Celebrations and festivities

Click here to learn some vocabulary.

Listen and do the activities.

The Edinburgh Festival

Mother's Day 

LISTENING GAP FILL

Mother's Day is an important ________________ world, even though it started in North America and Europe. Not all countries celebrate it ________________, but the most popular day is the second Sunday in May. It is, of course, a day to honour our mothers and make them ________________. A punctuation point about the day is that most countries choose the singular possessive “Mother’s Day”, with the apostrophe before the ‘s’ __________________ family honours their mother, rather than all of the world’s mothers. Young children get especially excited about Mother’s Day and put ________________ making cards and presents for their Mums, or Moms in America. For mothers, ________________ a second birthday.

Mother’s Day in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, etc. means mothers ________________ day off from housework. It is common for children to cook for their mother ________________ breakfast in bed. She also receives presents, flowers and cards. In America, Mother's Day is ________________ the year for restaurants, as children take their Mums __________________. Americans spend a lot on this day - over $2.5 billion on flowers and $70 million on Mother’s Day cards. In Sweden, people buy small plastic flowers and the money raised ________________ mothers and their children. Many people are against the idea of Mother’s Day as it is upsetting for children (and adults) who have lost their mother. ________________ for them this Mother’s Day.

Click here, check your answers and do more activities.

St. Patrick's Day

Click here to listen to some facts about St Patrick's Day (you have the photocopy with the exercises).
Try this quiz and check what you know about this festivity.
Read about St Patrick's Day here.
*Remember to look at old posts about St Patrick's Day in "Festivities".

Merry Christmas!!

Click here to see some vocabulary about Christmas.
Click here and read about Christmas in the UK.





Click here and read about Christmas traditions around the world.

Watch a video about Extreme Christmas Lighting and learn some vocabulary.

Try to complete the song All I Want for Christmas is You (it's full of Christmas symbols). 

Thanksgiving photocopy key

Click here to see an old post about Thanksgiving. You can check the listening activity about Angela here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1. Watch the video and fill in the gaps. Check your answers in 'comments'. 

We’re all familiar with the story of the first Thanksgiving when the 1._________ invited local Native Americans to share a meal with them. But we bet you didn’t know Thanksgiving didn’t become an 2.______________ until more than 200 years later.  
That first Thanksgiving in 1621 wasn’t just one big meal, it was a three day festival of eating and hunting and other 3.________________ in honour of the pilgrim’s first successful harvest. The Indians killed 5 deer as gifts for the 4._____________ so venison was definitely on the first Thanksgiving menu. But we bet you didn’t know that turkey was not. They also didn’t have pumpkin pie or potatoes, which hadn’t been introduced to New England yet. And while they may have eaten cranberries, they would have been served 5.__________, and not in a sauce or 6.__________. The pilgrims didn’t plan on starting a Thanksgiving tradition. In fact they didn’t repeat the November celebration in 7._________________ years. 
In 1789, President George Washington announced the first ever national Thanksgiving holiday, which took place on Thursday November 26th. But it didn’t become an annual tradition 8.____________ until the 19th century, that’s when an American writer named Sara Josepha Hale, most famous for writing the 9.______________ ‘Mary had a little lamb’, was inspired by a diary of pilgrim life to 10._____________ that first Thanksgiving feast, beginning in 1827, Hale 11. _____________ a nearly 30 year campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. She also published recipes for pumpkin pie, turkey, and stuffing, that probably didn’t appear on the pilgrim’s plates, but would become the 12.______________ of modern Thanksgiving meals. 
In 1863, in the 13._________ of the civil war, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the nation would celebrate Thanksgiving every year on the final Thursday in November. But did you know in 1939, President Franklin D Roosevelt decided to move the holiday up a week to give 14.______________ era retailers more time to make money during the pre-Christmas shopping season. The move was widely 15._____________, and in 1941 FDR signed a bill fixing Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November, where it stays today. 
One of the 16._______________ Thanksgiving traditions began in 1989 when President George H.W. Bush granted the first official pardon to a turkey. Every November since then, the 17._____________________________________ has given a reprieve to one or two turkeys, sending them to 18.____________________ on a farm rather than to a dinner table. Though it only began in the late 20th century, this story has become one of the more unusual chapters in the long history of Thanksgiving traditions. 

2. Black Friday
Click here to watch a lesson about Black Friday.
Another short video here.

Don't forget to look at old posts about Thanksgiving!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

VOCABULARY
Click here to see some words related to Halloween.

LISTENING ACTIVITY (check your answers in 'comments')



 Exercise 1. Watch the video and write the exact day of each celebration:
1. All Saints Day
2. Samhain
3. All Hallows
4. All Hallows' Eve
5. All Souls day
6. Halloween
Exercise 2.  Watch the video again and answer questions 1-4 . 
1. Which of the customs below are celebrated during Halloween?
a) parades b) bobbing for apples c) giving presents d) trick or treating
2. What two things did people use to do at the night of 31st October? Why did they do it? a)...................................................................................................................................................................................................
b)...................................................................................................................................................................................................
3.  What are the names of the following customs:
a) A custom during which needy people offer their prays for dead relatives in return for pastry, such as  soul cakes, is called ….................... .
b) A custom during which young people dress up and accept food, wine or money in exchange for singing , reciting poetry or telling jokes is called …......................... .
4.  Read the text and write a missing word
Halloween has become a family-friendly, kid-centred custom in ….................... . Since then it's been growing in popularity all over the world. It's estimated that on average US consumers spend round ….............. on costumes annually, and the remaining on …........................ . Making it the second most commercial holiday after …........................ .

