Voice Box TV

Here is the script for episode 12, about archery, featuring Tuku, the former Mongolian champion archer:

voicebox-episode-12.doc

This week on the show, we focus on one of Mongolia’s favourite sports (no, not wrestling) and something that Mongolians have traditionally been great at: archery.

This is because our special guest is a former Mongolian archery champion, Tuku, who has competed internationally and won many medals. He’s a very interesting and skillful young man, who also introduces us to his grandfather, one of the best archery coaches in the business who is respected worldwide.

Archery is a sport with a very long and interesting history. Evidence of archery has been found as far back as 5,000 years and was probably originally used for hunting. Later, archery was primarily used for warfare, by many different nations for many years.

The bows and arrows of archery were eventually replaced by guns, but this took a very long time, because the technology of guns was not very good at first and it took a while before guns were mass produced.

Gundpowder was invented in China around 142 AD, but wasn’t used for warfare until 904 AD (about 750 years later). It was even longer before guns were used, around the 1400s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_archery

The armies of Mongolia (particularly those of Chingghis Khan) are famed for their skilled and inventive uses of archery in warfare. Mongolian archers were particularly good on horseback. They could even shoot at full gallop while riding backwards, and would time their shots to when the horse had all four hooves in the air, for a better shot.

The Mongol bow was probably the best of it’s time, because it was accurate, light and powerful, with a range of up to 500 meters. The only bow close at the time was the English long bow, but that was much bigger, so couldn’t be used on horseback.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_bow

There are some very famous stories about archers throughout history. Robin Hood is an English folk hero from Sherwood Forest, who famously stole from the rich and gave to the poor, with his band of merry men. There have been many movies and TV shows about Robin Hood (you may have seen the Disney version), with his lovely Maid Marion and his nemesis (enemy), the Sheriff of Nottingham.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_hood

Another famous archer is the 14th century Swiss folk legend of William Tell, who famously shot an apple off the top of his son’s head to save them both from execution.
There’s even an opera named after him, by the famous Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, which features the William Tell Overture, a song I’m sure you’ve all heard, even if you don’t recognise the name.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tell
Now, archery is mainly used for sport, but there are still some cultures that use archery for hunting.

There will be some new exercises very soon, so stay tuned and sorry for the wait. Look out for next week’s show, which will be about the IELTS and TOEFL tests. There should be some helpful tips.

Since episode 10 was Dave in Australia, we don’t have a script for it, so we’re skipping that and going to straight to episode 11, the music episode featuring Degi, the violinist.

voicebox-episode-11.doc

This week on the show we have a very inspirational young Mongolian who I’m sure you all know. Degi, the violinist, joins Dave and Bolor for a talk about music and life. She’s an amazing talent and a great role model for young Mongolians. We hope you enjoy the show.

We also have some exciting new learning activities on the site, with the help of some folks from US Peace Corps. They have activities for beginner, intermediate and advanced students, so download the lessons and try them out here: http://voiceboxtv.org/index.php/2007/03/22/music-show-exercises/
For the advanced students, we’d love you to send in your stories from the activity and we’ll post our favourite one right here on the VoiceBox website. Send your stories to voiceboxtv@gmail.com.

This week we have some exciting new excercises for you to try at home or in the classroom, with the kind help of the good folks at the US Peace Corps. Keeping with the musical theme of this week’s show, we have some music related exercises.
Here is the first exercise: A simple mix and match the musical instruments. You can even listen to the instructions for the exercises, by pressing the play button below each exercise link, but only do that after you have downloaded the exercise.
music-activity1.doc

music-exercises-1.mp3

The next exercise is for Beginners. Identify the objects in the picture and unscramble some words.

music-activity2_beginner.doc

music-exercise-21.mp3

music-exercises-22.mp3

In this Intermediate activity you have to identify the true and false statements and write some sentences of your own.

music-activity-int.doc

music_exercise_3.mp3

And this Advanced activity challenges you to some creative writing. Once you have completed your story and you’re happy with it, send it to us at voiceboxtv@gmail.com and we’ll put our favourite story on the website!

music-activity-advanced.doc

Good luck and we hope your studying goes well!

Once you are done, you can view the answers below, but only when you are finished.

answers.doc

This is an announcement for all the English teachers out there.

‘The Next 800 Years: TEFL in Mongolia in the 21st Century and Beyond’ - May 4th-7th, is calling for submissions for speakers and presenters.

If you are interested in participating in this special event which will help guide the future of TEFL in Mongolia, download the guidelines and proposal form below.

proposal-guidelines.doc

speaker-proposal-form.doc

Australia has many unique native plants and animals, that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. This is because Australia is a separate continent, far away from most other countries, so things evolved differently.

