Merry Crimbo :)

As a rule I don’t do Christmas stuff – in private language schools the students (or their parents) pay to learn English, not to waste time 🙂

However, a student of mine (thx Paweł!) showed me this video and it actually inspired me to bring my students at least one Christmas-related activity – and with Christmas approaching, I thought I may share it on my blog. Enjoy Ms Siobhan Thompson:

I came up with some ideas matching different language proficiency – unfortunately, beginning with pre-intermediate level, I don’t really think my elementary students would understand much.

Pre-intermediate:

Show the video to the students, stopping before every element (there are 10 in total) – introduce key words (stockings, pantomime, David Hasselhoff 😉 etc.). Then, let the students think what the tradition may be and listen with them to check their ideas, explaining stuff when needed.

Intermediate:

Introduce some keywords and phrases (pull apart, cheesy prize, bread sauce), show the video twice – the first time for students to make notes on what traditions are discussed and the second time to make notes about those traditions.

Upper-intermediate and advanced:

Use this video as a regular listening exercise, asking your students to make notes about the British Christmas traditions – it may be a good introduction to a chat about cultural differences during Christmas (In my opinion mince pies are eaten only during Christmas because your stomach and liver need a full year to recover!).

Hope you’ll enjoy the activities 🙂