DARK SHADOWS by Tim Burton

Click here to do another listening activity about Halloween.

'SMEE', A HORROR STORY

Listen to the story and take notes. Click here to read the story.

St Patrick's Day

Liam Neeson narrates this gorgeous tourism ad for Ireland. The actor is a big softy when it comes to St Patrick's Day. The tough-guy actor provides a heartfelt voiceover for this 60-second Discover Ireland tourism spot, waxing poetic about his homeland.

"Every year, on St. Patrick's Day, the world goes green," he begins, as landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Sydney Opera House and Paris' Moulin Rouge, all lit in emerald hues, flash by. "But here in Ireland," he continues, "every day is bathed in green."

We're treated to shots of rugged coasts, crescent hills and verdant forests, along with city scenes of bustling nightlife, shopping and parades. #GoGreen4PatricksDay is the hashtag.

If you want to learn more about St Patrick's Day, have a look at older posts in 'Festivities'.

Ten things you didn't know about Valentine's Day

Click here to learn some things about this date. There's also a video. 

Happy New Year!

1. Click here to learn some Christmas and New Year vocabulary.

2. Listen to the episode and take notes. Then, show the text, listen and read.

Merry Christmas!!

Here's a Christmas song. This website is great if you love music.

Christmas decorations

Just a funny video. Do you get the play on words?

Thanksgiving

Click here to read an audiobook about The Original Thanksgiving.

Click here to listen to a report on the history of the holiday and how Americans are celebrating it. Take notes and then read the script.

*Remember to have a look at old posts about the same holiday.

WAIT UNTIL MARTIN COMES... 
 Listen to a horror story and complete it. 



BIG 'FRAID', LITTLE 'FRAID' 
Another spooky tale.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Watch this video if you want to learn more about this festivity.

Read and watch a short video about the parade in Birmingham (the third biggest one in the world).

*Remember to have a look at old posts about the same topic.

Happy Valentine's Day

A. Watch this short video about one of the legends about the history of St Valentine and answer the questions. Check your answers in 'comments'.

1. When and where did St Valentine live?
2. Why was the Roman Empire crumbling?
3. What did Emperor Claudius II believe?
4. What did the Emperor do?
5. What did the bishop do?
6. What did the bishop do during his imprisonment?
7. Why was he sentenced to death?
8. What did he do before his execution?


B. Click here to listen to a podcast about St Valentine's Day. Answer the questions and then check them in 'comments'. You can also click here (you have the complete story and some of the vocabulary).

1. How do couples show their love for each other on St Valentine's Day?
2. What has the celebration become in recent years?
3. How many roses are sold worldwide?
4. Who do some historians suggest St Valentine was?
5. When did the duke of Orleans send what is considered the first St Valentine's card?
6. How did the duke seek solace for his confinement?
7. How is it celebrated in Japan?
8. What happens in Korea on 14th April?
9. What do Internet security experts say?
10. Who sends Valentine cards to criminals?
11. What kind of criminals?
12. Can you complete the poem?

________ are red
Violets are ________ 
You've got a warrant and
We'd ________ to ________  you!

*You can learn more about this festivity having a look at older posts.

Happy New Year!

1. Listen and read a text about New Year's Day.

2. Listen and fill in the gaps of this song by ABBA.

3. New Year's Resolutions. Learn some vocabulary and watch a video about this topic. Click here to see the script.

4. Watch this funny video about New Year's Resolutions. The lyrics are below the video.

Merry Christmas!

Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving

Watch this video about the origins of Thanksgiving.



Listen to a girl called Angela talking about how Thanksgiving is celebrated in the USA and answer the questions (check your answers in 'comments').

1.    According to Angela how many holidays are there at the end of the year in the US?

2.    When do dinner preparations begin?

3.    What’s the typical menu? Main course:

Side dishes: _________  _________  , _________ , cranberry _________  , _________   _________   and _________  on the cab.

4.    What’s the most popular dessert?

5.    Where does Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade take place? Why is it mentioned?

6.    What time is dinner usually served?

7.    What do most people do in the afternoon?

8.    What do some people do on Thanksgiving Day? Why?

9.    What is ‘Black Friday’?

Happy Halloween!

EnglishCentral is a great website to help you learn English. Watch this video about the origin of Halloween. There are many things you can do to learn with it.

Reuters Video: Trick or treats as big business. Watch this video about what Americans spend on Halloween (it has the script).

Click here to see an interactive greeting card.

Visit old entries to see more things about Halloween.