Hello there. Did you have a look at my ranking about the best Christmas carols ?. Now, let's do some exercises. You can listen to the songs and practise your listening skill at the same time. Listen to these Christmas carols, watch the Christmas videos and do the self-correctable questionnaires. Then, you can share your results if you like. I hope you like them!
This first one is the carol White Christmas sung by Michael Bublé. Here you can listen to another Christmas carol about the most famous reindeer. Remember to do the questionnaire. Enjoy !
Here you do a questionnaire about one of my favourite (and widely known) Christmas carol. !
Here you have a Christmas carol that perfectly summarizes the Christmas season and the mobile phone addiction. It includes a questionnaire to test your English level. I hope you like it !
How is your Christmas season going ? Are you eating tons and tons of food and arguing with your family ? I hope so ! Those are the best Christmas traditions ! Now I am writing posts about Christmas. In my last post, you could get to know about the different Christmas traditions in the US, the UK and Spain. Now, to sugar-coat your Christmas, I thought to write a blog about the best Christmas carols for me. I hope you appreciate it and sing them with your family :
10. Silent night : In the past, Christmas carols had a slow pace and a solemn rhythm. This is why I like this song. Enjoy it :
9. Jingle Bells : One of the most traditional ones. Its joy music makes us hum it and hum it again :
8. White Christmas : This Christmas carol reminds me of the snow. This year, it does not make any sense, though. Anyway, enjoy it :
7. So This is Christmas (John Lennon): This carol sung by John Lennon oozes Christmas happiness and peace.
6. Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart : Another yet very famous modern carol.
5. Text me Merry Christmas : A modern Christmas carol about what Christmas is unfortunately becoming. Children and teenagers hooked on their mobile phones instead of enjoying Christmas fully. In this link, you can sing it and see a good animation
4. Santa Claus is Coming to Town : A short, catchy town about one of our favourite present-bringer characters.
3. Merry Christmas (I don't Want to Fight Tonight) by the Ramones : At least, some rock in this list ! Listen to the song in video one and become familiar with the rhythm. Then sing it using video 2.
2. All I Want for Christmas is You : Who on Earth doesn't know this song ? It has everything a good Christmas carol must have. On top of that, it is sung by Mariah Carey.
1. Christmas in Killarney : Top 1 in my list, an Irish carol. Why do I like it ? Well, it is different from all the rest of carols and it reminds me of my stay in Ireland. Plus, if you sing it too much you end up like the folks in the second video. Don't miss the second video, please!
BONUS : Here you have some other famous Christmas carols which, despite not being in my list, are also jolly and singable. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer :
Silver Bells
Oh, Christmas Tree
12 days of Christmas : A good carol to exercise your memory. Let's listen to it :
I Believe in Father Christmas
Christmas is All Around
Let it Snow
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Did you enjoy my selection of carols ? Do you agree with my ranking ? You know, it's Christmas, so know what you have to do is to sing them over and over again. You can also do some exercises. Just like the last Christmas carol in my bonus says, merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Can you hear the bells and see the lights ? Yes, finally Christmas has arrived in town. What a better opportunity to write about the Christmas traditions in different countries ? Let's begin:
1. Christmas dinner :
a) The UK : the typical dinner consists of roast turkey (or goose) with gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing or dressing, brussel sprouts, roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in bacon, among other things.
b) United States : In America, people usually have roast turkey (or roast goose, or baked ham), gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing or dressing made of bread, yams or sweet potato and green beans.
c) Spain : In Spain, people usually have cold cuts (or cold meats) as a starter. Others prefer some hot seafood soup. After this, people will have some langoustines with mayonnaise. Then, roast pork or lamb casserole are popular. Some people prefer fish.
2. After dinner :
In the United States, Christmas treats are popular after dinner. People usually have fruit cake, pumpkin pie or Pecan pie as well. In the UK, the Christmas pudding is a common 'dessert' filled with nuts and alcohol, whereas in Spain we have different types of sweets and pastries, including nougat, sugared almonds (peladillas), shortbreads (polvorones), and marzipans. We also have nuts.
America England
Spain
In the UK, just before the dinner, families will come together to crack their Christmas crackers. Christmas crackers are filled with a paper hat that must be worn after the dinner and a bad joke.
