Jainism

2 Jainism - Paul Nation
Like Buddhism, Jainism began in India. However, while Buddhism went to other countries, Jainism never moved from India. Jainism is not widely known now but it was very important in the history of India.
The greatest teacher of Jainism lived at the same time as Buddha. His name was Mahavira and he came from a strong and rich family. When he was thirty years old, he left his home. He travelled for twelve years and then began teaching. He taught his ideas to his followers for thirty years until his death at the age of 72. The place of his death is important for his followers.
For almost one hundred years after Mahavira died, Jainism was not very important. Then a famous king became a follower of Jainism. At this time Jainism broke into two parts. It happened like this. One leader wanted to leave the north of India where there was not enough food and people were hungry. A big group of people went with him but many others did not follow him. Later, when some of the people came back to the north of India from the south, they found changes. Followers of Jainism had not worn clothes in the past but now many of them were wearing white clothes. The two groups still believed in the same things but they lived in different ways.
For the followers of Jainism everything has a life. Animals, trees, flowers, water and stones all have lives. Every part of the world is alive. Each life wants to be free from its body but until it is free, it is born again and again. If it wants to be free it must do good things and not hurt anything else.
This is difficult so a Jain must do things carefully. If a person walks on a bee and kills it, this is very bad. Water and earth each have a life so drinking water and walking on earth hurt them. A true follower of Jainism eats and drinks but does not kill the plants. Other people kill them. Water must be very clean before Jains will drink it because they do not want to kill anything in the water. Jains cover their faces with a piece of cloth because they do not want to hurt the wind or air when they take it into their bodies. They do not run or hit their feet on the ground. They live very carefully and think before they do anything.
Some lives are more important than other lives. All living things are put into five groups. The highest group is people, gods and some animals like horses, cows, and snakes. The second group cannot hear things. Bees are in this group. The third group cannot see or hear. The next group cannot hear, see, or smell things. Some of the things in this group live in the sea or in the ground. The last group is the biggest. They can only feel things. Plants, earth, water, air, stones, fire and wind are in this group. It is very bad to hurt things in the highest group. It is not as bad to hurt things in the lowest group, but it is still bad. The followers of Jainism do not like to hurt things at all.
Write the time and then answer the questions. 

Life in the South Pacific Islands

1 Life in the South Pacific Islands   (Paul Nation)

The Pacific is the largest ocean in the world and has more than 5,000 islands. These islands make up many different countries but together they are called the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Islands are always warm and the weather is the same for most of the year. Between the months of April and November there is less rain and there is some cool wind but the weather is still warm. The people of the Pacific Islands came from Asia a long time ago. We know this because a few of the words in their many different languages are the same as words in Asian languages. 

In the following story we can see how life was in a Pacific Island village many years ago. Today, many places in the Pacific have changed but it is good to look back to see how life was in the old days. 

A day in the life of a Pacific Island village. 

The life of the village begins when the sun comes up. The shouts of the young men are heard among the trees. They call to one another as they go to their work. As the sun begins to shine on the soft brown roofs and the tall thin trees, birds call and the noise of the sea is mixed with the noise of the village. Babies cry and little children roll out of their beds and walk down to the sea to wash their faces. Older children get ready and go to find their friends to go fishing. The whole village opens its eyes and goes towards the sea. 

Some of the men get ready to take the boats out fishing. Through the village a noise calling the young men together is heard. They come from all parts of the village. Some go with their digging sticks to work in the village garden. Others work in their own gardens. Little children are too hungry to wait for the first meal of the day so they eat food left over from the day before. Women carry washing to the river at the far end of the village while the older girls go fishing or make cloth. 

In the houses the older women and the mothers with young babies sit and talk about the day. The old men sit by themselves rolling leaves to make rope. Some families are already hard at work cooking the food which has been brought from the village gardens. Children are running backwards and forwards, carrying water. They get leaves to put the food in before it is cooked. 

At twelve o'clock the ground burns the feet of the little children and they run into the houses. Some of the women carry leaves to keep the sun away from their faces. Everything is quiet and as the sun slowly moves towards the sea, someone shouts out 'a boat'. The men bring their boats out of the sea and on to the land. They are tired because the day has been hot. The fish are put on the floor, or in front of the houses until the women pour water on them. The men come home from the gardens. They go together to a big house to drink and talk and then everyone eats the food that the women have made. The day is almost finished. 

Write the time and then answer the questions. 

lost

short

Your own voice

Learning English is very important in the Japanese university system.

But you know,  in a large class it is difficult.  

So,  What is the goal?  Why does Japanese society feel it is so important?   Is it important to you?  This is a discussion question.   There are so many different answers to consider.
Each answer is important.  

Of course  reading is enough for most people.   And you can have an opinion about what you read.

But what about discussion?
Discussion is not the same as a short conversation. It is not reading.  

Discussion is finding your opinion and checking what other people think.   This gives your own opinion balance.  

Discussion in any situation means you have a  live  voice.  Not your teacher's voice,  your own personal opinion.

In Japan,  the style of discussion is different.   People listen,  agree,  try to keep harmony.   They want to follow the leader.   There are important social rules.  

But learn ing a different style of communication can only make you  a more flexible person.    No one style is best.   Just different.  

In Japan Social change is not so important so discussion is not highly valued.

Gossip questions

Gossip questions

1.  What word means 'having conversations about other people's private lives?

2.  How old are "pre-teens'?

3.  How much of pre-teens conversation was gossip?

4.  What did girl's mainly gossip about?

5.  Who did boys most often gossip with?

6. In general, when you were in junior high and high school,  what types of things did you talk about with your friends?

7, Nowadays,  what types of things do you talk about with your friends?

gossip

Gossiping

Gossiping - student A


This article is about gossiping. Do you understand what "gossip" means? In conversations, when people sometimes talk about other people's private lives, it is called gossiping. We often imagine older women telling gossip to each other; in other words, they tell personal information about other people. 

Gossiping - student B
 

Researchers analyzed girls and boys between the ages of 9 and 12 in order to learn if they gossip and what they gossip about. By the way, children between 9 and 12 are called 'pre-teens.' The researchers found that pre-teens spend 50% of the conversation time gossiping.

Gossiping - student C



Girls often talk about boys that they were in love with. They also talked about boys other girls loved. Boys, other the other hand, rarely talked about girls that they loved. But they did talk about girls in general.

Gossiping - part D


There was some interesting information about pre-teens. Pairs of boys who were good friends gossiped less than boys who were not close friends. In other words, boys used gossip to become friends with someone new. Girls, on the other hand, used gossip mostly with their friends. Girls spent much more time gossiping with close friends than with girls who were just acquaintances.

It's about time!

about the story


a. What does "It's about time!" mean?

b.  What does Vittoria say to Sebastian when he asks her to marry him?

c.  What do you think of Vittoria’s decision?

d  How long does it take for the couple to tie the knot?

e  How do the newly weds feel?

about you

a.  Have you ever bought anything that cost an arm and a leg?

b.  Are you single?   Do you want to get married someday?

c. How would you deal  with a situation where your parents didn't want you to marry?

d. Are you saving up to buy anything?  What?  

e.  Tell about a time when you finally got something you wanted after a long wait.