Warley Woods Community (社区) Trust

    Welcome to our third news letter of the year!

    Our main activity for March is our Walk for the Woods fundraising events on Saturday, 17th March, starting any time between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We will be walking the distance between Warley Woods and Tipperary. It is indeed a long way — 80 miles. The more people that you can get sponsor you, the more money we can raise to helplook after our beautiful woodland. More information is available at ourwebsite.

    The Sunday volunteers planted two beeches and an oak last week. This was thanks to the money from the Big Tree Plant and to Lisa and Gordon Whitiker, whose friends gave money forthe big trees instead of for their wedding presents. Thanks to everyone who took part.

    There were 15 volunteersat the Oral History Training Day which was led very ably by Julia Letts. The group will be meeting again and will start to interview the local people whohave offered to tell their stories. We are happy to hear from others who would like to be interviewed about their memories of the Woods for the project. If you or anyone you know is interested, please call Viv Cole at the office. This project is financed by Heritage Lottery Fund.

    There was a huge response to the Forest Schools activities held at half term. These will be held again during the Easter holidays on the following dates: 4th April from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for over 8s. On 12th April form 10 a.m. to 12 noon, there will be a Teddy Bears' Picnic for the under 8s. All these must be booked in advance.

    Finally, don't forget the Easter Egg Roll on Bank Holiday, 9th April, staring at 11 a.m. Bring your ownhard-boiled and decorated egg to roll down the hill in the woods. The firstpast the finishing line will win a large chocolate egg! This year, due to popular demand, there will also be an Adults' Easter Egg Roll following the children's competition.

    We look forward to seeing you all soon, at one of our many events.

Do you think you could learn a language in an hour?

    We know, we know! We would expect you to be skeptical. It's ridiculous to think you can learn a language in 60 minutes. You wouldn't even get through the As in a bilingual dictionary in that amount of time! Best-case situation: in an hour, most of us could probably stuff a few words and ready-made phrases into our short-term memory (with a high likelihood of forgetting it all by the following day). Accomplishing anything more than that in one hour? Impossible. Unless…

    We posed the one-hour language challenge to four polyglots(通晓数种语言的人) who are experts on how to study languages. To keep the challenge from becoming completely impossible, we gave them a bit of a break: to learn Romanian in one hour. Why Romanian? Because it's a Romance language and shares many similarities with the languages that the polyglots already know: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese. And to make sure their hour of learning was as effective as possible, all of them were assigned a personal Romanian tutor to help coach them on their way to success.

    Although each polyglot has a different technique for picking up and remembering a new language, all four methods offer valuable insights to anyone, from casual learners to hard-core language enthusiasts.

Alex Rawlings — UK

    "I'm a bit nervous. This is probably the craziest language-learning thing I've ever done, but learning languages has always been about fun. I expect that, after this, I'll be prepared to have a simple chat over a coffee in Romanian. Is that reasonable?"

    Method: Learn the verbs first

    With only an hour until he had to start demonstrating his grasp of Romanian, Alex knew he had to start talking quickly. He chose to focus first on commonly used verbs and how to conjugate（动词变形） them. Once he had some verbs down, he could start collecting nouns from his tutor and plugging them in to make more interesting and relevant sentences.

Luca Lampariello — Italy

    "Every time I have a conversation with native speakers, it really motivates me. Human contact is really important when learning a language."

Method: Start speaking right away

    Speaking doesn't mean speaking perfectly. Speaking even a little bit is a huge confidence boost. When you can say something in a new language and people actually understand you, it's very motivating. Yes, you'll make mistakes, but you'll also learn faster than if you try to get it all perfect in your head first.

Michael Youlden — UK

    "We all speak a variety of Romance languages which I think will help us get into Romanian quickly."

Method: Write everything down

    Language learning is about recall; there's no use learning something if you don't remember it. Speaking new words aloud is very important, but so is writing them down — after all, words exist as sounds and in written form. Taking notes is a proven way to put new vocabulary and grammar into your memory. Writing supports memorizing which supports speaking... it's a cycle. Plus, you have an easy reference when you want to review what you've learned.

Matthew Youlden — UK

    "I'm going to look for the patterns and similarities with languages I already know. We won't be able to speak fluently after an hour of study, but we should be able to get by with some basic vocabulary and phrases."

Method: Look for cognates

    Cognates are words in different languages that look and sound similar and have the same meaning, due to a common origin. Almost every language combination contains cognates (even if two languages aren't seemingly related), but languages from the same language family have many more. Whichever language you are learning, identify the familiar words and then use them to anchor the new words that aren't so familiar. To use English as an example, because it's a sort of Germanic-Romance hybrid, English already has many words that cognate with German, Dutch and Swedish on one hand, and on the other hand it also has lots of words that cognate with French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and, of course, Romanian!

    Learn a language with courses designed by the experts. Start here, today!

    Pick a language to learn. German, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Swedish.

    The main hall of a 135-year old temple in Shanghai will be moved 30 meters to its north in order to create more space for visitors. Thousands of people gather and see the moving of the temple that started on Saturday.

    The Mahavira Hall, of Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple, was built in 1882. The temple in downtown Shanghai attracts more than two million visitors a year. Daily visitors can reach as high as 100,000.

    A major renovation project started in 2014. The moving of the temple started on Saturday and is set to be finished in two weeks. The main hall of the temple will be relocated 30.66 meters northward within the temple and elevated 1.05 meters.

