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Essay

Magic keys to a treasure palace

Imagine a palace, a magnificent treasure house, full of wonders waiting to be explored. Inside the palace are hundreds of rooms. Each room is filled with treasure — gold, silver, diamonds, jewels — yet each is different with its own unique riches.

As you wander the halls of this palace, you see door after door, on your left and your right, each leading to a different treasure room. Every door looks so attractive, so inviting. Behind each one are riches beyond your imagination. Just thinking about it makes you excited. Of course, you want to enter each room!

There's only one problem. All the rooms are locked! To get into each room, you need a special key. With hundreds of rooms, that means hundreds of keys. If you have one of these magic keys, you can open a door, enter a room and all its treasure will be yours. You'll be rich! If you don't have a key, you'll be locked out, stuck in the hall with the frustration of knowing about the incredible wonders behind each door. So, where are the keys to these rooms? How can you get them?

Is this a fantasy? Not at all. Believe it or not, the palace, the treasure rooms and the magic keys are all real, just waiting to be discovered. And I can tell you how!

The palace represents the multicultural world we live in. The rooms represent the countries of the world. The treasure locked inside each room represents the riches of each nation — its values and customs, its stories and songs, its people and culture. And the keys to each room? These are the world's languages. Just as each key unlocks a different room, each language unlocks a different culture. The wealth you gain from each room represents the cultural understanding, stimulation and friendship that foreign languages bring.

Language is the key to a culture and its people. If you master French, you can enter the world of France and its people. If you know Chinese, you hold the key to China. If you acquire Arabic, you can become rich with friends from the Arab world.

Do you have to obtain a different key for each room? Do you have to learn all the world's languages to communicate with each of the world's countries? Of course not. Because there's a master key — a skeleton key — that can open almost any door. That master key is English.

The world is a palace with hundreds of treasure rooms. Language is the key that opens each room. By learning English — and other foreign languages — you gain the magic keys to enter new worlds and to enrich your life with new cultures, friends and ways of thinking.

Shukan ST: January 28, 2011

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Essay Magic keys to a treasure palace By Kip Cates Imagine a palace, a magnificent treasure house, full of wonders waiting to be explored. Inside the palace are hundreds of rooms. Each room is filled with treasure — gold, silver, diamonds, jewels — yet each is different with its own unique riches. As you wander the halls of this palace, you see door after door, on your left and your right, each leading to a different treasure room. Every door looks so attractive, so inviting. Behind each one are riches beyond your imagination. Just thinking about it makes you excited. Of course, you want to enter each room! There's only one problem. All the rooms are locked! To get into each room, you need a special key. With hundreds of rooms, that means hundreds of keys. If you have one of these magic keys, you can open a door, enter a room and all its treasure will be yours. You'll be rich! If you don't have a key, you'll be locked out, stuck in the hall with the frustration of knowing about the incredible wonders behind each door. So, where are the keys to these rooms? How can you get them? Is this a fantasy? Not at all. Believe it or not, the palace, the treasure rooms and the magic keys are all real, just waiting to be discovered. And I can tell you how! The palace represents the multicultural world we live in. The rooms represent the countries of the world. The treasure locked inside each room represents the riches of each nation — its values and customs, its stories and songs, its people and culture. And the keys to each room? These are the world's languages. Just as each key unlocks a different room, each language unlocks a different culture. The wealth you gain from each room represents the cultural understanding, stimulation and friendship that foreign languages bring. Language is the key to a culture and its people. If you master French, you can enter the world of France and its people. If you know Chinese, you hold the key to China. If you acquire Arabic, you can become rich with friends from the Arab world. Do you have to obtain a different key for each room? Do you have to learn all the world's languages to communicate with each of the world's countries? Of course not. Because there's a master key — a skeleton key — that can open almost any door. That master key is English. The world is a palace with hundreds of treasure rooms. Language is the key that opens each room. By learning English — and other foreign languages — you gain the magic keys to enter new worlds and to enrich your life with new cultures, friends and ways of thinking. Shukan ST: January 28, 2011 (C) All rights reserved