CROSSROADSCROSSROA DS Language StudioÊs Newsletter May,May, 201
20 1 3
Nobody has ever bankrupted the casino
at Monte Carlo, but a few have “broken thebank” there. The first to do it was a British
engineer, Joseph Jagger – actually adistant relative of Sir Mick of Rolling
Stones fame - in 1875. Jagger gained apractical experience of mechanics working
in Yorkshire’s cotton manufacturingindustry. In 1873 he hired six clerks towatch and record the outcomes at all six
roulette wheels at the casino in MonteCarlo. He discovered that one particularwheel favored a certain set of numbers, so
on 7th July, 1875 he placed his first bet, on
his preferred wheel, and won! By the time
he had finished he had amassed theequivalent of over $4,000,000 in today’s
money. He went back to England, quit hisjob and retired to a life of leisure.
In 1892, Fred Gilbert wrote a song titled
The Man Who Broke the bank at Monte
Carlo, but the inspiration for this popularsong was not Joseph Jagger. The songcelebrates the exploits of another
Englishman who achieved the feat,Charles Wells.
Wells
wasa
“con-artist”
who,throughout his lifetime, had swindled anumber of investors out of large sums ofmoney. In 1891, Wells went to Monte Carlowith ₤4,000 that he had defrauded frominvestors with a bogus invention, a“musical jumping rope”. With his ₤4,000
stake, he began to place bets at theroulette wheel. Eleven hours latter, he had“broken the bank” twelve times withwinning streaks of up to 23 out of 30
successive spins of the wheel! He left
Monte Carlo a rich man. Wells returned toMonte Carlo in November later that year
and won another fortune.

In the winter of 1892, Wells
again went to Monte Carloand, again, started out ona winning streak – he broke the bank six
more times before starting to lose. In theend he lost everything, including moreinvestor funds that were supposed to be
used tofinanceanotherHenson
RecordingStudios,LA, USAof his “inventions”, afuel-saving device for steam ships.
Finally, the law caught up with Wells andhe spent many years in prison He died in
1926 in Paris. He had put his success at
Monte Carlo down to simple “luck”.
So, what does “breaking the Bank” mean,other than winning in Monte Carlo?
The term, “faire sauter la banque”(French for “blow up the bank”) was coinedby the owner of the casino in Monte Carlo atthat time, Francois Blanc. It applies when agambler wins more chips than are on thetable. Blanc wanted to advertise the exploitsof big winners like Jagger and Wells so that
more patrons would come to his casino.
Their successes actually helped the casino’sbusiness. And Gilbert’s song, inspired byWells,alsoadded toMonte
Carlo’sfame.

NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to come toCROSSROADS?....Try our lessons on the Internet!

SITE OF THE MONTH:
For history buffs, here is a site on Monte Carlo’s casino:
http://www.crapsdicecontrol.com/monte_carlo.htm

Joshua Says: This month Matthew is taking a sabbatical and istravelling around the U.S. He’ll be back for our Semester Party on the 1stof next month and refreshed and ready to help you with your studies
from June. We also have a new teacher, Dylan, joining us from thismonth. If you haven’t met him yet, come to the party and chat with him.
We have some surprises install for the party, so don’t miss it!

Junko Says: Recently I have started to watch “American Idol” again. I
really enjoy this program, along with another one called “Britain’s Gottalent”. I especially enjoy watching the contestants’ journey from theirfirst auditions to the top 5 or so. They go through a lot of changes along
the way, not only in their art, but in their lives as well. It is fascinating
to watch them grow as they strive to improve their art.

Matthew Says: Hi everyone! I am currently in America at the momentand so far I have been to L.A., San Bernardino, San Francisco, New York,Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Buffalo (Niagara Falls) and Boston. I also
saw the President of Korea in person at the Korean War memorial near
Lincoln's memorial in Washington! I will be going to Toronto, Montreal,
San Diego and back to L.A. over the next two weeks. I hope you all had agreat Golden week and I look forward to seeing you all again in June!

Dylan Says: It’s a very sad day for football fans, especially those
who support Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson has
announced his retirement as manager, ending the most successful
managerial career in football. Ferguson won 49 trophies during
his 27 years at United including 13 Premier League titles. I havebeen offered the managerial position by the club, however, due to myloyal commitments to Crossroads I have publicly declined their offer!

Arnaud Dit: Ce mois ci, c'est mon anniversaire! pour fêter ça,

j'espèrais boire une bonne bouteille de vin,avec mes amis. Chezmoi, j'ai une bouteille qui a 21 ans!!! Du vin français, bien sur.
Elle doit couter cher, surtout au Japon. Qu'en pensez-vous: jedevrais peut-être la revendre?

I have a dream of becoming a good tailor. I likesewing very much. Every day I sew something. It’s
so interesting and makes me feel happy.
I have a sewing machine, but I was thinking it’s
not enough for me and I wanted a better one.
One day my friend came to my house with his friend who said that hisfather had been a tailor for many years, but his father died three years
ago. He still had the machine his father used for many years. It was soold, but if I liked it, he could give it to me.
We went to his house right away and I saw themachine. It was sowonderful! We carried it to my house and he told me
about his father.
His father’s house was close by my old house.
We had been living close
to each other, but we didn’t know it! I often used topass in front of hishouse. His mother always decorated their window withhomemade things. I liked
looking at them, so when I passed by their houseI always looked in. I
can still remember the window of their house. Latter, I moved to another house where I have been
living for over a year now.
His father became sick, stopped working and moved to a nursing home. Later he died there. His
family moved to another place and sold the house where his father had worked. He kept the oldsewing machine in memory of his father. The sewing machine had been sleeping for a few years intheir barn. Then it came to my house here I have a big room for sewing.
I put his father’s machine by a window. When I open the window, I can see a building 25
meters from my place. It is a nursing home. And it is the same nursing home where his father had
lived!! When we noticed this, we were very surprised! We had some strange feelings about this.
I think my friend’s father loved his job, and his machine. Maybe he enjoyed making clothes and, maybe, hewanted to make more. The machine knows his mind because they worked together for many years. They had aspecial partnership. I think the machine wants to stay in the place where its owner lived and it came to me
guided by his spirit.
I am sewing many things with this old machine every day. We will become good new partners and I want
to use this machine for many years from now on, just like its old owner did.

Dylan is ournew teacher,taking overfrom Craig. He
comes from
West Walesand has taught English inThailand, Spain and Professor
Matt’sBulgaria before arriving
here
amazingin Matsuyama to teachwithexperimentus.
Dylan is a keen golfer andlikes to follow his favorite
soccer and rugby teams backin the UK.
Check out his “promo” on
our notice board for moredetails about his hometown,
or just ask him when you run
into him around the school.

Everyone is welcome to join our 1St Semester Party on Saturday, June 1st, at
8:00pm. Come and have some fun, relax and chat with your classmates andteachers. Invite all your friends to join in too!
Sample Dishes from Overseas. • Anyone can enter
the cooking
Enter the Cooking Competition!
competition! Bringan example of yourand…
• There will be
prizes for thewinners andfor the bestKaraokesinger!!

best cooking andwin a prize!!

• Our teachers will also “cook” dishes fromtheir home countries for you to try out!

● Meet your new teachers!
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.