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Christmas Podcast

Intro

Hello, and welcome to our Christmas podcast for December 2008. - Music
This is a Mansion Ingles podcast from Mansioningles.com

Music

I’d like to tell you about some traditional British Christmas customs during this podcast. But before that, lets practise some vocabulary connected to Christmas and the festive season.

First of all the days and dates of the Christmas holiday which is the holiday period for about a week before and after Christmas Day. The 24th of December is Christmas Eve. The 25th of December is, of course, Christmas Day. Did you hear the word of in the 25th of December. It’s a weak sound, débil.
Listen: the 25th of December. It’s the same sound that we practised in last month’s podcast: the sound listen: this sound is also in the word the
Repeat: the 25th of December – of December - the 25th of December.
We can say the 25th of December or December the 25th . American English tends to forget the article the. So, just December 25th.
New Year's Eve is the 31st of December and New Year's Day is on the 1st of January
Repeat: the 1st of January - New Year's Day, the 31st of December - New Year's Eve
la Noche de Reyes is Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is also a famous play by Shakespeare. British people don’t normally give presents on Twelfth Night or Reyes. It isn’t really celebrated in the UK. It’s more of a Spanish festival.
Boxing day is on December the 26th. It isn’t called boxing day because there are a lot of boxing matches on TV (as I thought when I was a child), but many years ago rich people used to give their employees and servants some extra money or gifts for Christmas. And the servants had boxes for this purpose, so it became known as boxing day. There were also boxes in churches that were opened on Boxing day and the money was given to the poor. People still say today that they get a Christmas box, a sort of bonus, at Christmas time. Boxing day is a national holiday in the UK.
So, what day is December the 25th? – Christmas Day. And December the 24th? – Christmas Eve. When is New Year’s Eve? – December 31st.
What is December the 26th called? – Boxing Day.

You might see the word Christmas written X-M-A-S this is an abbreviation, a short form for Christmas. You may even hear X-mas, an informal term for Christmas

What’s the name for the old man with a red suit and a white beard who brings presents, or gifts (regalos) for children on Christmas Eve?
Father Christmas or Santa Claus or just Santa

Santa’s preferred mode of transport is his reindeer (reno is Spanish) – it’s a deer with large antlers (or cuernos), found in some cold climates. Santa’s reindeer pull his sleigh (trineo) which is full of gifts for children. The word sleigh has an unusual spelling it’s s-l-e-i-g-h. sleigh

How does Father Christmas traditionally enter a house? What’s chimenea in English? Chimney. He enters through the chimney.
Don’t confuse the words chimney and fireplace. I think it’s the same word in Spanish. The fireplace is a partly enclosed space in a house where people light a fire for warmth. The fireplace is at the bottom of the chimney. And the chimney is where the smoke (or humo) leaves the house.

Listen and repeat: Santa Claus - Santa Claus / reindeer - reindeer / antlers - antlers / sleigh - sleigh / chimney - chimney / fireplace - fireplace

A white Christmas is a Christmas with snow on the ground (not very common here in Valencia), and a snowman is a muñeco de nieve

Moving to the Christmas dinner table,
A Christmas cracker is a decorated paper tube that makes a sharp noise ("crack!") and releases a small toy and a paper hat when two people pull it apart

I think you know the English word for pavo. It’s turkey

Christmas cake is pastel de Navidad - lleva frutas, mazapán, y azúcar glas it’s a very rich and heavy cake.

Eggnog spelt E-G-G-N-O-G eggnog is a traditional Christmas drink made with milk, egg, vanilla and rum. I don’t like it, not many people do, but my Grandmother always liked a glass of eggnog at Christmas. You get the picture!

Here are some more words that you might know. Listen to the Spanish word and try to say the English translation before I do. Then repeat the English words to practise pronunciation.

una tarjeta de Navidad - a Christmas card - a Christmas card
adornos de Navidad - Christmas decorations - Christmas decorations
un villancico - Christmas carol - Christmas carol
regalo de navidad - Christmas present - Christmas present
el acebo - holly
la comida de Navidad - Christmas dinner - Christmas dinner
un calendario de Adviento - Advent calendar - Advent calendar
un pesebre - a crib – C-R-I-B, crib or a manger – M-A-N-G-E-R, manger
la misa del gallo - Midnight Mass, Midnight Mass
los Reyes Magos - the Three Kings or the Three Wise Men /wise W-I-S-E means sabio the noun is wisdom – W-I-S-D-O-M, wisdom. “I admire him for his great wisdom”
un belén in English is a nativity scene, a nativity scene (Belén in English is Bethlehem)
What’s un pastor – a shepherd, a shepherd
And finally un burro - a donkey, D-O-N-K-E-Y - donkey

