May CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter 2006

Doctor Daniel Margoliash of UC, San
Diego tells us, “It would no longer be an
insult to be called a bird-brain”! Why? Heand his colleagues have been engaged insome very interesting research with thehelp of a few of their little featheredfriends.
European Starlings can display
exceptional virtuosity as songbirds andmimics. But, what the researchers havediscovered is that the little Starling canalso grasp the concept, and the use of,(bird) grammar! It’s true, say theProfessors!! Starlings can be taught
grammar in their own language of chirps,warbles, trills, whistles and rattles. They
“accurately recognize acoustic patterns
defined by a recursive, self-embedding,context-free grammar” says Timothy
Gentner, another researcher on theproject. Until now, only humans werebelieved to possess this ability. But, now
we must make room, it seems, on thisside of the “linguistic boundary” for theStarling!
The little guy at the top of the page, on
the right, was one of the subjects in thestudy program. As you can see from hisexpression, he was not too happy abouthaving to go to grammar school with theProfessors.
Hewasphotographedvoicinghisopinion of the program, andthe Professors. We haveendeavored to translate what
he was saying into English.
Roughly, it went something
like, “♫…You, εΨ☼xδξ!!.. ♪ Do you think I
want to spend my time learning bird
grammar when I could be flying aroundoutside in the fresh air?!!! ♪…♫ ” Well,
needless to say, this little guy dropped outof the program, but I am assured thatmany of his classmates did do well and cannow speak “bird” using perfect grammar!
Speaking of brainy birds, thisnext
littleguy
wasphotographed conducting theBerlin Symphony Orchestra ina recital of Beethoven’s 5th!
What next?!
Well, how about Alex, theAfrican Grey Parrot? He has a vocabularyof over 800 words – in English! They say heis working on a PhD in human
psychology....
So, what is the moral of thisstory..? If “birdbrains” can handle
grammar and extensive vocabularies, so can anyone……right ???

(These words are in colour in the story)
insult 侮辱する（言葉）recursive 繰り返し
endeavored 全力を尽したvirtuosity 名人芸mimics ものまねembedding 埋め込み
boundary 境界
assured 確信している
extensive 多数のJoshua Says: May marks our second anniversary in Okaido. The last two years
have certainly been eventful. While we still need to adjust and develop our newprograms, I can say that, overall, they have been a great success. Our new locationin Okaido feels “right” for us also. All-in-all, I believe that Crossroads is steadily
developing into the premium language school for adults in Matsuyama again.
Junko Says : I noticed that the Japanese and Australian governments are now
working towards a “Free Trade Agreement”. This means trade between our twocountries will become much easier. It also means that our two countries will
have closer ties in other ways also – namely, cultural and political exchanges. It
really pleases me to see Japan growing, step by step, into a truly internationalcountry. It also means that there will be more pressure on us to learn English!
Natacha Says: When you travel abroad it's not unusual to get culture shock. But I have tosay that I also experience this when I went back home after living six years in Japan. My father
is French therefore, we usually kiss when meeting someone. I forgot about this and was a little
shy at first. But one thing I realized is that being in Japan for so long I had forgotten thepleasure of contact. I happily remembered this great part of the French culture! :)Greg Says: Recently I went to the doctors for my annual health checkup and I was surprised by how much weight I had put on during thepast year. So I have promised myself to start looking after my healthbetter and begin the long arduous task of losing a bit of baby fat andgetting into better shape. So if you see me running around the streetslate at night or early in the morning; give a cheerio and a wave.
Iain Says : On May 8 t h 2006, Kyoko and I went to City Hall andregistered to be married! We decided on that date because herbirthday is on the 7 t h and mine is on the 9 t h . Now we will have athree day stretch of celebrations that come right after Golden Week!
Adrienne Says: Just ten years ago, my kids were begging me not to speak
English in public because they didn’t want people to notice that their mother was aforeigner. But now as adolescents, their attitude towards their being HALF foreign
has changed. It seems that girls are very interested in foreign features.
Marita Says: Most people travel or go shopping during Golden Week. This year we went away on a trip
to the so-called 'purest' river in Japan: Shimanto River in Kochi ken. The scenery is beautiful! We spent ourdays in our dinghy on the river and it was pure relaxation. The second day it started to cloud over, sowe relocated to the Pacific Ocean. It was gorgeous! But - Sunday came and with it the rain, the camp groundchanged into a "mud ground". Now, I have to clean and wash everything from the car to the tent to the boat. I
wonder now, if shopping is not the best alternative to spending my days off. How was your Golden Week?
William Says: Learning a musical instrument involves two key things: The
first is technique, and this takes up most of the time. The second element is“feel”. This is a mysterious quality that does not represent the feeling you getfrom an instrument, but rather the feeling you put into the playing.
Yuka Says: How was your holiday? I hope everybody had a good time. This year we
didn’t have enough time to take a trip to anywhere, and everywhere was very crowded,
so we decided to stay home. We spent our holiday doing house work. Sounds
uninteresting? On the contrary, we turned into kinds of do-it-yourself fans! We made acouple of shelves, repaired some screens and did some gardening. Using a saw and ahammer was unexpectedly interesting. After the work, we enjoyed barbecuing!

Next Movie Event:Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireAs you have noticed(I hope), we now

Date: Sunday, June 25th

have a student’s

Time: 4:00pm

library at Crossroads.
There are not many books yet, but we hope tobe regularly adding to our collection over thenext few months. It is our hope that you will
make use this new facility to help improve yourEnglish. Remember, all Crossroads students cancome any time while the school is open andrelax in our open-house at no extra charge;
have a coffee, smacks and, now, read a book!

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:
Watch “Victor” the budgie talk! Is this real?

http://www.victorsarchives,homestead.com/videopage.htm
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 /week

GERMAN with Marita
SPANISH with Leo
RUSSIAN with Natasha
FRENCH with Natacha
CHINESE with Noriko
KOREAN with Kim

MOTHER & CHILD, group or private
KIDS, group or private
COSMOPOLITAN COURSES:“Singing in English” with William
Yoga with Natacha
Guitar with William“Cooking in English” with Natacha“Magic in English” with Iain
Piano with Adrienne
Drumming with William
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