The Tattooed Women of Burma

(About the tattooed Chin women living in the forests of Burma) by Libby Ruffle (The Daily Telegraph, 14.02.2014) Read the text carefully, paying attention to the underlined words. Can you figure out their meaning just by looking at their context? Have a look at the explanations below. Look at each words pronunciation and meaning (and the example in a sentence). Try to make a sentence with each new word. Why not, write a short composition using these words (you can re-tell the story or invent a new story).

In the warm afternoon sunlight the little Chin woman, still elegant in old age, settles herself on her stool up against her log pile and lifts the long bamboo flute to her nose, pressing it against one nostril. A couple of gentle snorts to get the air flowing and then a mesmerising, haunting sound floats out over the hillside community. She sways a little as she plays, her heavily tattooed face framed by silver hair and huge brightly beaded saucer-shaped earrings, which quiver in her earlobes. Her simple rhythmic tune echoes with life patterns of long ago, a time of survival, of living with nature, of a world that extended to the limit of a few days tramp through the forest-covered hills on Burmas western flank.

The Chin came from out of the earth at a place known as Chin-lun, somewhere in Tibet, before moving south and west, finally settling around Burmas Chindwin River more than 1,000 years ago, before being driven up into the hills to the west. They once had a script known as the magic of letters, but no writings survive. Now on Sundays the villagers congregate for worship in their Baptist churches of

wood and corrugated iron; with 50-plus Chin dialects, Christianity brought them an alphabet and a unifying common language. For some, its a long walk to church; they take a rest, sitting on huge supported flat-topped stones that cover ancient burial plots containing the ashes of the ancestors. We are welcomed everywhere. On bamboo platforms outside their houses women weave bright traditionally patterned longi (sarongs) on back-strap looms, children play, wrapped up against the chilly winter air. Men repair woven bamboo baskets and sharpen their parang knives in readiness for the coming season. Houses are adorned with hunting trophies; skulls of monkeys and mithan, (the wild oxen of these mountain forests). The facial tattoos fascinate us: the spider-web patterns of the southern Chin near Mrauk U, the stripes of the Ngaya, the lines and dots of the Yin Du, the cross and dots of the Daai, the bands and loops of the Muun and the complete facial covering of the Eu Pu . Why, we ask? For identity. Burmans used to kidnap Chin women, renowned for their beauty. Didnt it hurt? Yes, it was very painful, they say, especially on the eyelids. It would often take a week or more; they could not eat or sleep for the swelling and the pain. Things are changing; road-building programmes, restrictions lifted, improvements promised. The flute players daughter, who attended university, bears no tribal markings and cant play the nose flute. But nearby we see a girl tilling a vegetable plot. When she looks up, her face glowing lavender-grey in the evening light, every inch is tattooed. Why, we ask? To carry on the tradition, she says.

Vocabulary: bamboo flute [flut] = fluier de bambus nostril = n. nara snort [snort] = v. a fornai, a pufni (despre o locomotiva; despre un cal/porc) a. To breathe noisily and forcefully through the nostrils. The pigs grunted and snorted. b. To make a sound resembling noisy exhalation: "The wind snorted across the Kansas plains" (Gail Sheehy). 2. To make an abrupt noise expressive of scorn, ridicule, or contempt. He snorted his disapproval. 3. Slang To ingest a drug, such as cocaine or heroin, by sniffing. He snorted cocaine. mesmerizing, haunting sound = un sunet care te farmeca, bintuie to haunt [hont] = v. a bintui a. To inhabit, visit, or appear to in the form of a ghost or other supernatural being:

This is a place haunted by ghosts. b. To come to the mind continually; obsess: a riddle that haunted me all morning. c. To be continually present in; pervade: the melancholy that haunts the composer's music. haunting = adj. care te bintuie to sway [swei] = v. a se legana framed by silver hair = incadrata de par argintiu to quiver [kwiv ] = v. a tremura to shake with a slight but rapid motion tune [tiun] = n. melodie a. A melody, especially a simple and easily remembered one. b. A song. c. Correct pitch. d. The state of being properly adjusted for pitch: a piano out of tune. e. Agreement in pitch: play in tune with the piano. a few days tramp = excursie de citeva zile tramp [trmp]= n. a. excursie, b. vagabond a. A walking trip; a hike. b. One who travels aimlessly about on foot, doing odd jobs or begging for a living; a vagrant. The Chin = The Chin State is a state located in western Burma. The 36,019-square-kilometre
(13,907 sq mi) Chin State is bordered by Rakhine State in the south, Bangladesh in the south-west, Sagaing Division and Magway Division in the east, the Indian state of Manipur in the north and the Indian state of Mizoram in the west. The Chin ethnic group make up the majority of the state's 500,000 people. The capital of the state is Hakha. The state is a mountainous region with few transportation links. Chin State is sparsely populated and remains one of the least developed areas of the country. Chin State has the highest poverty rate of 73% as per the released figures from the first official survey.

script = n. a. scriere; b. scenariu la un film a. Handwriting;a style of writing with cursive characters; a particular system of writing: cuneiform script. b. The text of a play, broadcast, or movie. the villagers congregate for worship = satenii se aduna pentru a se ruga to corrugate [krgeit] = a ondula, a gofra; v. to fold into alternate furrows and ridges: The house had a corrugated iron roof. flat-topped stones that cover ancient burial plots = pietre cu suprafata plata care acopera mormintele back-strap loom [lu:m] = razboi de tesut (care se prinde in curele straps)
The backstrap loom, an example of which is shown below, is deceptively simple. For the most

part, it consists of sticks, rope, and a strap that is worn around the weaver's waist. This strap is how the backstrap loom received its name. This simple technology means that almost anyone can own a backstrap loom and that the loom can be set up almost anywhere. This mobility allows the weaver to work indoors or outside, at a neighbor's house or in the marketplace, while keeping watch over the children or while chatting with friends.

wrapped up against the chilly winter air = infasurati pentru a se proteja de aerul rece al iernii loop [lu:p] = n. rasucire, bucla, cerc; a infasura, a innoda to swell [swell] = v. a se mari; umfla a. To increase in size or volume as a result of internal pressure; expand. b. To increase in force, size, number, or degree: Membership in the club swelled. c. To grow in loudness or intensity: "The din swelled to a tremendous chorus". to till a vegetable plot = a ara/cultiva un lot de pamint cu legume

Grammar: Look at the verbs in the above text; the narrator uses Past Tense Simple to express actions that happened in the past. Now try to fill in the spaces with the correct form of the verb in past tense (do not forget the changes of the verbs: look looked; play played; fly flied; cry cried, watch watched, stop stopped, sob sobbed). There are also irregular verbs (say-said-said, put-put-put, cost-cost-cost, swimswam-swum, etc). See the list of irregular verbs here: http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/irregular-verbs 1. Last year I spent my holiday in Ireland. 2. It (be) great. 3. I (travel) around by car with two friends and we (visit) lots of interesting places. 4. In the evenings we usually (go) to a pub. 5. One night we even (learn) some Irish dances. 6. We (be) very lucky with the weather. 7. It (not / rain) a lot. 8. But we (see) some beautiful rainbows. 9. Where (spend / you) your last holiday? Answers: 2. was; 3. travelled; visited 4. went; 5. learnt (also learned); 6. were; 7. did not rain; 8. saw; 9. did you spend.