    Master Jue Xing, abbot of the Jade Buddha Temple and vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, said moving the hall will create more space between buildings and reduce the risks of a stampede as the temple is usually tightly packed.

    Buddhist statues and relics in the hall will also be moved together with the hall, he said.

    Workers pumped cement into the foundation of the hall because the old building's foundation was rather soft, he said.

    Statues and other relics in the building were stabilized and protected with frames to avoid damage, he said.

    The moving will be carried out with the help of relic preservation experts from the Shanghai Museum, he said.

    Shanghai has had several successful projects to move old buildings, including a school in 2009 and a concert hall in 2002. On Aug. 31^st, Shanghai Concert Hall began to move 66.46 meters northward after the last concert was held in the previous location and reopened to audience two years later. The moving was recognized as a wonder of construction protection and inspired the experts of the moving of the the Mahavira Hall.

The Grand Canyon(大峡谷)Helicopter Tour

    You'll discover the natural beauty of the Grand Canyon as your helicopter flies to the west edge，passing over Lake Las Vegas，Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam．During the flight，you can listen to a recorded introduction to the Grand Canyon and its surroundings via headphones．At noon，you'll land for an unforgettable champagne picnic，3，200 feet below the edge．While you share a bottle of champagne，your pilot and guide will be happy to answer any questions you may have．Your flight ends with a low-level pass over the famous Las Vegas Strip．On landing，a comfortable car is waiting to bring you back to your hotel．

    Each helicopter carries a maximum of 6 people including your pilot．For a roomier experience，upgrade your flight to an EC-130 helicopter which provides larger leg room and can accommodate more weight per seat．See Additional Info for details on weight restrictions．

Pricing Information

    Services included：45-minute(approx)flight each way，hotel pickup and drop-off by   limousine，lunch．

    Our price is constantly updated．Click to check pricing & availability on your preferred  travel date．

    Additional Information

    The maximum weight per passenger to ride in an A-Star helicopter is 2751bs．If passengers weigh in between 2751bs and 3001bs，you will be required to upgrade to the    EC-130．

    Pickup is available from selected Las Vegas hotels．You must contact the local travel    agency to fix your pickup time．

    All flight times are approximate and might be influenced by weather conditions．

    Traveler Review

    This is an absolute must do．The view of the Grand Canyon at his height was absolutely amazing! Our pilot was funny，knowledgeable and a great guide．All the staff from booking to check-in and helicopter departure were fantastic．I would recommend this tour to everyone．

    In 1996, someone found some very old clothes in an old mine in Nevada, USA; they included a pair of dirty old jeans. Today, those jeans are very valuable, and they are now in the Levi Strauss Archival Collection in San Francisco. The jeans, which are over 120 years old, are the oldest pair of Levi's 501 jeans in the world.

    They are almost the same as a modern pair of 501's; there are just some small differences in the detail. For instance, today's 501's have two back pockets, while the old pair just has one.

    In 1853, a young tailor from Germany, called Levi Strauss, began working in San Francisco; Levi sold thick canvas(帆布) to miners; the miners used the canvas to make tents.

    One day, a miner told Levi that he could not find trousers that were strong enough for work in the gold mines. Levi decided to make some trousers out of canvas. Very soon, he sold all the canvas trousers he had made! They were just what miners wanted.

    However, the canvas was rather heavy and stiff(坚硬的). Levi therefore began to look for a different textile(织物). Soon he found a heavy textile from France; it was denim(斜纹粗棉布). Denim was a bit lighter than canvas, but it was very strong. It was ideal for miners.

    However, original denim was almost white, and miners did not like the color! Their denim trousers got dirty as soon as they began working! Levi Strauss therefore decided to use colored denim, and he chose dark blue. In 1873, he began to make denim trousers with metal rivets(铆钉) to make them stronger. “Blue jeans” arrived!

Levi's jeans were so popular that his company got bigger and bigger. Soon, other firms were making blue jeans too. Miners liked them, but so did cowboys and other working men. Blue jeans became classic American working trousers. After the Second World War, jeans became popular all over the world. Today, blue jeans are made all over the world.

A 50- minute drive northwest of downtown Beijing, pops up a village, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} houses a shadow puppetry troupe(皮影戏剧团) and a theater, Beijing Long Zaitian Shadow Puppetry Theater. 

Shadow puppetry {#blank#}2{#/blank#}( see) as the prequel(前篇) to film and animation in China. In2011, the art landed a spot on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. 

Besides performances {#blank#}3{#/blank#}( create) by light and shadow, performers must master multiple skills as the plays combine painting, carving, opera {#blank#}4{#/blank#} literature. However, due to low income and a small market, few young people are willing {#blank#}5{#/blank#} ( learn) shadow puppetry. 

This particular troupe, however, stands out from the crowd: Average performer age is only 25. Moreover, of the 300 performers it has trained over the years, many are under 1. 4m in {#blank#}6{#/blank#} ( high). 

In 2006, Wang Xi, inheritor of Beijing Western- School Shadow Puppetry, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}( establish) the troup e in Beijing, and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} first four very short persons joined her two years later. After a four- month training, they picked up basic performance skills and started working in the theater. 

In 2021, the team designed Winter Olympics- themed shadow puppets. The puppets were gifted to foreign athletes during the Games. The troup e also staged {#blank#}9{#/blank#}( variety) plays introducing ice and snow sports through fairy tales. 

" We are lucky to have these people. They have been devoted {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the inheritance of shadow puppetry for over a decade, " Wang Xi said.