M4 Listening British Council Unusual British festivals

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo k, mavo
• Leerjaar 4

What are we going to do?

- Train our ears with an online listening lesson

- Watch a video about unusual British festivals

Why are we going to do this?

- It is very important to train your listening skills.
- You need to be able to understand spoken English in order to be able to communicate in real-life situations

Unusual British festivals

What kind of festivals do you like?

Unusual British festivals

Match the two parts of the phrase to make common festival activities. Write it down on your paper

Part one

a) follow

b) cook and eat

c) watch

d) take part in a 

e) decorate

g) dress up

Part two

1) competition

2) your house or street

3) as a special character

4) ancient traditions

5) special food

6) a firework display

True or False

Many of these festivals are actually races or competitions.

1. true
2. false

The Burning of the Clavie brings good luck for the new year.

1. true
2. false

On Shrove Tuesday in Scarborough people dance with ropes.

1. true
2. false

Cheese rolling involves running away from a big, round cheese.

1. true
2. false

Snail racing started in the UK.

1. true
2. false

The competition to pull the ugliest face is an old tradition.

1. true
2. false

The Burning of the Clocks festival marks the summer solstice. (zonnewende)

1. true
2. false

Multiple choice

The Clavie is ________.

1. a whisky container
2. a wooden cross
3. a bonfire made of things people don't need

In the Up Helly Aa festival, they burn ________.

1. a wooden man
2. a Viking boat
3. a line in the grass

During a pancake race, you have to ________.

1. eat as many pancakes as possible
2. run as fast as possible while tossing a pancake in a pan.
3. run and jump over ropes without dropping the pancake.

Nowadays, the people who win the cheese rolling competition are usually ________.

1. top athletes
2. people from the village
3. visitors from all over the world

The fastest snail in the Snail Racing is ________.

1. cooked with garlic and butter
2. rescued from the barbecue
3. given a prize of extra lettuce

Black Pudding throwing is similar to ________.

1. pancake tossing
2. Olympic sports like javelin and shotput
3. bowling

To win the best gurner competition, one man ________.

1. had all his teeth removed
2. grew a really long beard
3. had a lot of facial piercings

The Burning of the Clocks festival is ________.

1. 2 years old
2. 20 years old
3. 200 years old

After listening discussion

Would you go to any of these festivals? If so, which one? Could you come up with an idea for an unusual festival yourself?

Write a short essay about the questions above. (100 - 200 words)