Christmas Traditions Around the World

Christmas Traditions Around the World

The Philippines: Christmas season begins in September with the feast of Saint Pio and ends in January, meaning nearly half the year is Christmas in the Philippines. The event closest to December 25th is a nine-day mass called Simbang Gabi, which includes hymns and Filipino foods. Christmas Eve is celebrated all night and then followed by a day of family talks and gift giving. Maligayang pasko (Merry Christmas)!

Mexico:  In the nine days before Christmas, children and adults dress up as Mary and Joseph and visit different neighborhoods. These “pilgrims” sing songs at houses in request of shelter. The host replies in song and offers drink and food. Children try to break a star-shaped piñata and do not receive gifts until January 4th. Feliz Navidad!

Ethiopia:  Christmas Eve is celebrated on January 6th in accordance with the local Ge’ez calendar. On that night, priests carry nicely decorated umbrellas and wear traditional clothing. They march through cities with large groups of people. In the morning, people feast, presents are exchanged, and some people play sports. During the Timkat parade, held 12 days later, a stone replica of the 10 Commandments is wrapped in rich fabrics and carried by priests on their heads. Melkam Ganna!

Finland:  Finns believe that the Winter Solstice brings out the spirits of the dead. On Christmas Eve, celebrated at roughly the same time, Finns place candles around the graves of relatives. Hyvää Joulua!

Vietnam: Christmas was only recently reintroduced to largely Buddhist Vietnam after a relaxation of restrictions in the early 1980s. It is a mainly a Jesus-free event. Santa is sometimes shown on a scooter instead of a sleigh and Vietnamese Catholics gather in churches that look like temples. Citizens visit crowded city centers and later eat Christmas chicken soup. Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ!

Sentence structure

The parts of a sentence are the subject, verb,

object, complement and adverbial. A statement

begins with the subject and the verb. There are

five main structures which we can use to make

a simple statement.

• SUBJECT VERB

My arms are aching.

Something happened.

 A sentence is commonly defined as "a complete unit of thought." Normally, a
sentence expresses a relationship, conveys a command, voices a question, or
describes someone or something. It begins with a capital letter and ends with a
period, question mark, or exclamation mark.
The basic parts of a sentence are the subject and the verb. The subject is usually a
noun—a word (or phrase) that names a person, place, or thing. The verb
(or predicate) usually follows the subject and identifies an action or a state of being.

• SUBJECT VERB OBJECT

( nothing ) need a rest.

Five people are moving the piano.

The subject and object can be a pronoun

(e.g. I) or a noun phrase (e.g. the piano).

 In addition to serving as subjects, nouns may also function as objects in sentences.
Instead of performing the action, as subjects usually do, objects receive the action
and usually follow the verb. See if you can identify the objects in the short
sentences below:
The girls hurled stones.
The professor swigged coffee.
Gus dropped the iPad.
The objects—stones, coffee, iPad—all answer the question what: What was hurled?
What was swigged? What was dropped?

• SUBJECT VERB COMPLEMENT

This piano is heavy.

It was a big problem.

The complement can be an adjective (e.g.

heavy) or a noun phrase (e.g. a big problem).

The complement often comes after be. It can

also come after appear, become, get, feel, look,

seem, stay or sound. For adjectives and word

order.

• SUBJECT VERB ADVERBIAL

It is on my foot.

Their house is nearby.

An adverbial can be a prepositional phrase

(e.g. on my foot) or an adverb (e.g. nearby).

• SUBJECT VERB OBJECT OBJECT

Its giving me backache.

David bought Melanie a present.

We use two objects after verbs like give and

send.

What kind of word?

There are eight different kinds of word in English. They are called 'word classes' or 'parts of speech'. Here are some examples. The;…...

Verb: have, am, is, would, like, come, are, sitting, look

Noun: conference, work, coffee, party, Saturday, Jessica, friends, corner

Adjective: important, busy, good, cheap

Adverb: tomorrow, rather, really, here

Preposition: at, to, on, in

Determiner: an, this, our, the

Pronoun: I, it, you

Linking word: so, and