Class 69 — the road: autos, buses, directions and prices. This class is pure survival, and you should treat it differently from the others. Everything else in this course you can learn slowly over months, deepening as you go. This one you should memorise like a phone number — because you will need it on your first day, in a moving vehicle, under time pressure, possibly in the rain, while someone waits for your answer. So there are fewer ideas here and more fixed phrases, repeated more than usual. That repetition is deliberate. Do not skip it. HOW YOU TRAVEL. ഓട്ടോ (auto) — the auto rickshaw, three wheels, yellow and black, everywhere, and your main short-distance transport. ബസ് (bus) — Kerala’s private buses are fast, loud, brightly painted, and run on a network that reaches almost everywhere. ടാക്സി · ട്രെയിൻ · ബോട്ട് — and in the backwater districts the boat is not tourism, it is public transport. THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WORD: എത്ര (ethra) — how much, how many. You will use it constantly. എത്രയാണ്? (ethrayaanu?) how much is it? And it combines with everything: എത്ര ദൂരം? how far · എത്ര സമയം? how long · എത്ര രൂപ? how many rupees. THE AUTO SEQUENCE, in the order it will actually happen: 1. Will you go? Say the place name and add പോകാമോ? (pokaamo?) or വരുമോ? (varumo?). So: ഫോർട്ട് കൊച്ചി പോകാമോ? 2. The price — and this is where you must be able to speak. എത്രയാണ്? How much? മീറ്റർ ഇടാമോ? (meter idaamo?) Will you put the meter on? 3. Then the journey itself, and getting out where you meant to. Memorise this one. You will use it before you use anything else in the course. Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.