Vypracovala: Mgr. Katarína Matiašková
Christmas
Santa Claus with his long white beard and moustaches, white overcoat and crooked staff (zakrútená palica) is accompanied by an winged angel and horned devil (je sprevádzaný okrídleným anjelom a rohatým čertom).
Each nation keeps its own customs and traditions (zvyky a tradície). Everyone finds Christmas a holiday of calm and peace (pokoja a mieru). Shops are overfilled (preplnené) with people trying to find the most suitable gifts for their relatives (vhodné darčeky pre príbuzných).
Advent – 4 weeks before Christmas Eve (Štedrý večer)
Copper Sunday – 4th Sunday before Christmas Eve
Bronze Sunday – 3rd Sunday before Christmas Eve
Silver Sunday – 2nd Sunday before Christmas Eve
Golden Sunday – 1st Sunday before Christmas Eve
Christmas tree: a pine, a spruce, a fir (borovica, smrek, jedľa)
Huge quantity of young trees are cut down to be put in our livingroom for a week and then simply thrown away. To protect enviroment it is better to buy a nice artificial (umelý). It can be decorated by colourful glass balls, lights, candy canes (salónky), sweets, candles, sparklers (prskavky), festoons (reťaze), baubles tinsel (pozlátko).
Homes are decorated with holly, ivy and mistletoe (cezmína, brečtan a imelo) and filled with the aroma of freshly-baked Christmas sweets including vanilla rolls, sweets with nuts, almonds(mandle), peanuts (arašidy), coconuts, raisins (hrozienka), chocolate.....
We eat various (rôzne) kinds of delicious fruit:apples, oranges, bananas, tangerines (mandarínky), dates (ďatle), figs, pineapples (ananásy)...
Christmas Eve dinner (štedrovečerná večera): slices (kúsky) of the apple, waffles (oblátky) with honey and garlic, walnuts; fish/cabbage soup, fried carp/fish filets (vyprážaný kapor/rybie filety) with potato salad ...
We sing Christmas carols (vianočné koledy).
Customs related to Christmas Eve: cutting of the apple, sending of walnuts shells (orechové škrupiny) on the water....At midnight believers (veriaci) go to Midnight Church Service/Mass (polnočná omša).
New Year´s Eve (Silvester) (31st December) – the end of old and beginning of the new year
New Year´s Day (Nový rok) (1st January)
The Christmas holidays finish on 6th January when Three kings are celebrated.
Children usually have two-week winter holidays during Christmas.
Christmas in Great Britain and the USA
On Christmas Eve 24th December, homes are decorated with holly, ivy and mistletoe, Christmas tree and lights. Children hang their stockings (pančuchy/podkolienky) at the foot of the bed for Santa Claus to fill them. A lot of people spend this day shopping and there are „office parties“.
On Christmas Day 25th December (prvý sviatok vianočný), children unwrap their presents. Christmas dinner consists of filled turkey or duck and Christmas pudding.
26th December is called Boxing Day (druhý sviatok vianočný). In earlier times people gave money to postmen, milkmen, dustmen (smetiari)which they collected in their Christmas boxes.
On the New Year´s Eve people stay up till midnight to welcome New Year.
Zopakujte si:
1. Opíšte Vianoce u vás doma.
2. Opíšte Vianoce v USA alebo Veľkej Británii.
Použitá literatúra:
Chudá, J., Chudý, T.: Topics for English Conversation, Príroda, Bratislava, 2001.