3. Drinks
Eggnog is a very popular drink both in the UK and America. It is a drink consisting of milk, cream, whipped eggs, sugar and spirits. It is usually homemade but you can buy cartons in supermarkets and stores. In the UK, and in other countries such as Germany, they have a very curious drink, mulled wine (it's hot wine with spices).
In Spain, we tend to drink champagne or sparkling wine or other spirits.
UK / USA Spain
Mulled wine (the UK)
4. Presents :
In the UK, it is Father Christmas who brings children some presents on Christmas Eve. Children usually write letters to Father Christmas but they do not send them. They toss them into the fireplace.
Father Christmas and his elves will prepare the presents and then he will transport them in his sleigh pulled by reindeer. Father Christmas will get into the houses through the chimney and will deposit the presents under the Christmas tree. In addition, he will fill in the stockings next to your bed with small presents. What do children leave for Father Christmas ? Well, some brandy (because he is thirsty) and mince pie.
In the United States, it is Santa Claus (Santa or Saint Nick) the person in charge of the Christmas gifts. Here children usually write the letters and post them or email them to the North Pole. In the past, Santa Claus was dressed in green. It was the Coca-Cola advertisement that changed him into red.
Santa will place the presents under the Christmas tree (next to other presents bought by the rest of the members in the family) and will fill in the stockings placed by the fireplace with presents. What do people children leave for Santa Claus ? Some milk and cookies, of course.
In Spain, it is the Three Wise Men (or the Magi): Melchior, Gaspar and Balthazar, the Kings of Orient, who bring the presents to the children. They do not use a sleigh to transport them. They transport them in camels. They will place them under the Christmas tree (next to the people's shoes). We have no stockings.In Spain, Santa has become popular as well. Some children open their presents twice: on the twenty-fifth of December (Santa Claus), and on the Twelfth Night after Christmas, 5th January (The Three Wise Men). The Three Wise Men are starving, so people often leave them some milk and cookies and some sweets and some water for the camels.
However, there are some similarities: in the three countries, the presents are left under the Christmas tree and naughty children receive a piece of coal (although in Spain, the Three Wise Men sometimes use sweet coal instead of a real piece of coal:
5. Decorations :
In all these countries, the houses, the streets and the stores are decorated. What are the typical Christmas decorations ? Well, the Christmas lights, bells, snowmen, snowflakes, angels, wreathes of holly on the doors and some mistletoe over the doorway (you know two people under the mistletoe must kiss, right ?). However, there are some differences between Spain and the English-speaking countries. Normally, in the UK and the United States, people like buying real trees or even going to cut-your-own-tree farms. They will cut part of a pine tree and take them home. Some shopping centres will often have enormous Christmas trees. In addition, people's houses usually glisten with so many Christmas lights, more than in Spain. However, in Spain, people often buy fake plastic trees. I guess we are less original, aren't we ?
Nevertheless, in Spain we have quite original ornaments : nativity scenes. Houses are often decorated with nativity scenes of all types, with a lot of realistic figures depicting the birth of baby Jesus. You can also see nativity scenes in squares, museums, churches... It's an elements that clearly defines our Christmas.
In the UK, people are superstitious : they must remove the tree and all decorations before the Twelfth Night (5th January), while in America some Christmas decorations may remain until...summer!
6. TV
- In the UK, people usually watch Christmas movies or special Christmas episodes of TV series. One of the most popular TV series during Christmas is Downton Abbey and this Christmas, people will surely watch the Christmas special of Sherlock.
- In America, Christmas movies are very popular, in special, Frosty the Snowman or A Christmas Carol. People also watch American football on TV (yes, football never comes to an end, I imagine).
- In Spain, however, things are different. Viewers prefer variety shows with music, jokes and comedy. One of the most popular programmes is the Christmas special of La Hora de José Mota. We also like to celebrate the end of the year. Every New Year's Eve, to say goodbye to the year, we watch TV with our favourite presenters and at midnight, we eat twelve grapes : one grape for each chime of the clock in Puerta del Sol, in Madrid. If we eat the twelve grapes, it will mean we will be lucky that year.
