a large family. Both my parents are alive. My father is engaged in agriculture.My mother is a housewife. I have two elder brothers, who are working. The eldest one ismarried and stays with my family. The younger one is working in Bangalore as a softwareengineer. I also have a younger brother, who is studying in school.

Whenever I am at home, I try to spend a few hours with my family. Since I have a lot to studythese days, they let me alone most of the time. I usually have food together with my family.We spend some time watching television together, especially in the evenings. We also praytogether.

Since I stay away from home, it is only during holidays that I can be with my family. WheneverI am at home I make it a point, to be with the members of my family. We sometimes go for atrip or eat out often. I really love being with them. I always cherish the memories of childhood,when I was always at home.

There are a lot of things that we do together. One of the important things that we do as agroup is to cook, especially during the weekends, when I have a lot of free time. We also doour gardening together, watering, manuring and weeding the plants. Another important activitythat we do is to pray in the evenings. Apart from that, we shop together and go to the movietogether.

I have been learning English ever since I was about 10 years old, when I was studying in myfifth grade. I learned the alphabets and basic words at that time. I studies in a vernacularmedium school, but English was a subject throughout my school years. I did not take Englishvery seriously during my school days, and I scored comparatively poor marks for it. Well,English was the hardest subject for me; and to be frank, I hated this subject at that time. Oneof the reasons that I did not like English was that we did not have any good teachers.

It was after I joined college, I started studying English seriously. I had a wonderful English

teacher who laid a sound foundation in English grammar. Since then, I started loving thissubject and started reading books in English. Now I am in my forties and the more I studyEnglish the better I love it.

Since I am an English teacher, I need to improve my English all the time, learning newvocabulary and reading more and more books. I make sure that I update my knowledge of English all the time.



My youngest brother was getting married and I wanted to give him a special gift. A couple of days before the marriage my wife and I went to Ernakulam for some shopping. As we wereabout to return we just went to my favourite store, ‘Wills Life Store’. In fact, this particular shophas the trendiest and the most fashionable clothes for both men and women. I had the gift inmy mind when I went into the shop. After spending a few minutes in the store I spotted an off-

white linen casual shirt. It was a designer wear and I put it on, to see how it looked. My wifesaid, it was the best shirt that had ever decorated my body. I was very happy. It was anexpensive shirt but it gave me a great sense of satisfaction.

On the eve of the marriage we had a party and my brother put this shirt on. Everybody wasvery appreciative of the shirt and my brother was very happy about it.

This gift was very special to me because I really liked the colour, material and the design of theshirt. Apart from that, it was first gift that I ever presented to my youngest brother. I wasextremely happy that he really liked the shirt. It was the right occasion that I gave him thispresent.

I definitely would like to receive the same kind of a gift. The reason is that I love good clothes,especially linen shirts. For example, two of my brothers work abroad and when they come toIndia, they present me shirts. I always look forward to it.

Giving and receiving gifts have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it is anexpression of one’s love or appreciation for someone. It can strengthen relationships. It can

also create a good feeling in the minds of people.

On the other hand, giving and receiving today has become a commercial activity. Sometimeswe are forced give and receive gifts. A lot of time and money is involved in buying gifts. Forexample, if someone calls you for a birthday, you are compelled to give a gift. Sometimes, itcan become a burden on your budget.

Women are usually fond of ornaments and clothes. They also like to receive household

appliances and handicrafts. For special occasions like birthdays they receive a lot of such gifts.

Children are usually attracted to toys and dolls. They love chocolates and sweets too.

A number of changes have taken place in the way people give and receive gifts, over the last 50years. In the olden days gifts were not very common and it was exchanged only during rareoccasions like marriages and housewarming. Today, giving and receiving gifts has become avery frequent affair. Exchanging gifts has become very common on a number of occasions like

birthdays, anniversaries and success in an exam.



I treasure the gifts of my loved ones. For instance, I always cherish the gifts that my wife hasgiven me. In fact, she gives them to me with great love. I greatly value gifts from my parentstoo. Gifts from close friends or colleagues also can give me great pleasure.

I think we should wait to see the type of gifts that children will receive in the future. If I makea guess, I think, mostly it will be electronic gadgets or games. They are also likely to receive alot of good chocolates.

I am from a small and beautiful town called Athirampuzha. In fact, this place is in the district of

Kottayam in central Kerala.

Basically, it is a trading place. People from the surrounding areas come to my place to buyvegetables, fish and grocery. We have a large pool in the heart of the town which is connectedto other places by a network of canals. When I was a small boy, water transport was verypopular and country boats would come in large numbers for trading purposes. It was wonderfulto see trading boats crowd in the large body of water for loading and unloading goods. Buttoday, you can hardly see any water transport and such boats have disappeared for ever, and

large trucks have replaced them.

