High Spirits 3: Festivals

1
Festivals
Chinese New Year
1
Osserva le foto e il titolo della pagina web. Quali credi che sia il
significato di Gung Hay Fat Choy? Leggi il brano e controlla la risposta.
‘Gung Hay Fat Choy!’
Han lives in London. He tells us about an exciting important festival:
Chinese New Year!
‘Chinese New Year is the most important festival of
the year for our community. It’s always in January or
February, but it depends on the moon. The New Year
festival starts on the new moon and ends fifteen days
later, on the full moon.
At New Year, Chinese people decorate their
homes with traditional red decorations. Red brings
good luck in Chinese culture.
On New Year’s Eve, families meet for a traditional
meal. It is traditional to eat food that brings good luck.
For example, we have a
whole chicken, because that is a symbol
of wealth. And long noodles are a symbol of long life.
It’s bad luck to cut them!
On New Year’s Day we often have fireworks and
firecrackers outside. We wish each other Gung Hay
Fat Choy, which means ‘Happy New Year!’. Chinese
people don’t give presents at New Year. Instead, they
give Li Shi. These are special red packets decorated
with lucky symbols. A special event at New Year in
London’s Chinatown is the Dragon Dance. People
carry a ‘dragon’ and dance through the streets. The
dragon frightens bad spirits
Glossary
away and brings good luck.
new moon luna nuova
In the Chinese zodiac,
good luck buona fortuna
each year is named after
full moon luna piena
an animal. There are twelve
wealth prosperità
different animals. I was born in
noodle noodle (simile ad
una tagliatella)
1992 – the year of the monkey!’
firecracker petardo
packet pacchetto
2
Rileggi il brano. Decidi se le frasi sono True
(T) o False (F)? Correggi le frasi false.
Every year Chinese New Year is on a different
date.
T
1 The New Year festival is fifteen days.
2 Red is an unlucky colour for Chinese people.
3 Long noodles are a symbol of long life.
4 Li Shi is a traditional food.
5 In Chinatown in London, people carry a
dragon and dance in the streets.
6 In Chinese culture, every year has the name of
an animal.
10
3
Qual è il tuo segno zodiacale occidentale?
Cerca delle informazioni sul tuo segno e
prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti
domande per aiutarti:
t What sign are you?
t What are the good and bad characteristics of
your sign?
t Are any of these characteristics true for you?
Which ones? Which are not true?
Ora usa gli appunti per scrivere un breve
paragrafo sul tuo segno zodiacale e la
personalità che lo contraddistingue.
DVD 3 Puoi trovare ulteriori informazioni
sul Chinese New Year nei Festivals 1 del
DVD.
2
Festivals
St Valentine’s Day, on
14th February, has
become a worldwide
celebration of love.
But how did it
start – and who was
St Valentine?
There are at least
three different saints
called Valentine or
Valentinus. The one
most people associate
with St Valentine’s
Day was a Roman
priest who lived when Emperor Claudius II
ruled Rome.
In prison, Valentine fell in love with the prison
guard’s daughter. According to the story, on
the day of his death (14th February, AD 269)
he wrote her a note, and signed it, ‘Love from
your Valentine’.
In 1849, an American, Esther A. Howland, sold
her first handmade Valentine card in America.
Now, people all over the world send about one
billion Valentine cards each year (more than
the number of Christmas cards!).
The Emperor had a problem getting men to join
his army, because they didn’t want to leave
their wives and children. So he decided to stop
marriages. But Valentine secretly performed
marriage ceremonies for couples. When the
Emperor found out, Valentine went to prison.
2
Glossary
priest prete
rule governare
army esercito
perform celebrare
ceremony funzione
religiosa
prison prigione
guard guardia
My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose
O, my love is like a red, red rose that’s
newly sprung in June,
O, my love is like a melody that’s
sweetly played in tune.
As fair thou art, my bonnie lass, so deep
in love am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
till a’ the seas gang* dry.
St Valentine’s Day
1
Ascolta e leggi una canzone d’amore
tradizionale scozzese di Robert Burns. Qual
è il simbolo d’amore citato nella canzone?
3.18
Leggi il brano e rispondi alle domande. ES
1 Why did Emperor Claudius II stop marriage
ceremonies?
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands of life shall run.
2 How did Valentine help couples?
3 What happened when the Emperor found
out?
*gang (Scottish) = go (English)
4 Who did Valentine fall in love with?
5 When did Esther A. Howland sell her first
handmade Valentine’s card?
6 How many Valentine’s cards are sold each
year?
3
Scrivi un breve paragrafo sul giorno di
San Valentino in Italia. Prendi degli appunti
usando le seguenti domande per aiutarti.
t
t
t
t
t
What do people do on Valentine’s Day?
Is it very popular?
Are shops full of Valentine’s cards?
What do you think of Valentine’s Day?
Do you send Valentine’s cards? Why / why not?
11
3
Festivals
Notting Hill Carnival
1
Osserva le foto e rispondi alla domanda. Quale gruppo culturale si celebra
durante il carnevale di Notting Hill? Leggi il brano e controlla la risposta.
Every year, on the last Sunday and Monday in August, London
prepares for its biggest carnival, the Notting Hill Carnival.
More than 2 million people come to dance, listen to music, eat
Caribbean food and have fun at this huge event.
