| Making English Work / From China to Japan, via English
Learning good English pronunciation does not require native-speaking teachers, according to Yiping Cheng, 32, research manager of the Trade Marketing Group of the Online Service Group at Microsoft Co., in Tokyo. "In Shanghai's primary schools, English is treated equally with Chinese language and arithmetic. I studied English at least a few hours a week," Yiping said, explaining that all teachers of English in Shanghai schools were Chinese. "Students learn basic English pronunciation of the alphabet and simple words at primary school." Although they don't study grammar at primary school, they get English pronunciation lessons from teachers who specialize in the language. Students learn English grammar from middle school onward, just like in Japan. Yiping, who says she preferred sports to studying during her primary school days, became interested in learning English thanks to an inspirational teacher at middle school.
DIMEBAG DARRELL'S BLACK TOOTH BASH
HOLLYWOOD - Please join us at the House of Blues Hollywood to honor Dimebag Darrell Abbott and The Dimebag Darrell Art Tribute Auction to benefit The Little Kids Rock Foundation. This event is held after the induction of Dimebag Darrell Abbott to the Hollywood Guitar Center Rock Walk May 17th, 2007 .
The night will start out with ring-master Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Headbanger's Ball leading us into the 3-ring circus in honor of Dimebag Darrell Abbott and his induction. Jasta opens the night with introducing to the masses the L.A Chapter of the Little Kids Rock. The kids will rock out and show you how a little love from us can help change the lives of these gifted kids that would not normally have the chance to learn and play instruments.
Jasta will then head up the now famed BLACK TOOTH BASH.
SEPULTURA Guitarist KISSER To Play Two Gigs With His 'First Band ...
"I'm going to do two gigs with old time friends, my first band ever, ESFINGE (SPHINX). We started in 1983, we all studied in the same school and had the same musical taste. We played from TWISTED SISTER to VENOM. It was a great way to learn the guitar and we had a great deal of fun. We performed everywhere, birthday parties, schools, carwash parties, etc....great memories."
SEPULTURA recently finished filming the second video from their "Dante XXI" album, for the song "Ostia". The clip was shot on March 3 at a studio in São Paulo prior to the band's departure for their European tour. During the following week, the video crew and the main actor shot the outdoor scenes in downtown São Paulo. The script, which adapts the story from the book "The Divine Comedy" to the modern days, was directed by Geraldo Moraes.
Minal was a quiet, focussed and sensitive girl: teachers
MUMBAI: Teachers remembered Minal Panchal, the 26-year-old who died in the Virginia Tech shooting on Monday, as a quiet, focussed and sensitive girl. Her friends spoke of her as a laidback, cheerful, out-of-the-box thinking person. A prayer and condolence meeting for Minal Panchal was held at the Rizvi College in Mumbai on Thursday. At the memorial service organised by the Rizvi College of Architecture (RCA), located in the western suburb of Bandra, where Minal graduated in Architecture in 2003, around 300 people had gathered to pay respects. Minal Panchal, a resident of Mumbai's western suburb Borivili, had left for Virginia Tech to pursue a Masters degree in Advance Building Programme in August 2006. She was one of the 32 victims in the shooting carried out by a South Korean student.
Guitar Hero II can be riff riot
In publishing the Guitar Hero series, Activision has legitimized faux jamming and made it about a hojillion times more fun than strumming air. The series has finally made its way to the powerful Xbox 360 with a slew of new songs, a fancy-schmancy new X-Plorer guitar controller and the promise of much more downloadable content to come via the online Xbox Live service. I've heard these phrases muttered recently in reference to Guitar Hero II (muttered by folks who didn't get past Nirvana's "Heart Shaped Box" on Easy mode, by the way): "Why not get a real guitar and learn to play for real?" "Every skill can be trivialized." But I submit that mastering GHII can improve your guitar skills. In fact, learning some of the more complex riffs possible on a real guitar might actually be easier than flowing through the rapid successions of notes thrown at you in GHII's Expert mode.
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