Christmas is all around...

Wish you ther very best for a Happy Christmas holidays and a language-learning New Year.

Reading, songs and Carols

 Christmas in Great Britain   
 List of Christmas Words 
 Christmas Project 
 Song: Jingle Bell Rock 
 Song: All I want for Christmas is you 
 Song: Christmas is all around 
 Top Ten Christmas songs 

Quizzes, Word Searchers, Puzzels, Crosswords, Printables, etc.
 Online Christmas Questionnaire 
 Christmas Questionnaire (before X-mas) 
 Christmas Questionnaire (after X-mas)
 After Christmas Activity  
 Short Christmas Questionnaire 
 Christmas Story Quiz 
 Christmas Conversation Cards  
 Christmas Traditions Quiz 
 Quia - Quiz - Upgrade of Java Quiz: Advent
 Christmas In Denmark (ESL Quiz) 
 ESL Christmas Crossword
 Word Search - Christmas
 Christmas Scavenger Hunts 
 ESL Christmas Dinner Crossword
 Printable Christmas Puzzle 
 Christmas Word Puzzle
 Fun Things that you can do for Christmas
 Christmas activities 

 Stories & Traditions of Christmas
 Religious Celebrations BBC Schools  
 How did Christmas start? How does the West celebrate Christmas? 
 Holiday Stories and Traditions 
 Christmas celebrations around the world 
 Customs and Traditions in England Woodlands Junior School Kent uk 
 Christmas In UK (By students at Hugo Meynell School) 
 e-mail Santa 
 E. L. Easton - English - Christmas Links
 Christmas Stickers

Xmas Webquest.

Read the introduction to Christmas taken from history.com.

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and secular in nature. Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive. December 25 – Christmas Day – has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1870.

Visit the following weblink: www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas.  Read the first section entitled ’An ancient holiday’ and look for the answers to the following questions.

1. What did Europeans celebrate long before the birth of Jesus?
2. Why did people celebrate during the winter solstice?
3. Who celebrated Yule from 21 December in Scandinavia?
4. How did fathers and sons mark the return of the sun?
5. Up to how many days was it possible for the Yule feast to last?
6. What did the Norse believe that each spark of the fire represented?
7. Why was the end of December a good time for celebrating?
8. Why were German people terrified of the god Oden? How did they show their fear? 

Santa Claus

The man we know as Santa Claus has a history all his own. Today, he is thought of mainly as the jolly man in red, but his story stretches all the way back to the third century. Find out more about the history of Santa Claus, from his earliest origins to the shopping mall favorite of today.

What do you already know about Santa’s history? Go to the weblink textwww.history.com/topics/christmas/santa-claus and read these sections and answer the following questions.

1. When do people think that St. Nicholas was born? In which modern-day country is his birthplace?
2. For what qualities was St. Nicholas most admired?
3. Was St. Nicholas born into a poor family?
4. Which two groups of people is he particularly associated with?
5. When is his feast day celebrated? What do people think it is lucky to do on that day?
6. Why was the way in which St. Nicholas was regarded in Holland different from other saints?

Sections entitled ‘Sinter Klaas comes to New York’ and ‘Shopping mall Santas’. Answer the following questions.

1. How did St. Nicolas first become popular in America?
2. Where did the name Santa Claus come from?
3. As Sinter Klaas’s popularity grew, did people agree about what he looked like?
4. What did the advertisements for shops feature by the 1840s?
5. What happened in 1841?
6. In the early 1890s what did the Salvation Army do to raise money?

Christmas around the world!

Christmas is a global celebration. You have already seen how the legend of Santa Claus varies greatly from country to country. For the following task, you will read about different traditions around the world celebrated at Christmas time. Take a look at the following traditions. As you read them, try to guess which of the countries in the box below these traditions come from. (Some countries are used more than once!)

El Salvador     United States     Great Britain     Spain     Japan     Venezuela     Canada     Brazil     Denmark     Guatemala     Estonia     Poland     Philippines     Italy     Armenia    Germany     Colombia

Twenty Christmas traditions from around the world

1. During the Christmas meal, Christmas crackers containing toys, jokes and a paper hat are pulled. ________________
2. A white sponge cake covered with cream and decorated with strawberries is often consumed. ________________
3. Children put their shoes in the window in the hope that the three wise men will deliver their presents. ________________
4. Christmas carols are heard as early as 1st September. ________________
5. On 6th January, female puppets are burned on a pyre to symbolize the death of the old year and beginning of the new year. ________________
6. They celebrate the Cavalcade of Lights Festival. ________________
7. The Christmas tree usually stands centrally in the home, decorated with ornaments, tinsel and lights, with an angel or star at the top. ________________
8. People dress up in an ornamental hat named a Puritina and dance in a line. ________________
9. Potato salad with frankfurters and wiener sausages is a popular meal in some families. ________________
10. Children take presents of fruits, nuts and other sweets to older relatives. ________________
11. In many cities, and even in small rural towns, neighbourhoods get together and decorate their whole neighbourhood or street, turning streets into ‘tunnels of light’. ________________
12. Neighbourhoods get together for night festivals where children play with skateboards, rollerblades and bicycles. ________________
13. On 6th December, Saint Nicholas puts goodies in children’s shoes. ________________
14. Rice pudding is traditionally served with whipped cream and lashings of black cherry sauce. ________________
15. Electric candles and glowing stars are placed in almost every window during the month of December. ________________
16. A traditional meal includes herring and beetroot soup with ravioli. ________________
17. It is a tradition for children to leave a glass of milk and plate of cookies for Santa. _______________
18. In some cities, judges decide on the most beautifully decorated house. ________________
19. Children are visited by Santa Claus on Christmas Eve and must sing songs or recite Christmas poems before they receive their presents. _______________
20. Children celebrate Christmas by playing with firecrackers and sparklers. ________________

Now, visit the following weblink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_traditions and check your answers. Don’t try to read the whole article from top to bottom; instead, try to find the countries as quickly as you can.

