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PHOTOCOPIABLE

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Christmas on the beach or Christmas in the snow?

Christmas is coming...

...and will soon be here. In fact, if

you’ve  been  looking  at  the  shops  you’ll
probably  be  feeling  like  it’s  been  here  for
several  months!  The  Christmas  shopping
frenzy  seems  to  start  earlier  and  earlier
each year and it may be no exaggeration to
suggest that, one year, the next Christmas
will  be  advertised  before  the  last  one  has
finished!

Christmas on the beach

There is little likelihood of a white

Christmas in 1. _________________, where
temperatures

are

around

30-40℃;

thunderstorms,  floods  and  fires  are  more
likely. Christmas is the start of the summer
holidays  for  students  and  Christmas
dinner  -  seafood  and  pasta  as  well  as
turkey  or  duck  -  is  often  eaten  on  the
beach.

Fresh flowers and fireworks

In 2. _________________ Christmas is

celebrated with fireworks and giant ‘trees’
made  of  electric  lights.  Houses  are
decorated  with  flowers  freshly  picked  in
the  garden.  Christmas  dinner  includes

turkey,

ham,

coloured rice and
vegetable

and

fruit

dishes.

Presents

are

brought by ‘Papai
Noel’ (Father Christmas) but he wears
light silk clothes because of the heat!

Elves in the attic

In 3. _________________ children believe

that  Julemanden’s  (Santa’s)  elves  live  in
the  attics  of  their  houses.  On  Christmas
Eve  children  leave  out  milk  and  rice
pudding  for  them  which,  of  course,  is  all
eaten up when the children wake up in the
morning to look at their presents.

New Year cleaning

New Year’s Day is the most important

day  of  the  year  in  4.  _________________.  On
New  Year’s  Eve  houses  are  cleaned  from
top  to  bottom  and  evil  spirits  are  driven
out  by  the  father  of  the  family  throwing
beans into the corners of the rooms.

Rollerskates and big toes

Rollerskating to church early in the

morning is one of the Christmas traditions
in  5.  _________________.  The  night  before,
children  tie  string  to  their  big  toes  and
hang  the  end  out  of  the  window;  the
rollerskaters  wake  up  any  sleeping
children with a tug on any strings they see
hanging down.

Coffee and buns

At Christmas in 6. _________________

poeple remember St. Lucia, who is
supposed to have carried food to
persecuted Christians hiding in tunnels in
the fourth century. The eldest daughter in
each family dresses in white, puts candles
in her hair and carries buns and coffee to
the family.

And everywhere...

...the Christmas shopping season starts

earlier  and  Christmas  becomes  more
commercialised with each year. Hopefully,
though,  some  of  these  wonderful
traditions  will  be  remembered  and
maintained in the years ahead.

Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year!

But what languages are
these wishes in?

Milad Majid!
Feliz Navidad!
Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah!
Melkin Yelidet Beaal!

Sretan Bozic!
Nollaig Shona Dhuit!
Sung Tan Chuk Ha!
Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan!

Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom!
Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!

PHOTOCOPIABLE

activities sheet

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Starting off

Work in small groups and discuss the questions below.

1. What do you and your family usually do at Christmas time?

2. What are the things you like best and least about Christmas?

Before you read

You’re going to read a text about Christmas traditions in different countries. How would Christmas celebrations be
different in these countries? Compare your ideas with your friends’.
Venezuela
Sweden

Brazil
Japan

Denmark
Australia.

First reading

Read the text and match the countries to the descriptions.

Vocabulary 1

Find words in the text to match to these definitions.
1. to make something look more attractive by putting something pretty on it (paragraph 3)
2. to make someone think that a particular thing is true (paragraph 1)
3. to tell the public about a product or service in order to persuade them to buy (paragraph 1)
4. to show that an event or occasion is important by doing something special or enjoyable (paragraph 3)
5. a statement or way of saying something that makes something seem better, larger etc than it really is (paragraph 1)
6. more concerned with making money from something than about its quality - used to show disapproval (paragraph 8)
7. beliefs, customs, or ways of doing something that have existed for a long time (paragraph 6)

(all definitions from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Vocabulary 2

Complete each sentence using a word or phrase from Vocabulary 1, changing the form of the word if necessary.
1. Companies use many clever tricks in their ____________________ to try to make you buy their products.
2. The results ____________________ that I needed to work harder.
3. Don’t ____________________. It’s not so bad.
4. It’s a ____________________ in my family to visit our grandparents every Christmas.
5. Traditional Christmas trees are ____________________ with lights and paper chains in the UK.
6. Many old customs are ____________________ these days - all about shopping and spending money.
7. We usually ____________________ my birthday by going out for a meal with our friends.

PHOTOCOPIABLE

activities sheet

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Vocabulary 3

Complete the table with the appropriate form of each word. Mark the stress for each word.

VERB

NOUN

ADJECTIVE

advertise

suggest

exaggeration

celebrated

decorated

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tradition

commercialised

Speaking

Here are some quotations about Christmas. Do any of them seem clever? Funny? Stupid? Do you agree with any of them? Work in
small groups to discuss the quotes.

1. “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." (Larry Wilde)

2. "Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind." (Mary Ellen Chase)

3. "From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it." (Katharine Whitehorn)

4. “Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” (Victor Borge)

Has Christmas become too commercialised? Try to think of concrete examples to support your point of view.

Traditions in the UK

Unscramble the letters to find the correct word or phrase.

1. TTOISEMEL is a plant which is hung from the ceiling; if you walk under it you should kiss.

2. YLHOL is a plant traditionally associated with Christmas and used to decorate homes.

3. KYEUTR is the main part of a traditional Christmas dinner.

4. LRCAOS are traditionally sung at Christmas time.

5. LHUROPD is the name of Father Christmas’ lead reindeer.

6. DOXYAGIBN is the name of the day after Christmas Day.

Project work

Prepare a poster introducing your country’s Christmas traditions to a visitor. Think about the following:

food

drink

music

places to go

decorations

Christmas symbols

Think about the design of your poster before you create it. When it is finished, present the poster to the class.

Document Outline