1. Teach basic Telugu, e.g., using "Telugu in 30 days in English"
or another book (don't remember the title)available through Dr.
Chowdary Jampala of Dayton, Ohio, as the basis. They certainly need
to be adopted to the needs of the group.
2. I personally think Telugu writing shouldn't be the first priority
in "teaching" Telugu. Initially it may be a turn off. Initial focus
should be on simple conversational Telugu (surely, some of which is
already known to most of the kids, putting them at ease), with some
emphasis on the idiosyncracies (e.g., house is "illu", but "in the
house" is "intilo" a major modification).... A few years ago, I came
across a scholarly book by Bhamidipati Krishnamurthi (not sure of the
name) and some XYZ Gwynn (not sure either) entitled, "A Grammar of
Modern Telugu" (sure of this:-), available at Wright State University,
Dayton, library (Jampala garu, just in case you are interested but
unaware of it - I did leave it there:-), which might serve as a very
useful reference for the teacher (since it seems to be oriented toward
the non-Telugu, even non-Indian reader). I haven't been able to
locate a copy anywhere in India, though.
3. Once the more mature students are ready script can be taught.
In any language, the script is the easiest to learn, because its
size is relatively small and there are well-defined patterns. Since
Telugu is very phonetic, once the hard part of learning the basic
letters is done with, the guninthams etc. follow more easily.
4. Slokas are good, but what might catch their attention even more
is simple padyams, e.g., vemana, that have easier words. (Vemana
padyaalu have the bonus feature that the last line is "free" once
learned - a 25% savings off the regular price:-)
So much for some quick thoughts. I am posting this message also
to the "telusaa" group and SCIT, for deeper insights from the
readers, which, I am sure will be forthcoming...
--- Venu
Venu Dasigi
Summer, 1996: Intelligent Systems Section
Computer Science and Math Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, MS-6364, P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6364
vdasigi@mars.epm.ornl.gov
Later: Department of Computer Science and Information Technology
Sacred Heart University, 5151 Park Ave
Fairfield, CT 06432-1000
dasigi@shu.sacredheart.edu