August CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2007

The “maid” was an early English prototype of theNursery Rhymes in Europe have been handed
infamous
guillotine used in France during thedown throughout the centuries to the delight ofgenerations of children. They are innocent, French Revolution!
Speaking of the French Revolution, how about:nonsensical ditties sung by, or to, children often
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of wateraccompanied by skipping, dancing and otherJack fell down and broke his crowngames, and always with great fun and joy. “Mary,And Jill came tumbling after.
Mary”, “Humpty Dumpty”, “Jack and Jill”, andItisclaimed
that the “Jack” in this poem was Kingmany, many more. And, oh, how the children lovethem! But are they just innocent little fancies Louis XVI of France. Louis/Jack, as every history buff
knows, was beheaded by a guillotine – “broke his
invented only to entertain children with?
Some scholars believe nursery rhymes have crown” – and “Jill” who “came tumbling after”, was, ofhidden political and social meanings. There are course, Queen Marie Antoinette! So, this joyful little
disagreements about these supposed “hidden” Nursery rhyme is, in fact, a history lesson about themeanings, but if some of the more common execution of the King and Queen of France in 1793!
interpretations are true, then these “innocent” Let’s try another one:
Ring around the rosy
rhymes are anything but innocent!
A pocketful of posies"Ashes, Ashes"
Take “Mary, Mary Quite Contrary” for instance.
We all fall down!
Mary, Mary quite contrary,Think, this time, of the Bubonic Plague
How does your garden grow?
afflicting London in 1665. An early symptom
With silver bells and cockle shellsof this disease was a rosy red rash on theAnd pretty maids all in a row.
One theory has it that this Mary was in fact skin – “ring around the rosy”. “A pocket fullMary Tudor, Queen Mary the first daughter of posies” – people believed that the plagueof King Henry VIII, who was sometimes was spread by bad smells, so they carriedalso called “Bloody Mary” (is that where the around sweet smelling flowers/posies tococktail got its name?). The “garden” in the ward off the disease. The “Ashes, Ashes”
poem refers to the increasing number of some say is a reference to the cremation ofgraves she put her Protestant enemies in – the dead, and “we all fall down”, which
she was a staunch Catholic. “Silver Bells, children love to enact when singing thisCockle Shells”? – these were instruments rhyme is, well, dieing from the plague!
So much for the “innocence” of nursery
used to torture her foes with! And, therhymes….!
“Pretty Maids All in a Row”… ?

(These words are in colour in the story)
nonsensical戯けた
ditties短い歌
fancies空想
foes敵
prototype原型
infamous悪名高いafflicting苦痛をもたらす
symptom症状
rash発疹

staunch忠実なbuff専門家
ward off撃退するJoshua
Says:Well,
Nextyoumonth
we willbe welcoming
a “performancenew teacher thing”!
to Crossroads.
MichaelisJoshua Says:
are reallygetting
good at this
Last month
we hadfromAmerica
andhasbeenteachinginEurope.
Aswellasteaching,
Michaelhasplayedour second Performance Night here in our new building, and it was terrific! Two classes wrote andguitar
professionallyin theandpast.
areperformers,
all lookingIn(a)1.
forwardto playshelpinghimsettleinandto aI
performed
this time – In(b)1
lastWeterm’sBothwerevery
funnynewlifeinMatsuyama.
But,aswewelcomeone
teacher,
we
sadly
have
tosay
goodbyetoam sure the students who participated learnt a lot. Other performers were Adrienne’s piano
another.
Alice
willbeleavingus
toreturn
home.
Everyone
atCR
isgoingtomissherstudents, Iain’s magic students and Alice’s singers. Check out the report on the Notice Board, P3.
greatly when she goes and we can only wish her the greatest of good fortune in her future.
Junko Says: Last month’s Performance Night was another great success! I am sosurprised at how well our students do on these nights. This has been the third Performance
Night since moving to our present location and they just keep getting better and better. To
the students who perform on these nights, I can only express my appreciation andadmiration to you. You are so entertaining! But, even more importantly, your English isgetting really so Good!! Check out the shots on P3 for some of the fun…
Alice Says: This month I made the long trip back home in order to attend mybrother’s wedding. Many of you know this already because I have shown you thephotos of the happy occasion! Of course, the biggest worry in Britain is always theweather – even in Summer! However, we were very lucky and the weather stayed
fine. This is just one of the reasons why it was a truly magical day! I was very happy!
Iain Says: The university is on summer vacation and I have a little time to read and catch up on someleisure activities. These days I have been exploring the online virtual world of Second Life. This is a three
dimensional environment where you can walk around and shop for goods, talk to people, watch movies, andtake classes. It is very interesting to experience the internet in this way and I hope some of you try it. It is alittle complicated to use now, but many technology experts think that within four or five years 80% ofinternet users will be walking and flying their virtual selves around in three dimensional cyber worlds.

