Believing in the power of sport - Nelson Mandela

The Nobel Peace Prize winner I most admire is Nelson Mandela. He was born in 1918 in South Africa. Even after the apartheid system ended, discrimination and conflict remained. He thought that supporting the rugby team, the Springboks, would bring the country together. In 1995, the Rugby World Cup was held in South Africa. In the final match against New Zealand, the Springboks won the championship with everyone in the stadium, black and white, cheering for the Springboks. This victory meant a lot to the people and was a moment when the nation felt united. This is one of the many achievements of Nelson Mandela.

Posted for Moeka

The big father of the nation

 

Nelson Mandela was a social rights activist, politician and philanthropist who became South Africa’s first Black president from 1994 to 1999, after spending 27 years in prison for political offenses. Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the tiny village of Mvezo, in Transkei, South Africa. His father was a local chief and councilor to tribal chiefs. Mandela's African name "Rolihlahla" means "troublemaker." He studied at Wesleyan College, University of London, Clarkebury Boarding Institute, University College of Fort Hare, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

At the start of his career, he believed in only peaceful and non-violent protests. In 1942 Mandela became actively involved in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress. In 1961 he led a three-day national workers strike. For this, he was arrested. He was accused of treason against the government and put in prison. He was released 27 years later, in February 1990. 

 For 18 of his 27 years in prison he was on Robben Island, which is now a very famous tourist attraction. He lived in a small cell with no bed and no plumbing. He had to work very hard breaking limestone all day. While in prison he caught tuberculosis, but he received the worst kind of treatment and medication, being a black prisoner. In prison he continued his political work, corresponding with a worldwide audience. During this time, a global movement to have him released grew. There were demonstrations and protests in many different countries and the international community became more aware of the South African government’s apartheid laws.

In 1990, the new, non-racist South African president, Frederick de Klerk, ordered Mandela’s release. Mandela was at last a free man. The symbol of opposition to the repressive South African regime was welcomed by throngs of supporters - over half a million people, in Cape Town.

In 1993, both Mandela and de Klerk, won the Noble Peace Prize. Eventually, in 1994, South Africa held its first fully democratic election which was the first-time people of all races could vote. It was also the first time Mandela had ever voted in his life. Mandela became the first black president in the country on May 10th, 1994 at the age of 77. He tried to reconcile a united South Africa. In 1996 he signed a law which guaranteed and protected the civil rights as well as protecting the freedom of speech for all minority ethnic groups, and all races. He helped South Africa become more democratic, helping to give citizens a voice.

After he had retired, he raised money through his foundation to build schools and hospitals across the country. The foundation also tried to fight poverty and HIV. Additionally, he founded an organization called “The Elders “, which was a group of world leaders who worked publicly in trying to find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.

 Mandela died on December 5, 2013 at the age 95 in Johannesburg. In South Africa. He is revered by people today as the “father of the nation”.

Teruki

A postcard...from South Africa

Dear Jim et al.

Hello! Hello! to you all from Africa!

It's winter now so a very pleasant 22 degrees C. A perfect day for the beach!

Studying hard with exams just round the corner...

I hope you are all well?

Take care, and lots of love,  Tana x

Postcard from....South Africa

Dear Jim, Yukari and all at Luna International.

Wow! It's been so busy since I got back, but not a day goes by when I don't think about you and wonder how you are doing! I'm nor happily settled in at college doing my PGCE and learning more and more about the teaching profession every day. My fellow students and teachers are all really great. Life really is what you make it. There are many troubles here but also nothing that can't be overcome! And there are many good people here working to make a difference. It's really inspiring!

Well, take care and lots of love,

Tana

New podcast episode - Misaki interviews Tana

Yes folks, the skeletons come tumbling out of Tana's closet in this exclusive 'teacher bares all' interview.


Just how much did you think you knew about our effervescent Springbok sensei?  Find the latest installment of Luna's podcast series on the easy listening page (tab above) or go directly to the podbean .


Why not subscribe, y'all, and save me boring you with updates like this :)

(By the way, I think Misaki does a terrific job, don't you?)

Your predictions

Image via Wikipedia

Here is some analysis of your expert predictions for the Football World Cup in South Africa - thank you for all your clicks!

• Group A: An amazing 45% thought France would win this group. They came bottom and only just managed to score a goal near the end. Typically ungracious guests, spoiling the host's party. They do win best comedy act of the world cup though, and made England look good by comparison.
• Group B: 60% of you chose Argentina, who have some brilliant players but an insane manager (see previous posts about him). Are they fragile at the back?
• group C: 0% selected USA, who fully deserved to go through, and should have won their game with Serbia except for inexplicable reffing. England? My observant 10 year old student explained "They're crap". Kid will go far!
• Group D: Depressingly, 75% called Germany to win. What a surprise, we (England) get to put them in their place in the next round. 12 years ago I was doing shots of Jameson's (Irish whiskey) through the penalty shoot out with Sean. Ghana is not a chocolate bar.
• Group E: Only 47% said Holland. Maybe the other 53% wanted The Netherlands? Will Japan meet 31% expectations tonight (and beat the Danes...like England did in Niigata in 2002)? I think so.  Good joke I heard today: "If Japan had a Prius up front instead of a Honda, would they be unstoppable?" Gambarre Nippon.
• Group F: 83% said Italy. They're rubbish! I'd love to see the Kiwi's get into the next round but Paraguay are too good.
• Group G: Only 61% thought Brazil would clean up in this group? Any change of heart? They're looking strong.
• Group H: The Swiss probably gave the Spaniards the wake up call they needed. 89% of you figured they'd make the last 16 as winners of this group. Chile should join them (one of my dark horses).

