Customs, Traditions, Holidays of Belarus

1. Now let’s talk about customs and traditions. What can you tell me about your favourite holiday? I think it's hard to find a person who doesn't like holidays, as they mean rest and entertainment, when you can forget for a while about the work undone and enjoy yourself. In my view rest and recreation are as important as work. Like other countries Belarus has its own holidays. They are of a political, social or religious kind. The New Year, the 8^th of March and the Victory Day are probably the most popular holidays in our republic. Among religious holidays are Christmas and Easter.

I love all kinds of holidays but most of all I admire the national traditions connected with them. My best loved holidays are the New Year with a New Year tree, Christmas with plenty of delicious food to eat and Easter with red eggs and an Easter pie. The preparation for these holidays starts long before they come. Thus about a fortnight before the New Year streets are decorated with colourful lights, the shop windows display a wide choice of New Year toys and Christmas gifts. During the Christmas week street festivals of all kinds take place. We respect national traditions and my mother always dyes eggs red and makes Christmas cakes and Easter pies. Apart from national holidays there are family holidays like birthdays, weddings and anniversaries. We have a family tradition to celebrate birthdays of each member of the family. On these days we usually have a party. Friends and relatives come with flowers and presents. A festive dinner is served with plenty of delicious food to eat, which is a famous Slavic tradition, you know.

2. Are you proud of our national holidays and traditions? Yes, I’m proud of our national holidays and traditions. Having a holiday is always great fun. It’s relaxation from every day routine. National holidays and traditions enrich our culture. Life would be dull and grey without them.

3. What questions can you ask a British teenager about their holidays? (Ask 3 questions.)

1) What traditions of celebrating a holiday do you like best?

2) Do you always observe all the national holidays?

3) Do young and older people celebrate holidays in the same or different ways?

4. Which holiday celebration in Belarus will you recommend your friend? On public holidays like the Independence Day or May Day people stay away from work or school and have a rest. There are two very special holidays in our country: the 8^th of March and the 9^th of May. On the 8^th of March women are traditionally presented with flowers and gifts and words of love and respect are addressed to them. The 9^th of May is both happy and a sad day. On this day we celebrate our victory in the Great Patriotic War and at the same time tribute to those who gave up their lives for the liberation of our Motherland. Deep respect and warm gratitude are shown to war veterans. The day is made special by a military parade in the morning and grand fireworks at night.

5. Nowadays more and more people are getting interested in customs and traditions of different countries. What do you think about it?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Art

1. Let’s talk about art. What art do you enjoy most? Why?

Tastes differ. But the world of art is boundless and everybody can find there something that satisfies his or her tastes and demands. We have art all around us. Understanding art means understanding of our world. There are a lot of kinds of art: music, theatre, ballet, painting, sculpture. Most of all I enjoy music. We can say that all kinds of music are popular with public: classical and pop music, folk music and jazz, operas, musicals, rock and roll, heavy metal, rap, rock, hard rock and so on. As for me, I enjoy different kinds of music. I like to listen to different songs, to watch different singers, to hear something new. But I prefer tuneful melodies, easy to remember, light and sometimes haunting.

2. What role does art play in our life?

All people will agree that our world will be dull without art. We enjoy art because it influences our mood and imagination, reflects our character and makes us think. It helps us to get new energy and optimism. Art enriches us culturally and intellectually.

3. Ask your friend some questions about a theatre performance he/she has recently seen. (Ask 3 questions.)

1) What was the last performance you enjoyed?

2) What were you impressed with?

3) Was the performance a success?

---

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30