January CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter 2004

This month we enter the year of themonkey. People who are born in thisyear are thought to be clever andskillful – just like real monkeys. So why
don’t we take a look at some of history’s
most famous monkeys.
Let’s start with a littlesquirrel
monkey called Gordo. Gordo was aNASA ‘Ape-O-Naut’, and he was thefirst ape to go into space. He flew
on the Jupiter AM-13 mission in1958, but the shuttle had been designedto sink after coming back to earth, andso unfortunately Gordo died after theflight was completed.
Then there is Koko the gorilla, who is
one of the most highly educated apes
ever.
Shet a l k s withhumansthrough sign
language, using over 1000
different
signs
tocommunicate complex
questions and sentences. She also uses
computers and takes photographs.
Koko’s niece is also very famous. Her
name is Binti-Jua, which means‘daughter of sunshine’ in Kiswahili.

Binti-Jua became famous after she
rescued a young boy who fell into her
enclosure at Chicago zoo.
The 3-year old boy fell 18ft onto theconcrete floor of the gorilla pit, hit hishead and was knocked unconscious.
Binti-Jua gently picked him up andcarried him to the door of the enclosure,
where the zookeepers could easily reachhim. Someone captured the moment onvideo, and people around the world
were touched by the gorilla’s actions.
The boy made a complete recovery.
Finally, there i s the most famousmonkey of them all – King Kong! King
Kong is famous for kidnapping a young,beautiful lady, who he later
developed a big crush on. Hewas then caught by humans
and taken to New York to be
displayed to the public. However, King
Kong escaped, found his lady again andclimbed the Empire state building. Hefell to his death, but came back again
30 years later to fight Godzilla!
Do you know anyother famousmonkeys?

(These words are in color in the story

Joshua Says: Well, another year has come and gone. As well as being thefirst month of the year, this month marks the first anniversary of the newformat of our Newsletter. I hope you have all been enjoying the articles andgames that come out each month. We look forward to more of your input aswell in the issues to come! Happy New Year and lots of success with yourEnglish studies during this year.

Junko Says: Happy new year, everyone! I hope you all had a great
holiday, and a nice rest! We all had a good time at the Crossroads
Christmas party, so thank you to everyone who came. It was nice to see allof you looking so relaxed and happy. It was especially nice to hear everyone
chatting in English! Good luck with your studies this year, and keep up thegood work!

Joanna Says: Well…after more than two wonderful years in Matsuyama, I’ve
finally decided to go back to England. I’d like to be closer to my family again,and also my boat! I’m going to miss all my friends, students and everyone at
Crossroads very much – you have all made the last two years very special forme. I’ll also miss karaoke boxes, Udon noodles, nabe and the deer ofMiyajima. Goodbye everyone, and thank you for making me feel so welcome.

Grace Says: Hooray for surviving my first month in Matsuyama!! I would
like to thank everyone for welcoming me and giving me lots of useful tips on
living in Matsuyama. One of my strongest first impressions of Matsuyama
is of the crazy drivers! I’m learning to keep my eyes open at all times forcars, especially when I’m riding around on my bicycle. Don’t be surprised if
I come to school one day in a cast!

Greg Says: Happy New Year! I had a great new year with my family inAustralia. I went to Sydney for 3 weeks, and enjoyed spending myChristmas in the sun. It was about 38 degrees for most of the time I wasthere, so my Christmas dinner was barbeque food and a cold beer!

Tamara Says: I can’t believe it’s 2004 already! 2003 sure went byquickly. It doesn’t seem a year ago that I was sitting at Ishite temple,freezing, and ringing in 2003. Now, here I am in Canada, sitting in Prince
Albert, freezing and ringing in 2004! The big question now is ‘What’s yourNew Years Resolution?’ I decided mine last November – to travel lighter!
That means fewer suitcases with less stuff in them. I can’t wait for mynext trip to see how well I do!

Yuka Says: Happy New Year, everyone! Have you made any New Year
resolutions for this year? I have – and here they are:Learn to swim, cut down on sweets; Get up early, and read more books; Goon a trip, and meet more people;
These are the things I’d like to do this year!

Mika says: I am going to Canada to study English from January 16thto February 16th. While I am there, I would like to meet my friend
Fumi who lives in Vancouver. I am hoping to have a great time inCanada so, I’ll do my best there!
Kaori says: On December 14th my Kendo club’s team entered acompetition in Hiroshima. It is a young team, and contrary to ourexpectations they won!!!! It was the first time in our club’s history, soeveryone was happy! It was wonderful for us to see them do theirbest, and to cheer for them.

Happy New Year, Everyone!
Congratulations to;Mika – Who has found a homestayplacement in Canada for a month!
Have fun!

This verb has two different
meanings in today’s English;
Firstly, it means to place things,
leaving a space between each one.
For example;

NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to cometo CROSSROADS for English lessons? Tryour lessons on the internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home! You get
CROSSROADS’ great teachers, materials, evenclassmates, on-line! Call for details.

NET SITE OF THE MONTH: Check out
your Chinese zodiac sign at the link below;
http://www.chinatoday.com/culture/zodiac/zodiac.htm
NET NOTEBOOK: Take a look at the internet
activity notebook in our open-house. You’ll findgames, news and English learning sites.

“The chairs are too close together.
Can you space them out a little bit,please?”
Secondly, it’s used to describe
someone who is daydreaming, or
whose attention is not in the room.
For example;“Bob hasn’t said anything for anhour. I think he’s spacing out!”

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