The Notting Hill Carnival started as a celebration of the African
and Caribbean communities in London. In the 19th century, the
carnival was already a tradition in the Caribbean islands. Later it
became a celebration of the end of the slave trade.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, when lots of Caribbean people
emigrated to the UK, they brought the tradition of carnival with
them. In 1959 there was a Caribbean festival inside Saint Pancras
Town Hall in North London in February. It first moved outside in
1965, and the month moved to August – because it was warmer!
The Carnival consists of two very different parades. On the
Glossary
inside all’interno
outside all’esterno
costume costume
parade sfilata
2
float (n) carro allegorico
steel drum strumento a
percussione ricavato dal
coperchio di un bidone
Rileggi il brano e completa il factfile.
Sunday there is a special parade for children. They dress up in
fantastic costumes and dance in the streets. The day after that
it’s the main parade, with colourful floats, costumes, music and
dancing. In total, about 7,000 people take part in ‘Mas bands’.
These are groups of dancers in costumes, who dance behind a
float with music. For months before the carnival, the ‘Mas bands’
start designing their amazing costumes.
Traditionally, carnival music is steel drums, soca (dance music
from Trinidad) and calypso (traditional songs with steel drums).
Nowadays, massive sound systems play a wide variety of music,
including reggae, hip hop and rock.
In the streets there are hundreds of stalls selling Caribbean
food – jerk chicken (spicy chicken cooked on a fire), rice and peas,
and exotic fruits like mangoes and coconuts – and food from all
over the world.
3
Ascolta e leggi una canzone popolare
soca.
3.19
Hot Hot Hot
Ole Ole Ole Ole, Ole Ole Ole Ole
Feelin’ hot hot hot, Feelin’ hot hot hot
Notting Hill Carnival
Location:
Dates held now:
Origin:
First carnival in UK:
Traditional musical
instrument:
Traditional food:
Number of people
who take part:
Number of people
who visit it:
12
London
Me mind on fire, me soul on fire,
Feelin’ hot hot hot!
Party people, all around me,
Feelin’ hot hot hot!
What to do, on a night like this?
Music’s sweet, I can’t resist.
We need a party sound,
A fun, Jamaican jam,
So we can room boom boom boom,
Yeah, we room boom boom boom.
DVD 3
Puoi trovare ulteriori
informazioni sul Notting Hill Carnival nei
Festivals 2 del DVD.
4
Festivals
My name’s Macy and I come
from New Orleans, in the south
of the USA. When people think
of New Orleans they think of
Mardi Gras — and they’re right.
This is where it all began!
The Mardi Gras Carnival first
came to New Orleans from France
in 1699 when the French explorers celebrated their
traditional holiday here. Later, in 1857, a group called
the Mystick Krewe of Comus had a parade at night.
They wore masks, costumes, and had dancing and
music. This is how the custom of ‘krewes’ began. Today
there are more than 60 krewes in New Orleans, who
have their own parades, dances and parties in the city.
The celebrations begin on 6th January, about two weeks
before Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras means ‘Fat Tuesday’.
The name is for Shrove
Tuesday, the day before
Lent starts. Some
people believe that the
name comes from the
custom of using up all
the fats in the home
before Lent.
But the main event at Carnival is
the parade. Each krewe chooses a
king and a queen for its parade.
Some krewes choose famous
celebrities — one year we had the
actors Elijah Wood and Kevin
Costner. The krewes decorate
lorries as floats in the parades,
and dancers and bands follow the
floats. People watching shout, ‘Throw me something,
Mister!’ and the people on the floats throw beads,
coins, sweets and toys into the air.
In 1872, the King of Carnival chose purple (for justice),
green (for faith) and gold (for power) as the official
Mardi Gras colours.
There is also a traditional cake. The round King Cake
symbolizes the different faiths coming together, and is
decorated in the Mardi Gras colours. Inside each cake
there is a plastic toy baby. The baby is the Baby Jesus.
If you get the slice of cake with the baby in it, it means
good luck. It also means you have to make next year’s
King Cake!
Glossary
explorer esploratore
mask maschera
costume costume
custom usanza
fat (n) (il) grasso
parade (n) sfilata
Mardi Gras
1
Leggi il brano. Le seguenti frasi sul
Martedì Grasso sono false. Correggile.
Spanish priests first brought the Carnival to
New Orleans.
French explorers first brought the Carnival
to New Orleans.
1 The first Mardi Gras celebration in New
Orleans was in 1872.
2 The traditional colours of Carnival are red,
green and white.
3 There is one Carnival King and Queen.
4 The Carnival Kings and Queens are never
famous people.
5 The King Cake is round because it is a symbol
of the moon.
6 It’s bad luck to get the piece of cake with the
toy baby in it.
2
float (n) carro allegorico
sweets caramelle
justice giustizia
faith fede
power forza, potere
Ascolta una canzone tradizionale sul
Martedì Grasso.
3.20
Carnival Time
The Green room is smokin’, and the Plaza’s burnin’ down.
Throw my baby out the window; let those joints burn down.
All because it’s carnival time, woah, it’s carnival time....!
Oh well, it’s carnival time and everybody’s having fun!
Clai-borne Street is rocking from one side to the other.
The joints are jammin’, packing; I’m about to smother.
All because it’s carnival time, woah, it’s carnival time....!
Oh well, it’s carnival time and everybody’s having fun!
Right Now, it’s carnival time, woah, carnival time....!
Oh well, it’s carnival time and everybody’s having fun!
3
Descrivi un cibo tipico del carnevale o di un
giorno di festa usando le seguenti domande
per aiutarti:
t
t
t
t
t
What is it called?
When do you eat it?
What are the origins of this food?
What are the ingredients?
How do you make it?
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