The most famous native Australian animals are probably the kangaroo, the koala, the wombat and the emu, but there are many others.
The kangaroo is a large marsupial, which is a kind of animal that keeps it’s young in a pouch. They have big strong tails and hop on 2 legs. They can even stand on their tails to fight.

Koalas are also marsupials, but they live in trees and eat eucalyptus leaves. They’re nice and fluffy and they look very sleepy all the time because they move so slowly. They are also surprisingly dangerous, because they have very sharp claws for holding onto trees all day.

Wombats are kind of like koalas, but on the ground. They dig burrows and sleep in them. They’re kind of like big marmots, but they’re also marsupials, so they have pouches too, but theirs are backwards, so they don’t get dirt going in there when they dig their burrows.

Emus are very much like ostriches, but can only be found in Australia. They are a large, flightless bird.

The emu and the kangaroo are the 2 animals on the Australian coat of arms. There are so many kangaroos in Australia these days that they are considered a pest in some areas and are culled for eating. Kangaroo meat is very dark red and very lean. You can also eat emu meat in Australia, but it is less common.

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_wildlife

Australia and Mongolia are very different countries in many different ways, so we thought we’d make a little comparison.

The lands of Australia and Mongolia are very different. Mongolia is 1,564,116 (one million, five hundred and sixty four thousand, one hundred and sixteen) square kilometers, whereas Australia is 7,617,903 (seven million, six hundred and seventeen thousand, nine hundred and three) sq km. Mongolia has land borders with China and Russia, whereas Australia has none, because it is an island continent. Australia’s closest neighbours are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and New Zealand.

Australia is a very flat country with very few mountains, but Mongolia has many mountains, which are much higher than Australian Mountains. The highest mountain in Australia, Mt Kosciuszku is only 2,229 (two thousand, two hundred and twenty nine) meters high, while Mongolia’s highest mountian, Nayramadlin Orgil is almost double that hight, at 4,374 (four thousand, three hundred and seventy four) m.

The population of Australia is much larger than that of Mongolia, but it is still doesn’t have many people for the size of the land. Australia has 20,264,082 (twenty million, two hundred and sixty four thousand, and eighty two) people, while Mongolia has 2,832,224 (two million, eight hundred and thirty two thousand, two hundred and twenty four) people.

A good website to find out information and statsistics about different countries is the the CIA World Factbook.

This week on the show, we have a very special episode. Dave was back in Australia for 2 weeks and while he was there, he filmed an episode of VoiceBox, to show Mongolians what Australia is like. He goes to many interesting places and even sees some native Australian animals.
He also meets some Mongolians living and studying in Australia and speaks to them about their experiences.
So tune in at 6:30pm Saturday on MNB to see Dave in Australia!

Also check out our lessons this week, where we look at some of the differences between Mongolia and Australia: http://voiceboxtv.org/index.php/2007/03/18/australia-and-mongolia-a-comparison/

And learn about some Australian wildlife: http://voiceboxtv.org/index.php/2007/03/18/australian-wildlife/

You should also check out Australia Network’s Living English website, which has some good resources for learning English.

There are many different ways to exercise and many things to keep in mind, so we’re just offering some suggestions and ideas and explaining some concepts which might help you with your fitness, and you English.

WARMING UP

Before you exercise, it’s important to warm up correctly, so you don’t hurt or injure yourself. Warming up involves getting your blood flowing and your heart rate up a bit, so your muscles are warm when you start. One of the most important ways of warming up is stretching. There are many simple stretches you can do to warm up and it’s important to stretch the right muscles, which are the main ones you’re going to use. Just remember, the more often you stretch, the easier it gets as you become more flexible.

Try some of the stretching exercises here:
http://www.netfit.co.uk/stretching.htm

SPORTS

Playing sports with your friends is the probably the most fun way of keeping fit. There are many basketball courts around Mongolia and it’s easy to meet with friends and play some basketball when the weather’s nice.
There are also many sporting clubs and organisations that you can join, which are also a good way to meet other people. I particularly enjoy playing soccer, but you can wrestle, learn martial arts, play hockey, whatever.

WALKING and HIKING

Walking and hiking are also good forms of exercise, particularly if you live somewhere with nice places to walk or mountains to climb.
Just walking to school or work every day, rather than catching a bus or taxi, is very good for your health.

Exercise will even help your English, because physical exercise helps brain function by providing more blood flow and oxygen to the brain, helping create new nerve cells and increasing chemicals in the brain.

Read more about physical exercise here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise

This article is also full of good information on how to get fit and the benefits of physical fitness, but it is rather long and technical:
http://www.hoptechno.com/book11.htm