7. Important dates
a) In the UK: 24th December (Christmas Eve): It's the day when families come together, they have dinner and all the presents are put under the tree. At night, Father Christmas will leave presents under the tree and inside the stockings. The presents will be opened on Christmas Day (25th December). The next day, it is Boxing Day (26th December). It is a bank holiday and shops and stores offer dramatic discounts, so most people spend this day shopping ! The last day of the year, New Year's Eve, is also important. There is an impressive fireworks display. The next day, New Year's Day is the beginning of the year. Finally, The Twelfth Night (5th January) is the day to remove all Christmas decorations to avoid bad luck.
b) In the United States, the dates are more or less the same as in England, but they don't celebrate Boxing Day and they are not superstitious, so they don't feel the need to remove all the Christmas decorations on the Twelfth Night.
c) In Spain : There are a lot of important dates at Christmas in Spain. First of all, on Christmas Eve, families come together and have a big dinner. On Christmas Day, families will have lunch together and in some houses they will receive Santa's presents. Then, 28th December is The Innocent's Day. This day is similar to April's Fools Day. People will pull pranks on other people and newspapers will publish some fake news. On New Year's Eve, families will have dinner together again. At midnight, people will eat twelve grapes, one for each chime of the clock. After this, families usually have a toast to celebrate this new year. Then, youngster will go clubbing to celebrate the first day of the year. There are special parties organized by discos where you can dance and eat everything you want. They are called 'cotillones'. People must dress smartly, pay a ticket, and they will spend the whole night at a disco, dancing, eating and drinking. On New Year's Day, some families come together again to have lunch. On January, 5th, the Twelfth Night, there is a big parade where the Three Wise Men say hello to all the children before going to all the children's houses. The Three Wise Men and their assistants throw sweets from the carriages for the children to catch them. At night, the Three Wise Men visit all the houses to leave children some presents.
On January, 6th, more known in Spain as The Day of the Three Wise Men, the children will open their presents (left next to their shoes). That day, families come together to eat a traditional cake filled with cream "Roscón de Reyes". This sweet is also filled with two things : one surprise and one bean. The person finding the bean must pay the whole cake. Yummy yummy !
8. Other traditions.
In the United States and England, people will go door to door singing carols, the tradition of carolling. In the past, children did this in Spain but in exchange for money or sweets. However is a traditions that is being lost here.
So, what is your favourite Christmas tradition ? Where would you like to spend your Christmas ? No matter the tradition, remember, the most important thing is to miss your families and have a nice time. To finish this long post I include a video showing the differences between British and American Christmases. I hope you like it ! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year for you all !
As promised in my post about animal idioms (I), here is yet another post about animal idioms. For best or worst animals are the main characters of some English idioms. Here you have some other expressions using animals. I hope you appreciate them:
- Holy cow ! : It is an expression of an intense surprise. It's a euphemism for the expressions 'holy Christ', or 'Jesus Christ'.
- Monkey see monkey do : This is a expression which means that children imitate what they see. (Spanish: 'los niños son como esponjas'):
- When pigs fly : It is a way of saying that something will never happen. A similar expression is 'once in a blue moon.'. 'I'll give you 100 euros, but when pigs can fly, he he.'
- Take the bull by the horns : It means 'be brave, do what needs to be done.' For example, 'he took the bull by the horns and asked Emily out.'
- Hit the bull's eye / hit the nail on the head / nail it: To be totally right. ' He hit the bull's eye with his wonderful ideas.' (Spanish: 'dar en el clavo', 'dar en la diana.')
- In donkey's years : For a long time. 'I haven't seen you in donkey's years.'
-Like lambs to the slaughter : When a group of people do something unworried not knowing that something bad might happen. 'All the children entered the room like lambs to the slaughter, not knowing they were going to get a vaccine.'
- As meek as a lamb : Very shy, innocent and docile. 'Paul couldn't harm a fly. He is as meek as a lamb.' (Spanish: 'tan manso como un corderillo.')
- As sly as a fox : Smart, clever and naughty at the same time. 'He is as sly as a fox. He got what he wanted for Christmas in the end by asking for it to every person in the family.' (Spanish: 'astuto como un zorro.')
- To be blind as a bat : To be totally blind. (Spanish 'más ciego que un topo.')
- A big fish in a small pond : Someone very important in a small organization that wouldn't be as important is a larger organization (Spanish: 'en el país de los ciegos, el tuerto es el rey)
Well, this concludes my selection of animal idioms. I hope you will have like them all. Why don't you add more to my list ? Come on, post a comment !
