English Christmas

• European and International Orientation
• English
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• Middelbare school
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English Christmas 

English Christmas

The ................ are responsible for many of the Christmas traditions enjoyed in the UK today

1. Neanderthals
2. Victorians
3. Elizabethans
4. Scots

When did Christmas become Xmas?

• The first examples of the abbreviation Xmas being used can be found in 15th century.

• The X originally represented the first letter of the Greek word Xριστóς, meaning Christ. 

The History of the Christmas Tree

Watch the video on the next slide and answer the quiz questions which follow it 

The first evergreen tree was used by an 8th Century monk to explain

1. Christmas
2. How oaks grow
3. God
4. English traditions

What decoration represented the forbidden fruit eaten by Adam and Eve?

Candles on the tree represented....

1. Light bulbs
2. Twinkling stars
3. Lanterns
4. Fires

The star on top of the tree represents the ..... star.

1. North
2. South
3. East
4. West

Why is mistletoe hung at Christmas?

• Was considered so sacred in ancient Britain that it could only be cut by druids with a golden sickle. 

• The plant was associated with peace, and people who met underneath it were forbidden from fighting, even if they were bitter enemies. 

• Homes decorated with mistletoe offered shelter and protection to anyone who entered.

In the UK, the tradition of kissing underneath the mistletoe dates back to the 1700s 

The Victorians continued the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe as it was thought to symbolise fertility and romance.

Why is holly associated with Christmas?

• The barbed leaves and red berries of the holly plant have long been identified with eternal life and protection in Great Britain.
• The red of the berries were thought to ward off witches. 
• Eventually the Church said the leaves represented Christ’s crown of thorns, and the berries His blood. 

Typical Christmas
Food

Christmas Dinner

• Normally roast turkey, roast vegetables and 'all the trimmings' which means vegetables like carrots & peas, stuffing and sometimes bacon and sausages, called pigs in blankets! It's often served with cranberry sauce and bread sauce. 

• Dessert is usually a plum pudding made of dried fruit. Also sweet are mince pies, which are not filled with meat but with mixed dried fruit.  

• People pull Christmas crackers filled with silly toys, jokes and paper hats.

Plum Pudding

Christmas 

Cracker

Turkey

Mince 

Pies

learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org

What kind of things do Fortnum & Mason (the shop in the video) sell?

1. discount goods
2. luxury goods
3. electrical goods

What’s the theme of this year’s Christmas window displays in Fortnum & Mason?

1. trees and nature
2. food and drink
3. dancing and shows

How does Paul Symes, the designer of the window displays, feel just before the displays are
revealed?

1. very proud
2. very excited
3. very nervous

When did Christmas shopping become such an important tradition in Britain?

1. two thousand years ago
2. in the Victorian era
3. within the last twenty years

What are Fortnum & Mason’s biggest-selling Christmas items?

1. Christmas hampers
2. Christmas crackers
3. Christmas trees

What’s inside Christmas hampers?

1. toys
2. flowers
3. food and drink

Are you looking forward to Christmas?
Why?

Write any new words you have learnt in this lesson.