Saint Paul's Church

Before class please read  below and prepare some questions

to ask me.

I am not a Christian, but I like the architecture and atmosphere, so when I lived in Britain I often went to churches. From 1979 to 1988 I worked in Saint Paul's Square in Birmingham. In the middle of the square was Saint Paul's church. Both the church and the square are beautiful, but moreover historically significant places. During the industrial revolution, Birmingham became Britain's most important industrial city. Saint Paul's church was the church for the first manufacturers and merchants in Birmingham. James Watt, the inventor of the steam engine and Matthew Bolton, the maker of the first modern factory had personal pews there. Compared to other European countries, at that time, Britain had relative religious freedom. Therefore scientists were not hindered by the Christian church. But in London there were many strong guilds, but at that time there were no guilds in Birmingham, therefore development was easy. Because of this Birmingham was the most influential city during the industrial revolution and maybe Saint Paul's church was the industrial revolutions spiritual home.

Before class prepare a talk about a historically significant building in Japan. 

僕はキリスト人じゃないけど、建築と雰囲気が好きなので、イギリスに住んでいた時教会によく行った。1979年から1988年までバーミンガムのSaint Paul's Squareで働いた。その広場の中でSaint Paul's教会がある。教会と広場は美しい、その上歴史的に重要な場所。バーミンガムは産業革命の時代の中でイギリスの一番大切な産業の町になった。Saint Paul's教会はバーミンガムの最初の製造者と商人の教会だった。スチームエンジンの発明者、James Wattと世界で一番最初のモダンな工場を作った人、Matthew Boltonはその教会で自分の席を持っていた。他のヨーロッパの国と比べて、その時イギリスは相対的な宗教的自由を持っていたので、科学者はキリスト教からあまり妨害されなかった。でもロンドンでは強い商業組合が多かったが、その時バーミンガムでは商業組合がなかったので、開発は簡単だった。だから、バーミンガムは産業革命の一番影響力のある町だった。たぶんSaint Paul's教会は産業革命の心の家。
John Rowan 2017

 

Anecdotes

An anecdote is a short interesting story from the past. Often about the speakers past. In this lesson we are going to practice anecdotes.

First read my anecdote below and prepare some questions to ask me about it.

In my childhood the school holidays were six weeks long. Every year, for one week, I would go to a seaside town with my family. It was always fun. For the other five weeks I was almost always free. There was very little school homework, therefore usually I did fun things with my friends. For example: riding my bike, going to the swimming pool and playing cricket. England's summer is cooler than Japan's, therefore for English people, summer is the best season. The weather was good and I was very free, so my childhood summer holidays were extremely fun. 

Now please write two anecdotes. They can be about anything in your past. They should be between 80-120 words long.

子供の頃、学校の夏休みは六週間だった。毎年家族と一緒に一週間ぐらい海辺の町に行っていた。いつもそれは楽しかった。他の五週間、私はほとんど自由だった。学校の宿題はあまりなかったので、たいてい友達と一緒に楽しい事をした。例えば、自転車に乗ったし、スイミングプールに行ったし、クリケットをやった。日本の夏よりイギリスの夏の方が涼しいので、イギリス人の場合、夏は一番いい季節です。天気が良くて凄く自由だったので、子供の頃の夏休みは非常に楽しかった。

Black Cab

Please watch the video below and answer the questions.

1. How did you feel about this video?
2. Have you ever ridden in a London taxi?
3. Do you agree that they are the best in the world?

 The Knowledge

Lots of Japanese people go to London every year and many of those ride a London cab. The London taxi is a symbol of the city, but most Japanese tourists do not know a very special thing about every black cab driver. Many people would like to become a London taxi driver, but only one out of four can pass the exam. The name of the training is "The Knowledge". All candidates have to learn every street in a six mile radius of Charring Cross station. That is 25,000 streets. Beyond this they have to remember all the shops, restaurants, hotels, schools and stations. It takes about three years to complete this. If you see someone riding a small motorbike or bicycle with a map attached to the handlebars in London, definitely they are doing "The Knowledge".  

 

 毎年たくさんの日本人はロンドンに行く。その人たちはたくさんタクシーに乗る。ロンドンの「Black cab」はロンドンの象徴だけど、たいてい日本の観光客はロンドンのタクシードライバーの特別な事を知らない。たくさんの人はロンドンタクシードライバになりたいが、四分の一だけ試験に合格する。トレーニングの名前は「The Knowledge」だ。みんなはチャリングクロス駅から半径6マイルの道全部を覚えておく必要があります。それは二万五千の道です。その上全部の店、学校、とか駅を覚えなければなりません。たいていその事は三年が要る。もしロンドンで小さなバイクと自転車に乗っている人を見て、バイクと自転車に地図が添付されていたら、絶対その人は「The Knowledge」をしている。

1. What is your opinion of the knowledge?
2. Should Kyoto taxi drivers do the same?
3. In these days of satellite navigation, does a taxi driver need to know the streets of the city they work in well?

Before class think about a job that someone does in Kyoto, that would be interesting for visitors to know about, then prepare a three minute talk.

Top Tourist Spots in London

  Below are the four most popular tourist spots in London. Before class, choose one and research it on the Internet. Then write a three minute talk about it to give to the class. Also think of some questions to ask about the other three tourist spots.

 

1: The Tower of London

 

2: Westminster Abbey

3: Kew Gardens

 

4: St Paul's Cathedral

Lifestyle

For this weeks lesson, please watch the four videos below. For each video write down three questions to ask me in class. Then choose two of the themes and make two short talks to give to the class.