CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN

Some days before Christmas the English people send Christmas cards to friends and relatives, 

They also  decorate their houses with:

- Holly which is the symbol of Jesus Christ’s Crown with the blood  (the red berry)

-Mistletoe which is the symbol of peace. it’s custom to kiss under it.

- A Christmas tree.  In 1840, Prince Albert introduced this German tradition and Queen Victoria decorated it. Then this fashion was copied by other members of the aristocracy and it passed to the USA.Every year the people of  Norway send a big Christmas tree as a gift to the English since 1947. 

 -The crib(Presepe) is popular in churches or schools 

It is tradition to prepare the  “Christmas Pudding” one month before Christmas and all the family takes part in its preparation .

Christmas Eve (24 December) 

Kids hang up the “Christmas stocking” to the fireplace or on their beds.They wait for Father Christmas bringing them gifts. 

People like singing “Carols”(special religious songs)And collect money for charity associations. People go shopping and buy Christmas presents.

Christmas day (25 December) 

 The English have a big Christmas dinner: It consists of roast turkey with potatoes, vegetables, brussel sprouts and “plum pudding” (the Christmas cake) or mince pies. 

They also pull Christmas crackers which contain a party hat, a joke or a motto and a gift. 

On 25 December in the afternoon people sit down and watch the Queen's speech on tv. 

Boxing Day (26 December) 

 It is called boxing day because in this day many people receive boxes with a gift, for example the postman, the milkman, the newspaper man and also in shops or churches there are boxes for poor people.  

On Boxing day children go to to the theatre and watch Pantomimes, plays for children . They start eating mince pies until the twelfth night (6 January). 

Twelfth night (6 January) 

All decorations are removed because it is unlucky to remove them before or later. 

AMERICAN TRADITIONS FOR CHRISTMAS

The modern, more commercial­ized Christmas began to emerge in the 19th century, with the 
new custom of purchasing gifts for young children. Seasonal “Christmas shopping” began to 
assume economic importance.

Other Christmas traditions simi­larly began during the 19th cen­tury. Santa Claus — derived from the Dutch Sinter Klaas and the German Saint Nicholas — assumed the persona of a jolly dispenser of gifts and pilot of a reindeer­drawn sleigh through such works as the 1823 poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore and an 1863 portrait by illustra­tor Thomas Nast in the magazine Harper’s Weekly. It is known now as The Night Before Christmas.

Christmas trees are believed to date back to Martin Luther, the 16th century German cleric. 
According to legend, Luther brought home to his children a fir tree one Christmas Eve to remind them of the wonders of God’s cre­ation. The custom spread to Britain and the United States in the 19th century. Today, many Americans either purchase a cut, fresh ever­
green tree or a reusable aluminum and plastic model. The Christmas tree is decorated with lights and ornaments. In many families, Christmas gifts appear under the ree on the morning of December 25, deposited there by family mem­bers, or, as smaller children might believe, by Santa Claus.

Contemporary Observances with Christmas shopping vitally important to retailers, Christmas has expanded into a “season” of its own. The day after Thanksgiving 
is known as “Black Friday.” An important shopping day, it pushes some businesses into profitability for the year, or in accounting ter­minology, “in the black,” and can account for a substantial propor­tion of annual profits.

This extended Christmas sea­son, from Thanksgiving until Christmas, is about far more than 
shopping. For many Americans, it is a time of goodwill and an occa­sion for charitable work. Non­ Christian holidays celebrated at roughly the same time of year — most prominently the African­ American Kwanzaa and the Jewish Hanukkah — blend into a broader 
“holiday season.”

Christmas­themed programs such as the 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life and the animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer often appear on television. An increasing num­ber of radio stations now adjust their formats to feature Christmas music, sometimes exclusively, dur­ing the four to six weeks before December 25.

The holiday’s original religious meaning remains for many its most important element. Churches hold well­attended Christmas Eve can­dlelight or midnight services. Some include a Mass of the Nativity or a dramatization of the birth of Jesus.