OK, lets look again at the días festivos – the holidays

What was Nochebuena? - Christmas Eve
Día de navidad - Christmas Day
diciembre 26 – Boxing Day
Nochevieja - New Year's Eve
El día de año nuevo - New Year's Day
And la Noche de Reyes - Twelfth Night

Do you know the following Christmas Expressions
¡Feliz Navidad! - Happy Christmas! / Merry Christmas!
Repeat: Happy Christmas! / Merry Christmas!
¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo! - Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Repeat: Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
¿Qué te regalaron para Navidad? - What did you get for Christmas?
Repeat: get for Christmas – get for Christmas – What did you….? – What did you get for Christmas? - What did you get for Christmas?
Merry Christmas!
Happy Christmas!
Cheers! (¡salud!) Cheers!
Happy New Year!
Repeat: Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Break

Christmas in Britain

Britain is a country where tradition is still very much a part of everyday life, so it’s hardly a surprise that the holidays are celebrated in ways that go a long way back in time. British people are notoriously fond of old customs and habits, and this becomes clear when you look at the enthusiastic way in which they celebrate Christmas.

Christmas really begins a few weeks before the actual holiday, when Christmas cards are sent off to relatives, friends, and business contacts. According to the history books this particular tradition dates back to 1840, and it’s still as popular now. Although, it’s becoming increasingly popular to send Christmas greetings by email. Even so, every year more than one billion Christmas cards are sent in Great Britain. December is not the easiest month to be a postman in the UK.

Another popular event in the weeks before Christmas is the nativity play. Each year hundreds of thousands of school children act out the story from the Bible about the birth of Christ. They dress up as Joseph, Mary, Jesus and the three Wise Men (los Reyes magos) - and every year children put on donkey costumes and parents go to the children’s school, or local church, to see the play.

Equally popular are the pantomimes. And they are cheerful musical interpretations of classic fairy tales that are performed by professional or amateur actors. Audience participation is a big part of pantomime fun. Curiously, or maybe not if you’ve ever been to a pantomime, our American cousins haven’t adopted this British custom of Christmas pantomimes.

The Christmas tree tradition originated in Germany, but it’s very popular in England, too. Legend has it that the first Christmas tree in England was the one Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria, placed in their royal home in Buckingham Palace. There are lots of trees in public places as well, the most famous being the huge, and beautifully decorated one, in Trafalgar Square. The tree in Trafalgar Square has been given to England every year since 1947 by Norway. Britain helped Norway during World War II, so Norway send a free Christmas tree to Trafalgar Square every year as a way of saying ‘thank you’.

And the English don't stop at pine trees or pinos. Holly and mistletoe are equally essential natural Christmas decorations. Mistletoe's popularity obviously has something to do with the custom of kissing the person who is standing under it with you. This is definitely my favourite Christmas custom and it’s a tradition that dates back to ancient Roman times, when enemies, who met under it, were said to have to make peace and stop fighting.

Christmas food in England isn’t particularly complicated. No surprises there! Christmas dinner is usually a huge roasted turkey served with roast potatoes, vegetables and followed by mince pies: a pie, a sort of pastel dulce. The most exciting part of the meal, for me anyway, is the Christmas pudding, which is traditionally covered in brandy and set on fire. Those who can still move after all that heavy, rich food can have a piece of Christmas cake, a sugar coated fruit cake with lots of marzipan.

Another original English Christmas tradition is the Christmas cracker. Christmas crackers are small paper tubes (a bit like the inside of a roll of toilet paper) covered with coloured paper. There’s a small gift inside, a paper hat and a small piece of paper with a joke written on it. They were invented by a baker from London in the mid 19th century, and they’ve become quite popular all over the world. It’s traditionally opened by two people who each pull on one end of the cracker until it, well, cracks.

So, until the next Mansión Inglés podcast, Merry Christmas! And a very happy New Year to you and to all your family and friends.

Merry Christmas!

End credits