Chapter 6 — Braille

Chapter 6 of the Class 4 English NCERT textbook (Santoor), "Braille", tells the true story of Louis Braille, a French boy who lost his sight in a childhood accident and went on to invent the Braille alphabet — a system of raised dots that allows blind people to read through touch. The chapter also explains how Braille works, why Braille books are thicker than regular books, and includes activities on eye safety and past-tense grammar. Download the PDF and read the full summary and Q&A below.

• Louis Braille's Story — At age three, Louis Braille accidentally pierced his eye with a sharp tool in his father's blacksmith workshop in France. The injury spread to his other eye, leaving him completely blind. In 1819, at age ten, he was admitted to the Royal Institute for Young Blind Persons in Paris, where he learnt to read using wood, cloth, or pins arranged in pincushions.
• From Night Writing to the Braille Alphabet — An army officer named Captain Charles Barbier de la Serre had invented 'Night Writing', a system of raised dots and dashes soldiers could read with their fingers in the dark. It was too complicated and never succeeded. Louis, as a teenager, became interested in this idea and simplified it into the Braille alphabet that the world uses today.
• How the Braille System Works — Braille is a method of reading through touch. There is one Braille symbol for each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet. Because the raised dots cannot be pressed too close together, Braille requires more space than regular print, which is why a Braille book is thicker than an ordinary printed book. Sighted people can also learn and use Braille.
• Activities and Grammar in the Chapter — The chapter includes hands-on activities such as writing words and names in Braille using bindis, and a tactile activity of pressing shapes into paper and identifying them by touch with closed eyes. For grammar, students practise the past continuous tense using 'was/were + verb + ing' forms, and learn to list eye-safety precautions linked to Louis Braille's own accident.

1. 01Louis Braille was born in France and lost his sight in a childhood accident at age three when a sharp tool pierced his eye.
2. 02He was admitted to the Royal Institute for Young Blind Persons in Paris in 1819, at age ten.
3. 03Captain Charles Barbier de la Serre invented 'Night Writing' — an alphabet of raised dots and dashes — for soldiers to communicate in the dark.
4. 04Night Writing was too difficult and was not a success, but it inspired Louis Braille to create a simpler system.
5. 05The Braille alphabet has one symbol for each of the 26 letters of the English alphabet, read through touch.
6. 06Braille books are thicker than regular printed books because Braille letters need more space between them.
7. 07Both blind people and sighted people can learn to read and write in Braille.
8. 08The chapter teaches past continuous tense ('was/were + verb + ing') and includes activities on eye safety and Braille writing using bindis.