Adrienne Says: Cats can be quite complex. It seems that Leo, the big cat who left home, hasbeen living at a neighbor’s house down the street. He likes the fish-flavored cat food over there,according to the neighbor. Occasionally, he comes home for a brief visit, but his brother, Jack,
who is now the main cat, growls at him and attacks him until he leaves again! It’s a good idea toalways keep a back-up on hand; back-up batteries, back-up lights, perhaps, a back-up man!!?
Greg Says: What would you try to achieve if you knew you wouldn’t fail? Most people don’t begin
because of their fear of failure. Babe Ruth struck out 1330 times but he never quit. John Creasey got 753
rejections on his way to publishing 564 books. Colonel Sanders received over 1000 rejections before selling
his chicken recipe and Wilma Rudolph , paralysed in her left leg at the age of 4, began walking at 9 andin 1960 won the Olympic 100m, and 200m. What is your dream? Don’t hold back…you can do it!!!

Dean Says: It’s been a very hot month, but it’s almost Autumn now. Let’s hope it starts to cool
down soon. How did you spend your Obon holiday? I went to Kyushu for a few days and spent
most of my time in and out of baths, rivers, creeks, natural outdoor hot springs and of course, thesea. I found a beautiful natural hot spring in the mountains above Beppu and some gorgeous
beaches on the Sada Peninsula in Ehime. Beautiful spots abound in this area of Japan!

SOME REFLECTIONS from Mie (Mits. “D” class)
I’m reading a book written by Mariko Bando called “Woman’s Nobility”. It explains how to become a truly
noble, elegant woman. I’m very convinced that her arguments are correct and I want very much to be anoble, elegant woman. Unfortunately, there are over 60 things that I must do in order to become such awoman! For example, I must – dress, speak and behave elegantly; love my family, friends and neighbour’schildren… I don’t have enough room to write all 60 items, but, if I did all of the 60 things she suggests,everyone would love me. But, just thinking about all the things I have to do makes me feel depressed. Is it toolate for me to become noble? If I were born again, I’d like to be a noble, elegant, graceful woman.

Singing
students
Eri, Luna

A uniqueproductionof “PeachBoy” byIn(a)1Wild
scenesfrom “AttheHospital”
by In(b)1

The Magic
Ladies
Katsumi,Chigiku

Pianorecitals
byYumeko,Mika

Can youbelieve it!?
The Actingclass withscenes from“My FairLady”

FROM IAIN: On July 16th 2007, Kyoko and I welcomed our son Kento Maximilian Campbell into theworld. He weighed 3220 grams on the day he was born, but now, a month later he weighs 1000
A little
backgroundmusiche seems to grow more aware of his surroundings. Things like the corners ofgrams
more!
Every dayfrom Adrienne
picture frames and the handle of the refrigerator interest him most. Sometimes, when we play withhim, he actually laughs and smiles which delights us immensely. As far as newborn babies go, he isrelatively easy on Kyoko and me. He sleeps well during the night and he doesn’t cry unless he needs
something. We are enjoying being new parents, and we hope you get a chance to meet him soon!

Courses you can take at CROSSROADS
NET LESSONS:
Are you too busy to come to CROSSROADS to study? Try ourlessons on the internet! --- It’s CROSSROADS in your homeor office! You get CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching
programs, even classmates, all on-line! Call for details.

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
Some interesting interpretations of Nursery Rhymes
can be found here: http://www.rhymes.org.uk

NET NOTEBOOK: Don’t forget to take a look at theInternet activity notebook in our open-house. You’ll findgames, news and English learning sites.

GENERAL COURSES:
2 x’s 60mins / week
1 x’s 90mins / week
Private 1 x / week
Semi-Private 1 x /weekMOTHER & CHILD: group or private
KIDS: group or private

FRENCH with Natacha
SPANISH with Patricio
RUSSIAN with Natasha
GERMAN with Marita & Matthias
CHINESE with Noriko
KOREAN with Kum Fa

COSMOPOLITAN COURSES:“Singing in English” with Alice
Yoga with Dean
Guitar with William“Cooking in English” with Alice & Dean
“Magic English” with Iain
Piano with Adrienne
Acting with Alice
NETLESSONS:
group or private

Phone: 0120-21-7594
Tel: (089) 921-7595
Fax: (089) 921-7319
E-mail:info@crossroadsco.com
Web Site: www.crossroadsco.com