8
Language, the mirror of a nation
Textbook: Part 1, pp. 25–26
GoalAppreciate the value of the mother tongue; name the ancestors mentioned in the poem.
New words
language, tongue · tilnation · millatmirror · ko‘zgumother tongue · ona tili
Explanation
Language is the main means by which people understand each other. There are more than six thousand languages in the world; Uzbek is one of the fifty biggest. The textbook has the poem “O‘zbek tili” by Rauf Tolib; it mentions Mahmud Kashgari and Alisher Navoi. “Language is the mirror of a nation” means that from a language we can learn about the culture of a nation.
Worked examples
“My mother tongue”. Uzbek is my mother tongue. I learnt it from my mother. I greet people and read books in this language. Alisher Navoi also wrote poems in this language. A person who loves their mother tongue also loves their homeland.
Rhyming words: qalam – olam (pencil – world), ko‘l – yo‘l (lake – road), til – dil (tongue – heart).
Class activity
Rhyming pairs in groups: each group writes as many pairs as it can in 3 minutes.
Practice
1
From whom did the child learn the mother tongue?
From the mother
2
What does the child do in this language?
Greets people and reads books.
3
Which great poet wrote poems in Uzbek?
Alisher Navoi
4
Find a word that rhymes with qalam.
Olam (world)
5
What else does a person who loves the mother tongue love?
The homeland