Another common practice is for Buddhist monks to give sermons or "Dhamma talks" to the laity and junior monks. It is believed that listening to the Buddha's teachings is a meritorious activity. Burmese Monks will often address the laypersons in an informal and conversational style, called a "fan down" sermon, which uses plain language and may include humor. This contrasts which a more ancient and ritualized "fan up" (which refers to how monks would cover their face with a fan) sermon which was often done in Pali and was mostly incomprehensible to laypersons.