Next challenge is to predict who will fill the semi-final berths, to be played on July 2nd.

World Cup in Matsumoto LIVE - Sunday

And FREE - if you wear your team's colours. Non-compliance fine = 2 cans beer for the house.

Sunday 11pm at LUNA. Bring drinks & snacks & comfort blankets or whatever. Can a truly dreadful England campaign actually get into gear? Will Heskey ever be retired? Putch come to a shove, will we ever beat the Germans at anything beyond our own borders?

In my opinion, teams busting a nut like the Yanks, the Aussies & the Kiwis fully deserve to be on the bigger stage. About time the big yins of England, Italy, France, Spain, Germany got a kick in the shins.

FCE - done & dusted

Obviously, as we are in Japan, we've finished First Certificate before other parts of the world have woken up! Our candidates looked tired but satisfied, and happy that there's a decent part of the day left to enjoy - gorgeous sunshine here. Thank you Yuki & Tana for making the day go smoothly.

Second leg of our Upper Main Suite session  this month is on Tuesday in Tokyo, with FCE again; the following days we are busy with CAE and then CPE.

All papers are already on its way back to Cambridge for marking with DHL; all that is left to do now is try and keep track of how many goals we can score against the USA in South Africa :)

First round matches - World Cup schedule

Image by chooyutshing via Flickr

Here is the schedule (Japanese times) for the first round matches in the World Cup (football, the one in South Africa...)

I will be showing some of the matches on the big screen at Luna - everyone is welcome.
I will post the schedule of matches we will screen on the blog each weekend during the tournament

To get started, which countries will win their groups? Vote in the polls on the right-hand margin NOW!

Toshiya listens a minute

T

Toshiya likes his football (a lot more than he likes doing homework!) so we went to one minute listening and had a go at some listening activities focusing on Spain, who T thinks will win in South Africa next month.

After that, we did the patriotic thing and found out about Japan as well. Not as easy as we thought, but fun and educational. Bingo!

Listening practice - topical

Image by ijiwaru jimbo via Flickr

For those of you in my classes taking a break at the moment, here is something to keep your brain juices going and to get you in the mood for England's eventual success in the World Cup in South Africa next month!

Ideally, this 'time off' would actually be next month...watch all the games, late night beers & snack attacks...

Listen A Minute: Easier English Listening and Activities

There are 32 countries taking part in the finals, and there is an activity for each one. And it's free.

Stay tuned HERE for the matches we shall be screening on the big screen at Luna :) Remember to support your country (replica shirt, face paint, dye your hair etc!)

New Luna Project - our own podcast

Excellent news folks - we have started to produce our very own podcast, with original content & ideas from our students. The first podcast features an interview with Tana, about her home country (South Africa) and her feelings about Japan after two and a half years. She was interviewed by Toshiya (11), who had done his homework (see his earlier posting here) and had a long list of questions! Think you'll agree he did a really good job, and we got to learn a lot about Tana's beautiful homeland.

Please support this new venture - you can find the podcast in the right hand margin. I know it's a bit 'small', but you can subscribe right there, or go to the site hosting it (podbean.com) and 'follow' us there too.

New editions will be highlighted here as they come out and on Jim's Twitter feed ("oyajimbo"). Please be a bit patient, as Jim is famously rather an analogue kind of guy (easily baffled by new technology)!

Look forward to reading your comments & maybe joining us in the pod for a chat!

Jim

Country profile: South Africa

Image via Wikipedia

The Republic of South Africa is on the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The capital is Pretoria. It is a big country - 1,219,000 sq. km and it is the 25th biggest country in the world. It is about 3 times bigger than Japan.

It used to be the Netherland's and Britain's colony, but it became an independent country in 1948.

The languages spoken in South Africa are iZulu, Xhosa, Africaans, English and other African languages.

There are nineteen National Parks in South Africa, including Kruger N.P. & Table Mountain N.P., where you can see fur seals, buffaloes, elephants, leopards, lions, rhinoceros, and the national symbol, the Springbok.

The Republic of South Africa exports gold, chromium, antimony,coal, iron ore, managanese, nickel, phosphates, tin, uranium, gems, diamonds, platinum, copper, vanadium, salt and natural gas.

There are writers like Nadine Gardinaer & J.M. Coetzee. Of a population of 47 million, there are 5.7 million people who live in South Africa with HIV/AIDS, and the highest death rate (from HIV/AIDS) in the world.

The next FIFA World Cup will be in South Africa! Japan's first game is on June 14th, against Cameroon.

Toshiya's homework, after reading about the life (and tragic death) of Dian Fossey and the gorillas she studied, defended in Central Africa.


Listen to this episode

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency

Why does Mma Ramotswe change her mind about Mr JLB
Matekoni?
Is this a good ending for the book, do you think?

Yes, it is a good ending because, I think a book should
have some romance.
It makes the reader's heart warm.
Mma Ramotswe had had a bad experience with her previous marriage, so
she didn't want to marry again. Her husband was violent and sometime beat her. He thought she belonged to him. He treated
her like she was a slave. So she could not have any hope
about marriage. She was satisfied with her job and life.
But when she went to South Africa alone for business and her
car broke down , she realized she needed somebody's help.
Mr.JTB Matekoni is a good man and she can trust him. Even although
she rejected him once, he still loves her. He always thinks
about her and he is honest.
So she becomes to love him. I think she can be happy with
him.

Poster project - South Africa