CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter January,January , 202
20 2 2Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
This is the first stanza of a poem written
by William Blake (1757 – 1827), a famous
English poet and Christian mystic of thatera. In his poem he questions why had an
all-loving God, the creator of “all things
bright and beautiful,” create such a fearful
creature as the tiger!

Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Well, from the point of view of “all things
bright and beautiful,” you may wellunderstand Blake’s confusion on this point.
And tigers do tend to be... fearsome. But
most of us would also agree that tigers do
maintain the “beautiful” part of the brightand beautiful image.
Ella

Janis

In what distant deeps or skies,
Burn the fire in thine eyes?
And Blake wasn’t alone in his feeling ofawe towards this unique creature.

Tigers have long held a sense of mysticism
and intrigue for their power, solitary livestyle and courage, especially in Eastern andSouthern Asian cultures. In these cultures,tigers are often depicted as guardians thatwill protect against evil spirits and bringgood luck.
In modern Western cultures, tigers haveoften made their appearance in literatureand film. Rudyard Kipling featured Shere
Khan, a somewhat unsavory character, in
his famous children’s book “The JungleBook.”
Tiger is a goofy, but energetic, friend ofWinnie the Pooh in A. A. Milne’s book of thesame name.
And we can’t possibly overlook Hobbes in
the cartoon series “Calvin & Hobbes” whereHobbes, the tiger, represents six year old
Calvin’s alter ego.
We are at the start of
the “Year of the Tiger.”Will the tiger bring goodluck and protection fromthe evils now inflicting ourworld?

NET LESSONS: Too busy to come to CROSSROADS?
…. Try our lessons on the net!
Here’s Blake’s “tyger” poem with an audio recording:https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43687/thetyger

Joshua Says: This year is a new start in so many ways, not just a calendar New
Year. We’ve successfully moved into, and have already started teaching in, our newbuilding and, I believe, we’ve even upgraded our facilities and services as a result of
this move. Our new school looks and feels different while, at the same time,familiar. One difference is the view – much better! I hope our students and theirfriends will take advantage of this and freely use our “open house” much more.
Junko Says: We are going to feature a series of BBC documentaries from2021 and 2022 on our TV in the Open House. These series will include history,
the universe, math, science, UFO’s, nature and animals and full episodes of“Our Planet”, etc. We hope you will enjoy these programs. Also, we’d like toshow the programs you’d like to share with other students and we’ll takerequests for the programs you’d like to watch, so please contribute your ideas!
Marek Says: The climate change results in many weather phenomena
appearing in the most unlikely places in the world and now they become more
frequent and put the climate crisis in a much more grounded perspective. Oneof the latest weather anomalies was a snowfall in the Sahara, the biggest
desert in Africa. The first ever recorded snowfall occurred in 1979, but since2016 this weather event occurs almost every year.
Mandcy dit: "C'est le début de l'année 2022. Je vous souhaite à tous une bonne
année et une santé. Prenez bien soin de vous!! Avez-vous aussi pris desrésolutions? Allez-vous faire plus de sport? Manger moins de gâteaux? Ou bienétudier plus? Personnellement, j ai décidé d'être très relax cette année et depasser le permis de voiture automatique. Cachez vos grands-mères et vos enfantsquand je sors la voiture. Vous êtes prévenue! Encore une belle année ensemble. "1ACROSS
2 fascinating, interesting, curious
5 a belief beyond ordinary
understanding
6 preferring to be alone
6
11 represented in a drawing or in words
12 foolish
14 protectors
15 part of a poem
16 fail to notice
17 unacceptable, displeasing
11
19 outstanding, one-of-a-kindDOWN
1 a general conscious awareness2 causing harm
3 (two words) another versionof oneself
4 a distinctive period of time
16
7 disorder, lack of clear thought
8 cause to remain in place
9 showing no fear1910 frightening
13 highlighted, given prominence
18 a great feeling of wonder or admiration

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(print version here)

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The first half of these common proverbs is listed on the left andthe proverb is completed in the list on the right. See if you canlink the two halves of each proverb correctly.
He who pays the piper

are soon parted

Empty vessels makeits weakest link

Many hands

the most noise

Absence makeschange its spots

A poor workman always

good news

No news isblames his tools

Where there’s a will

without breaking eggs

A chain is only as strong as

make light work

You can take a horse to water

but you can’t make it drink

Fools rush inthere’s a way

You can’t put new wine

never boils

You can’t make an omelette

into old bottles

A fool and his money

calls the tune

A watched pot

where angels fear to tread

A leopard can’t

the heart grow stronger

P H E N O M E N O NQ
D E C I D U O U SI
P R E S E R V A T I O NSAH
P A L E T T EREI M M I N E N T
S
E N T I C I N GNSHTOKSNENEU N D E R G O E SP R O M I N E N T
EETRNRIIH U EVS P E C T A C L E SR
R E A R SLNAD E F O L I A T E DTYSES U B D U E D

Last Month’s Puzzle Solution
ACROSS
1 a remarkable development
3 plants that shed foliage
4 protection from loss or damage
6 something to mix colors on
7 close in time
10 highly attractive
13 having the experience of15 most noticeable
16 tone, tinge, tint
17 remarkable display
18 rises up
19 lost its leaves
20 soften in tone or soundDOWN
2 being equal to
5 become smaller
8 basically, fundamentally
9 get rid of
11 use cautiously
12 foods that supply the bodywith energy
14 creates

Don’t forget… Our SPECIAL 1+1 Campaign offer! Up to 50% off!!
See our notice board, or ask Junko in our office, for the details.