CROSSROADS Language Studio’s Newsletter, August 2008
In Turkey, the followers of Islam fast once ayear for 30 days. This is called Ramazan.
They don’t eat any food for 30 days!!! I
couldn’t believe it, so I did some research.
Ramazan is an Islamic custom. People
don’t eat or drink anything from sunrise tosunset for 30 days. Why do they do this? It’s
one of the disciplines of this religion. They
strengthen their sense of solidarity by
sharing the experience of hunger together,
realizing the importance of food again, andempathizing with the conditions experienced
by the poor.
Before sunrise during Ramazan, people
have a meal that is called Sahur, in which
they add salad and fruits to the usual
breakfast. They also eat eggs, cookies andpies because these foods can maintain asense of fullness throughout the day. Aftersunset they have a meal that is called Iftar.
They start by eating a light meal then follow
this with a bigger meal. Generally, they
enjoy lavish dishes during Ramazan. People
also invite friends to their houses orsometimes go to restaurants together.
There is a festival for 3 days after the longfast has finished.
Recently, Ramazan has changed a little:
These days one can hear the pounding of abig drum in the early morning for Sahur,
although this is prohibited in some areas as
it is considered a noise nuisance.

Starting a few days
beforeRamazan,supermarkets haveasalesbattlewhich lasts until
the end of the fast.
Also, the number ofpeople who don’t
fast has increased,
especially in cities.
It’s difficult tocontinue such acustomina
modern society.

Istanbul, Turkey- Article by Shoko in S(b)1
NOTE: Ramazan, or Ramadan, falls in the ninth
month of the Islamic calendar, but the Islamiccalendar is based on the movements of the moon,
not the sun as is the case with most international
calandars. The arrival of the ninth crescent moonmarks the start of Ramazan. This means thatRamazan, observed with our solar calendar, falls
on different dates each year. For example,Ramazan this year starts on September 1st andends October 1st. But, next year it will begin on
August 22nd and will end on September 20th.

NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to come toCROSSROADS?.... Try our lessons on the Internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home or office! You get
CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching programs,
even classmates, on-line! Call for details: 089 9217595

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
You can find interesting information about Ramazan
and Turkey here: http://www.allaboutturkey.com/ramadan.htm
NET NOTEBOOK: Don’t forget to take a look at
the Internet activity notebook in our open-house.
You’ll find games, news and English learning sites.

Joshua Says: Well, performance night last month had all the funand enthusiasm we have come to expect on these occasions, eventhough we had less participation than we usually enjoy. Mycongratulations to the students who did perform, and to theirteachers. You were all wonderful! For those who missed out on thechance to join in, there are some pictures on P3 for you to look at.
Junko Says: We are going to alter our concept of the Cosmopolitan
courses a little and I thought you might be interested to hear about this.
We are starting up a new course to encourage returnees from overseas(and other students with a high level of English) to study some of thesubjects in the regular (and new) “Cosmo” courses at a higher level. We
look at this as a “practical English” course – using English with apurpose. It will be fun and instructional for those interested.
Michael Says: One of the oldest documented relatives of English is Hittite, a language thatwas spoken 4000 years ago in what is now called Turkey. This language divided everything in theworld into living (animate; people, animals, plants) and non-living (inanimate; rocks, paper, furniture).
This was done because non-living things were rarely used with intransitive verbs. For example, you
would have a hard time saying, “the rock sleeps,” in ancient Hittite. Living and non-living words
eventually came to be called male and neuter. Later, neuter words came to be called female. And this,my friends, is the best hypothesis on why so many European languages divide words into gender.

Owen Says: Riddles are fun ways to pass the time. There are many wellknown riddles to solve, but it's also fun to try and make your own. Here's
an old one I remember from my childhood; I have a bed yet never sleep. I
always run, and never walk. To the mouth which never talks. What am I?
Greg Says: Well, here we go again….it’s Olympics time. The Olympics haveproduced many inspiring stories over the years but two of my favorites were
not from medal winners but from athletes who came last. A swimmer in theSydney 2000 games nearly drowned attempting to swim the 50 meters forthe first time. He never quit and took well over a minute to reach the endwith the crowd moved to tears. The other was in the 1964 marathon.
Emilie Dit: Les corbeaux sont jaloux; les cigales couvrent

leurscroassements

deleurchanthypnothique.

Elless’égosillent à chanter tout l’ été; et l’automne venu, accabléesde fatigue, disparaissent aussi vite qu’elles sont apparues.

The In(a)1“Players”
Setsuko, Miho,Ayumi,Mayumi, Shiori
and Yohei in“At the DeliCounter”

Yumeko’s last
performanceat Crossroads
before going toEngland for ayear. Goodluck inEngland
Yumeko!

TheCrossroads“CosmoSingers”,Eri andAkina

Katsumi, the“Magical CosmoLady” with someassistance form theaudience – Miho,
Eri and Yuki

Don’t forget this Summer’s

B-B-Q Party,
here in the Roof-top Garden on Sunday, August 31.
We start at 5:00pm.
And, don’t forget to bring some of yourfavourite food to “throw” on the fire, and somedrinks too! It’s open to all students, yourfamily members and your friends…
So, come along and join in the fun!!

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