Speaking Course Festivals

Vocabulary festivals family reunion value family life / Chinese festivals tradition relatives fun / interesting / exciting / meaningful boring / uninteresting / unexciting / meaningless cheer up look forward to doing sth

There’s no escaping it. It’s an obligation to take care of /stay with family members. Sb is mistaken to think that …

Chinese festivals Chinese New Year Mid-Autumn Festival Dragon Boat Festival Ching Ming Festival Chung Yeung Festival

Chinese New Year eat New Year food e.g. New Year cake, turnip cake, lotus seeds, buy new clothes clean up the house visit relatives see fireworks, street parade, dragon dance get red packets

Mid-Autumn Festival eat moon cakes, star fruit see the moon play with lanterns

Dragon Boat Festival eat rice dumplings see dragon boat races

Chung Yeung Festival sweep the graves of ancestors

How teenagers spend time during festivals see a film or have a house party sing karaoke hang around in the street eat at a restaurant with friends

Group discussion Your group wants to write an article for your school magazine about how teenagers spend their time during festivals. Discuss with your group what to include in your article. You may want to talk about: why teenagers would rather spend time with friends than with family during festivals what effect spending festivals with friends has on family life how teenagers should divide their time between friends and family during festivals

Why teenagers would rather spend time with friends during festivals? It is more fun to spend time with friends / boring to stay with family If teenagers do not join group activities and celebrate with friends, they will be laughed at/teased Teenagers nowadays do not value family life as much as they ought to

Effects of spending festivals with friends on family life Parents feel upset as they think festivals are times for a family to get together Parents are worried their children will meet bad friends and develop bad habits Parents are worried their children will go drinking or abuse drugs

How teenagers should divide their time between family and friends Saving time to spend with family during particular Chinese festivals e.g. Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival are times for family reunions Showing concern and respect to parents that they are following traditions e.g. graves sweeping and visiting relatives Accompanying family to the beach or outlying islands or to the karaoke clubs

Individual response question Which festival do you think is the most important for a family? Why?

Among all the festivals, I think Chinese New Year is the most important for a family. First of all, this is the time when families visit their relatives, enjoy meals together and exchange news. It’s time for family reunion. Before New Year Day, we might also spend time preparing gifts, food and red packets. For example, I go shopping for sweets and chocolates with my parents every year. On New Year’s Eve, we prepare red packets while talking about what we want to do in the coming year. I have to admit that for other festivals like Christmas and Easter, I usually spend time with my friends, but Chinese New Year is always a family festival for me and I feel great to start a new year with my family. Thank you.