Hi ! Remember my post about onomatopoeic words ? These words represented the actual sound of things. Today, I'm going to discover you something quite similar : interjections. In all the languages, we can express our feelings very quickly, loudly and clear thanks to interjections. They also help us to keep the discourse open. Interjections, as aforementioned, exist in all the languages and they are really important to actually speak the language, or, rather, to look like a native speaker of the language. They can be marked in punctuation with an exclamation mark ! Here you have some interjections classified in accordance with the sentiment or feeling they express both in English and Spanish. Enjoy ! P.S. I don't know if you've realized that I started this post with an interjection !
Interjections to open, keep or close the discourse
SPANISH
ENGLISH
Hello! Hi!
¡ Hola!
Goodbye! / Bye! / Bye
bye!
¡ Adiós!
See you / see ya
¡Hasta luego! / ¡Hasta
pronto!
Good morning!
¡Buenos días!
Good afternoon!
¡Buenas tardes!
Good evening! / Good
night!
¡Buenas noches!
Howdy! / Morning! /
Afternoon!/Evening!
¡Buenas!
Thank you!/ Thanks! /
Cheers!
¡Gracias!
Please!
¡Por favor! / ¡Porfa!
/ ¡Porfi!
Interjections linked to positive feelings (happiness,....)
ENGLISH
SPANISH
MEANING
¡Wow!
¡Guau!
Amazement
Hah! /heh! / he he/
ha ha
¡Ja ja! ¡jeje! ¡jiji!
¡Ja!
Amusement
Yes!/Yap!/Yeah!/Aye!
¡Sí!
Affirmation
Yahoo!/Yippie!/Yeah!/Great/Yay! Yee-haw!
¡Bien! / ¡Vamos!/ ¡Genial! / ¡Yupi! / ¡Yiha!
Joy
Aww! / Oh! / Aw !
¡Ohhhh!
Beauty (how sweet!)
Hurrah! / Hooray! / Huzzah! / Hurray
¡Hurra!
Joy (celebration)
Cool! /Super!
¡Guay!
Joy
Yum!
¡Ñam nañ!
Good taste
Interjections to express disgust or negative elements
ENGLISH
SPANISH
MEANING
Yuck! / yuk! Argh! / Augh! / Eww
¡Puaj!/Agh!
Disgust
Hah! /heh! / hehe/
haha
¡Ja ja! ¡jeje! ¡jiji!
¡Ja!
Amusement
No! / Nope! / Nah! /
¡No!
Negation
D’oh! / Ouch! / Yikes !
¡Aiba! / ¡Mecagoen...! / ¡Mecachis!
Joy
Oops
¡Ups!
Bad surprise
Pff! / beh! / meh!
¡Bah!
Indifference
Alas !
¡Ay! / ¡aiba!
Concern
Oh my ! / Oh my goodness ! Goodness me ! / Holy goodness!
¡Por Dios! / ¡Oh, Dios mío ! / ¡Santo cielo!
Concern/ fear
Ouch!
¡Au! / ¡aah!
Pain
Other interjections
ENGLISH
SPANISH
MEANING
Aha!
¡Ajá!
Discovery
Hmm
Mmmm....
Doubt
Oh (I see) ! / Uhuh
¡Ah! / ¡ajá!
Understanding
¡Phew!
¡Fiu! / ¡Uy!
"that was close"
Psss
¡Psss!
To call someone's attention
Shh! / Hush !
¡Shh!
Be quiet
¡Ahem!
¡Ejem!
To attract attention
Interjections with remarkable cultural differences
ENGLISH
SPANISH
MEANING
Peek-a-boo
Cucu...tras
Surprise a baby
Cheese
Patata
What people say before someone takes a picture of them.
Oh (I see) ! / Uhuh!
¡Ah! / ¡ajá!
Understanding
¡Cheers!
Chin, chin
What people say before making a toast
You are welcome ! / No problem ! / Not at all ! / Don't mention it !
De nada
After someone thanks you for something.
Bless you
Salud
What people say to you after sneezing
Did you like my selection of interjections! Here I leave a dictionary of interjections for you ! I hope you appreciate it ! Why don't you add more interjections to my list ?
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