It is difficult to suggest a particular place, but I think, the pool and the canals are an interestingsite. You can also go for a boating through the canal. On your way you have beautiful paddyfields, on either side. Another important place that a visitor can see is our church which wasbuilt a few centuries ago. It has got an ancient alter ornamented with wooden carvings of saints and angels. Another attraction is a large church bell, which was imported from Germanyin the 18th century. There is also a famous Siva Temple in our neighbouring town of Ettumanoor. This is a well-known pilgrim centre.

Again, I would say it is the pool. Most of the activities of the town take place around this area.There is a fish market on one side and a vegetable market on the other. Especially on marketdays, that is Mondays and Thursdays, the whole place is full of activity.

Although it is basically a trading place, majority of people are not engaged in business. My

town is thickly populated and the people are quite educated. So many of them have jobs,

http://speakingielts.blogspot.com/2011/04/gift-or-article-your-treasure-most.html



especially in the district headquarters of Kottayam, either in the government or private sector.There are teachers, lawyers, nurses, doctors and other professionals. A few of them are alsoengaged in agricultural activities. Certainly, there are a number of businessmen as well.

Something that I treasure most is my IBM laptop, which was not actually a gift. Although it isquiet old it never had any serious technical problems, except a few software crashes, ever sinceI bought it about 8 years ago.

Well, I bought it from a friend of mine who has a computer business. He suggested the brandand I think I made the right choice by buying an IBM lap top. Technically, the components of my computer are of very superior quality and therefore, in spite of my constant use, I havenever changed any parts.

Although I have a leather laptop container, I rarely use it now. I used to put it in a leather baginitially, but later, due to my laziness, I just leave it on my study table. Sometimes it gathers alot dust and occasionally I wipe it with a towel. I would say my laptop is very untidily kept butby God’s grace it keeps working.

My laptop is very precious to me because I type my notes in it and use it for presentations in myclass and meetings. Sometimes I watch movies in it. I also have stored a lot of data andpersonal information in my computer. After my office hours I spend long hours in front of mycomputer either browsing the net or studying.

What I feel is, people’s attitude towards material things have not changed over the last 25years. The only difference is that today we have greater access to comforts and luxuries unlikein the past, and we have enough money to buy them and so we enjoy them. For this reason,many people tend to say that materialism is on the increase. Actually, that is not the case. If people in the past had access to such things and if they had as much money as we have today,they would have definitely enjoyed luxuries. The only difference is the economic progress thatwe have made. The attitude towards materialism remains the same always.

I feel that people have definitely become more materialistic during the last 25 years. Formerly,comforts and luxuries were not available to people as much as we have today. May be, peoplewere little more idealistic and they had better human relationships. Especially in ruralcommunities, you know, people maintained traditional values in families and social life.Whereas, today the situation has changed. Urbanisation has forced people to be moreindividualistic and achievement oriented. Material achievement has become a major purpose inlife and therefore, I think, other values of life have taken a back seat.



Children usually like chocolates, toys and electronic games. You know, for example, if you go toa shop with your children, you will see them running to the toy corner or the chocolate rack.These days, a lot of children have a great liking towards electronic games. There are manychildren who like, cartoons and story books too. So when if you plan to give a gift to a childnext time, think of these things.

From my personal experience, I feel, material possessions can give a great deal of prestige topeople today. For example, if you have a luxurious car or a beautifully designed house it cangive you a sense of pride. Another important criterion for prestige is political power at differentlevels, which can make you popular and accepted by the society. Superior positions ingovernment services can also definitely give you prominence in the society. What I mean is,senior police officers, judges and similar officials have great prestige in the society. Apart fromthat, superior education can give you a lot of honour among people. Certain professionals likedoctors, engineers and teachers are respected in the society.

Although I am not very sure, money and other material possessions were status symbols evenin my grandparents’ time. I think, people who had a lot of land were considered honourable inthe society. Superior education and political power were also considered status symbols at thattime. I believe, basically, the status symbols people of all ages are generally the same.

Women are generally fond of good clothes and ornaments. If you go to a textile store or jewellery shop the majority of the shoppers are usually women. This means that there is acertain vanity in women and they love to flaunt their beauty. They are also attracted to

cosmetics. Many women buy a lot of house hold appliances and crockery.

Certainly, today if you have money to spare, you certainly buy things that can show off yourwealth. Although you may not need such luxurious items, you buy them because you wantothers to look upon you. For example, one of the considerations for many people, when theychoose a car, is whether a particular car is used by the elite in the society. Or, even if thefamily is a small one, people build huge houses and many of the rooms are unused for years.Prestige is a serious consideration for many people these days.

Even in the future wealth will be major determining factor that will a sense of prestige topeople. Education, the expertise in technology and communication abilities also will give asense of pride to people.

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Bai Mau Speaking