In the Xmas mood...

What Do You Want for Christmas? | A Short Film from The Right Brothers on Vimeo.

Christmas Super Quiz Game: A quiz game for reviewing Christmas vocabulary.

Christmas Quiz Game        

Christmas Quiz Game (Nativity Story)

Question Sheets

Question Sheets

 Multiple Choice Questions

Multiple Choice Questions

Grammar. Modals

Modal verbs

The modal verbs include can, must, may, might, will, would, should. They are used with other verbs to express ability, obligation, possibility, and so on. Below is a list showing the most useful modals and their most common meanings:

Modal	Meaning	Example
can	to express ability	I can speak a little Russian.
can	to request permission	Can I open the window?
may	to express possibility	I may be home late.
may	to request permission	May I sit down, please?
must	to express obligation	I must go now.
must	to express strong belief	She must be over 90 years old.
should	to give advice	You should stop smoking.
would	to request or offer	Would you like a cup of tea?
would	in if-sentences	If I were you, I would say sorry.

Modal verbs are unlike other verbs. They do not change their form (spelling) and they have no infinitive or participle (past/present). The modals must and can need substitute verbs to express obligation or ability in the different tenses. Here are some examples:

Past simple	Sorry I'm late. I had to finish my math test.
Present perfect	She's had to return to Korea at short notice.
Future	You'll have to work hard if you want to pass the exams.
Infinitive	I don't want to have to go.

Past simple	I couldn't/wasn't able to walk until I was 3 years old.
Present perfect	I haven't been able to solve this problem. Can you help?
Future	I'm not sure if I will be able to come to your party.
Infinitive	I would love to be able to play the piano.

Modals are auxiliary verbs. They do not need an additional auxiliary in negatives or questions. For example: Must I come? (Do I must come?), or: He shouldn't smoke (He doesn't should smoke).

Important: The explanations and examples on this page are just an introduction to this extensive and complex area of English grammar. Students of English who want to learn more should consult a good reference work, such as Swan's Practical English Usage.

Do a quiz on modal verbs.

Modal Verbs

Modal Verbs 

MODALS PPT 

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/english-grammar/verbs/modal-verbs

Here is a list of modals with examples:

Modal Verb	Expressing	Example
must	Strong obligation	You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
	logical conclusion / Certainty	He must be very tired. He's been working all day long.
must not	prohibition	You must not smoke in the hospital.
can	ability	I can swim.
	permission	Can I use your phone please?
	possibility	Smoking can cause cancer.
could	ability in the past	When I was younger I could run fast.
	polite permission	Excuse me, could I just say something?
	possibility	It could rain tomorrow!
may	permission	May I use your phone please?
	possibility, probability	It may rain tomorrow!
might	polite permission	Might I suggest an idea?
	possibility, probability	I might go on holiday to Australia next year.
need not	lack of necessity/absence of obligation	I need not buy tomatoes. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge.
should ought to	50 % obligation	I should / ought to see a doctor. I have a terrible headache.
	advice	You should / ought to revise your lessons
	logical conclusion	He should / ought to be very tired. He's been working all day long.
had better	advice	You 'd better revise your lessons

Remember

Modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without "to", also called the bare infinitive.

Examples:

• You must stop when the traffic lights turn red.
• You should see to the doctor.
• There are a lot of tomatoes in the fridge. You need not buy any.

Grammar Exercise - Modals

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Do the exercise on modal verbs and click on the button to check your answers

(Before doing the exercises you may want to read the lesson on modal verbs )

Choose the right modal verb

1. There are plenty of tomatoes in the fridge. You                               mustn't               needn't               may not               should not              buy any.
2. It's a hospital. You                               mustn't               needn't               may not               don't have to              smoke.
3. He had been working for more than 11 hours. He                               must               need               had better               mustn't                be tired after such hard work. He                               may               should               must               had better              prefer to get some rest.
4. I                               could               might               can               must              speak Arabic fluently when I was a child and we lived in Morocco. But after we moved back to Canada, I had very little exposure to the language and forgot almost everything I knew as a child. Now, I                               may               can               must               need              just say a few things in the language.
5. The teacher said we                               can               needn't               must               should              read this book for our own pleasure as it is optional. But we                               could               need               needn't               mustn't              read it if we don't want to.
6.                               May               Need               Must               Can              you stand on your head for more than a minute? No, I                               may not               needn't               can't              .
7. If you want to learn to speak English fluently, you                               could               need               needn't               mustn't              to work hard.
8. Take an umbrella. It                               need               should               mustn't               might              rain later.
9. You                               shouldn't               need               needn't               may not              leave small objects lying around . Such objects                               must               need               may               mustn't              be swallowed by children.
10. People                               couldn't               needn't               mustn't               may not              walk on grass.
11. Drivers                               could               must               may              stop when the traffic lights are red.
12.                               May               Must               Should               Will              I ask a question? Yes, of course.
13. You                               couldn't               needn't               mustn't               may not               take your umbrella. It is not raining.
14.                               Can               Need               Should               May              you speak Italian? No, I                               shouldn't               mustn't               may not               can't              .

Related pages:

• Modals
• Present and past of modals
• Exercise on modals
• Exercise on modals in the past
• Exercise on modals: mustn't or needn't
• Exercise on the meaning of modals
• Must and have to
• Shall and will

Past /Past Continuous-Integrated grammar in videos

Crime vocabulary