The boat race
Read, understand new words, and retell.
1Read
The Nehru Trophy boat race on Punnamada Lake is held every August, on the second Saturday. Over a hundred oarsmen row each snake boat, singing in rhythm to keep time.
Preparation begins months earlier. Villages choose their crews, and the men train every evening after work. The boats themselves, some over thirty metres long, are oiled and repaired by hand.
On race day, the banks of the lake fill with tens of thousands of spectators. The final heats are decided by seconds. For the winning village, the celebration lasts for days.
It is, above all, a race of coordination: a hundred people moving as one.
2Vocabulary
3Questions
4Summary activity
Describe the race in 4 sentences for someone who has never heard of it.
5Speaking challenge
Speaking challenge
Describe a festival or event from your area, 1 minute.
Say it out loud. Nobody is listening — that’s the point. Mistakes are allowed.
Finish this lesson
Do the practice quiz above, then mark it complete.