As with so many aspects of U.S. culturlife, Christmas in the United States reflects the values of 
a free and diverse people.

Source : UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMS
Published December, 2011.

British Christmas Vocabulary

American Christmas Vocabulary

If you want to know more about Christmas traditions, have a look at this link.

http://www.pearsonelt.es/adventcalendar/

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!!

Good summer holidays!!

WORLD BOOK DAY

Hi again, students!

As you know, we celebrated St George's Day yesterday in Aragon and other regions in Spain and other countries. In addition, it was World Book Day. One of the reasons why we celebrate this festivity on this day is the coincidence of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare's date of death.

Today I suggest you doing the folllowing activity. It is a Webquest. First you should read Shakespeare's timeline and then answer the quizz. Just click on the following link.

Webquest

I hope you like the webquest,

Sara.

Good writings!!

Hi students!!

Thank you for such good writings these days!! I hope you learnt from other students how to write better.

Bye for now,

Sara

Intouchables

"Intouchables"  delivers one of the funniest, most honest and touching films I have ever seen.

Sy is a failed robber, going through the motions and playing the stereotypical jobless inmigrant. Cluzet is a romantic and melancholy mind trapped in a useless body. The circumstances that bring them together are too funny to spoil here, but they meet , and a strange relationship quickly blossoms as they bring out the best in each other.

The film's simplicity is delightfully misleading: the script is a masterpiece of comedy writing, and however good the rest of the cast is, the central duo is magical. Sy's comic timing will have you in stitches, but it is his honesty and vulnerability that make you fall in love with the character. Cluzet isn't your typical sad-sack, instead, much of the finest pleasures in the film consist in watching him use his keen mind to mess with the world around him (a subplot about an abstract painting really takes the biscuit, you'll know it when you see it).

This is one of the most unique, beautiful and honest friendships ever committed to film. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry... a delightful celebration of everything in life that makes it worthwhile.

                                                                                  V-DM Review

St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day                                

On 17th March, Irish people celebrate St. Patrick's Day. It is a well-known celebration around the world, not only in Ireland.

Some parades take place in the USA such as in New York City. You can watch a video and see this parade.

New York's parade

Even in some European countries, Irish communities celebrate this festivity. For instance, you can see some Irish typical clothes in Irish pubs in Europe.

Who was St. Patrick? 

St. Patrick was the first bishop to arrive to Ireland in order to christianize it in the fourth century A.D.

When he was about 16, he was captured from Wales by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family.

After entering the Church, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he worked.

By the seventh century, he had come to be revered as the patron saint of Ireland.

You can watch the following video to learn more about his history :

Origins


How do they celebrate St. Patrick's?

You can visit the following website

St Patrick's Day 2012


Other traditions include greening some rivers such as Chicago's river. You can see an example in the following website.

Green Chicago River


 

 Some other icons related to Ireland are :

Let's finish with some Irish blessings on St Patrick's Day:

 

Pancake Day

What is Pancake Day?

Pancake Day is the last day before Lent and is also known as Shrove Tuesday. Pancakes are traditionally eaten on this day to use up the eggs and fat which were not eaten during the fasting period.

Why are pancakes eaten on Pancake Day?
Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving thins up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last time to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.

 When is Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day)?
Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday and is therefore the final day before the beginning of Lent, a Christian festival leading up to Easter Sunday. Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year and falls between 3 February and 9 March.
 In 2012 Pancake Day was 21 February
 In 2013 Pancake Day will be 12 February 


 Why do Christians call the day “Shrove Tuesday”?
The name Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess. On Shrove Tuesday, in the Middle Ages, people used to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began.

 What happens on Pancake Day in England?

On that day it is traditional to eat pancakes, toss pancakes and take part in pancake races. A Great Pancake Race takes place on Pancake day each year in London on Tower Hill Terrace, in front of the church of All Hallows by the Tower. This is a great fun event and is mirrored in thousands of smaller pancake races around the globe.




Watch this video!!!!!!