Bringing the World Together

Shared celebrations

All around the world, festivals, music and dance bring people together. This module teaches the Gujarati words for those shared events. Every word comes with three things: the Gujarati script, a transliteration in brackets to help you say it, and the English meaning. (A native speaker should review the script before launch.)

Festival, music, dance, custom

Start with four words for shared events:

Match each Gujarati word to its English meaning

The Gujarati word for music

Which Gujarati word means "music"?

• સંગીત (sangeet)
• તહેવાર (tahevar)
• નૃત્ય (nrutya)
• પરંપરા (parampara)

Events that connect us

Shared events bring people together across the world: - A festival (તહેવાર, tahevar), such as દિવાળી (Diwali) or નવરાત્રી (Navratri), gathers families - Music (સંગીત, sangeet) and dance (નૃત્ય, nrutya) are enjoyed everywhere - Traditions (પરંપરા, parampara) are shared and passed on Wherever people are from, these events help them feel closer.

About celebrations

Select the TWO Gujarati words that are about celebration and music.

• તહેવાર (tahevar)
• ગીત (geet)
• મિત્ર (mitra)
• કુટુંબ (kutumb)

Two ways people come together

People gather in small groups and in big public events.

The Gujarati word for traditions

Which Gujarati word means "traditions"?

• પરંપરા (parampara)
• સંગીત (sangeet)
• તહેવાર (tahevar)
• નૃત્ય (nrutya)

Festival words in Gujarati

A _____ is a big celebration. People enjoy _____ and _____ together. Old customs are called _____. You celebrate with your _____.

A festival brings people together

Put the stages of a community festival into a sensible order.

• People are invited to the celebration
• Families and friends gather together
• There is music and dancing
• Everyone shares food and traditions
• The whole community feels closer together

Match each Gujarati word to its English meaning

Gujarati puts is at the end

The festival words become sentences once you add છે (chhe - is) at the end, where English would not put it: - સંગીત દુનિયાની ભાષા છે = "music is the language of the world". The -ની on દુનિયાની does the work of "of", joining onto the end of દુનિયા (duniya - world). ભાષા (bhasha) is "language". - મને પરંપરા અને નૃત્ય ગમે છે = "I like tradition and dance". Literally "to me tradition and dance are pleasing". અને (ane) is "and", and છે closes the sentence as always.

The -ની ending does the work of "of" and joins onto its noun

The -ની ending does the work of "of" and joins onto its noun. Which of these says "music is the language of the world"?

• સંગીત દુનિયાની ભાષા છે (sangeet duniyani bhasha chhe)
• દુનિયા સંગીતની ભાષા છે (duniya sangeetni bhasha chhe)
• સંગીત દુનિયાની ભાષા (sangeet duniyani bhasha)
• મને પરંપરા અને નૃત્ય ગમે છે (mane parampara ane nrutya game chhe)

Which Gujarati word?

Read each description and pick the Gujarati word it describes.

• The big festival that families celebrate together. Which word?
• The sounds and songs that people dance to. Which word?
• The old customs passed down over many years. Which word?

Your turn: write in Gujarati

Write two or three sentences IN GUJARATI about a celebration and what people enjoy at it. Write in Gujarati script - the transliteration in brackets is a reading aid only.

• Name the celebration: તહેવાર (tahevar - a festival) or ઉજવણી (ujavni - a celebration)
• Name what people enjoy: સંગીત (sangeet - music), નૃત્ય (nrutya - dance) or ગીત (geet - a song)
• Join two with અને (ane - and): સંગીત અને નૃત્ય (sangeet ane nrutya - music and dance)
• Say who you are with using -ની સાથે (-ni sathe - with): કુટુંબની સાથે (kutumbni sathe - with family), or મિત્ર (mitra - a friend)

Gujarati script and meaning together

Learn each word as a package - the Gujarati script, its transliteration, and the English meaning together - so you recognise it instantly: તહેવાર (tahevar) festival, સંગીત (sangeet) music, પરંપરા (parampara) traditions. When you write in English about this theme, do not just list words - explain how shared events bring people together, with an example. Recognise the script, explain the idea - top band.