miércoles, 7 de diciembre de 2011

Twelve Xmas Gifts

Songs help adquire vocabulary and improve pronunciation.The Twelve Days of Christmas is a very popular carol about counting presents and it´s usually used for learning English language.
It tells the story of a series of increasingly impressive gifts given by a man to the woman he loves, one on each day, for 12 days.

Why twelve?
The 12 days the song refers to  start with the day after Christmas Day.The 26th is known as "Boxing Day" in the UK, Australia  and Canada, and St. Stephen´s Day in Ireland, and is a public holiday.
The 12 days end on "Twelve Night", the evening of the 5th of January. As English cultures do not celebrate "Kings Day", Twelfth Night is considered to be the very last day of celebration.
Traditionally, all Christmas decorations including the tree have to be taken down that night, or it´s bad luck!

Source: Speak up magazine

Enjoy the carol, and try to learn the basic lyrics by heart. It will be easier and more amusing: 


On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.
2nd Two turtle doves
3rd Three French hens
4th Four calling birds
5th Five golden rings
6th Six geese a-laying
7th Seven swans a-swimming
8th Eight maids a-milking
9th Nine ladies dancing
10th Ten lords a-leaping
11th Eleven pipers piping
12th Twelve drummers drumming



Tasks:
1. Watch the children´s animation  and the video  and  become a carol singer.





2. Find out:
Why is  Boxing Day called "Boxing Day"?
Does  the tradition still continue today?



                         

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