Speaking Boost · A2 · Lesson 14 of 50
Speaking Boost A2 · Block 3: Food

What do people eat on holidays around the world?

Twelve dishes in Ukraine, twelve grapes in Spain, and fried chicken for Christmas in Japan! Talk about food traditions, tell the story of a celebration, and explain your traditions to a foreign guest.

1

Warm-up

5 min
1.1

Holidays and food

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

  1. What is your favourite holiday? Why?
  2. What food do you eat at Christmas or New Year?
  3. Who cooks for the holidays in your family?
  4. What did you eat at the last family celebration?
  5. Is there a dish you only eat once a year?
  6. Do you like big family dinners?
2

Words and phrases

12 min
2.1

New words

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about your family's traditions.

2.2

Which word?

Choose the word that fits.

  1. Painting eggs at Easter is an old .
  2. How do you your birthday?
  3. Christmas is my favourite .
  4. On , we wait for the first star in the sky.
  5. There were twenty dishes on the table — it was a real !
  6. Kutia is a traditional Christmas .
  7. The whole family likes to at our house for New Year.
  8. Many shops are busy, so it's better to order .
2.3

Meanings

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

  1. the visitor =
  2. the person who invites =
  3. to try a little food = to
  4. lucky ↔
  5. a big special meal = a
  6. the last evening of the year = New Year's
2.4

Useful phrases

Use these phrases to talk about your traditions.

  • In my family, we always...У нашій сім'ї ми завжди...In my family, we always eat kutia on Christmas Eve.
  • It's a tradition to...Є традиція...It's a tradition to paint eggs at Easter.
  • When I was a child, we...Коли я був(-ла) дитиною, ми...When I was a child, we went to my grandparents' every Christmas.
  • Last year, we...Минулого року ми...Last year, we celebrated New Year in the mountains.
  • My favourite holiday dish is...Моя улюблена святкова страва — це...My favourite holiday dish is my mum's honey cake.
  • People believe it brings...Вважають, що це приносить...People believe it brings good luck.
  • Everyone brings something.Кожен щось приносить.At our parties, everyone brings something.
  • Happy holidays!Щасливих свят!Happy holidays! Have a great time with your family.
3

Read and react

8 min
3.1

Holiday food around the world

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

What do people eat on holidays around the world?

Every country has special food for holidays. Some traditions are very old, and some are surprisingly new.

In Ukraine, many families have twelve dishes on Christmas Eve. The most important one is kutia, a sweet dish with wheat, poppy seeds, honey and nuts. Families wait for the first star in the sky before they start to eat.

In Spain, people eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve: one grape for each bell. If you eat all twelve in time, you will have good luck for twelve months. It's not easy!

In Japan, many families eat fried chicken from KFC at Christmas! This tradition started in 1974, when KFC had a very successful advertising campaign called "Kentucky for Christmas". Today, it's so popular that people often order their Christmas chicken weeks in advance.

In the UK, people eat Christmas pudding, a dark cake with dried fruit. In the past, families put a coin inside. The person who found it got good luck for the year!

3.2

True or false?

  1. Many Ukrainian families have twelve dishes on Christmas Eve.
  2. Kutia is a salty dish with meat.
  3. In Spain, people eat twelve grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve.
  4. The KFC tradition in Japan is hundreds of years old.
  5. In the past, there was sometimes a coin in a Christmas pudding.
3.3

What do you think?

  1. Which tradition from the text do you like most?
  2. Which tradition is the strangest for you?
  3. Does your family have twelve dishes on Christmas Eve? Which ones?
  4. Would you eat twelve grapes at midnight?
4

Grammar for speaking

10 min
4.1

Grammar for speaking

Present Simple for traditions

What people usually do.

We always eat kutia. People paint eggs at Easter.

Past Simple: regular verbs

-ed endings.

We celebrated, cooked, visited, watched, stayed.

Past Simple: irregular verbs

Learn them!

eat → ate, go → went, have → had, make → made, bring → brought, give → gave, buy → bought

Questions and negatives: did / didn't + verb. Did you cook? — Yes, I did. We didn't go out. Careful: ✗ We didn't went → We didn't go. ✗ Did you ate? → Did you eat?

4.2

Choose the right form

  1. Every year, we
    kutia on Christmas Eve.
  2. Last Christmas, we
    at my grandmother's house.
  3. My mum
    a big honey cake.
  4. We
    out on New Year's Eve.
  5. anything special?
  6. Our guests
    flowers and wine.
  7. People usually
    eggs at Easter.
  8. When I was a child, we
    a big family dinner every Sunday.
4.3

Fix the mistake

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

  1. Last year we eat twelve dishes. →
  2. We didn't went to church. →
  3. Did you made the cake? →
  4. My grandmother cooked always kutia. →
  5. They buyed a lot of food. →
  6. Every year, we celebrated together. (a habit now) →
4.4

Talk about it

Answer in detail. Use Present Simple and Past Simple.

  1. What did you eat at your last birthday?
  2. How did you celebrate the last New Year?
  3. What do you usually do at Easter?
  4. Tell about a holiday you remember from your childhood.
  5. What special food does your family cook? How?
  6. What new tradition would you like to start?
5

Family traditions

8 min
5.1

Three family celebrations

Describe each family's celebration. Which one is the most like yours? Which would you like to try? Then tell your teacher about a real celebration you had: what did you eat, who was there, what happened?

Family 1

The big Christmas

  • 30 people at grandma's house
  • Twelve dishes, everyone cooks
  • Singing carols until midnight
  • The children get presents
Family 2

The quiet New Year

  • Just two people
  • Pizza and a film
  • Bed at 12:30
  • Long walk on January 1st
Family 3

The travelling family

  • Every year in a different country
  • They try the local holiday food
  • Last year: grapes in Spain
  • This year: Japan?
5.2

A tradition from my family

Speak for 1–2 minutes.

  1. Describe a food tradition from your family.
  2. When did it start? Who started it?
  3. What did you think about it as a child?
  4. Do you want to keep it for your children?
6

Personal questions

10 min
6.1

Part I: Me

  1. What is your favourite holiday? Why?
  2. What do you usually eat at Easter?
  3. What do you do on your birthday?
  4. What presents do you give at holidays?
  5. Do you cook for holidays or does someone else?
  6. What did you do last New Year's Eve?
  7. Do you go to church on holidays?
  8. What holiday food do you not like?
6.2

Part II: Other people

  1. Who in your family keeps the traditions?
  2. What did your grandparents eat on holidays when they were young?
  3. What traditions do your friends have?
  4. What holidays do foreign friends celebrate?
  5. What do children love most about holidays?
  6. Which holiday is the most important in your family?
6.3

Part III: A bit deeper

  1. Are traditions important today?
  2. Should we keep old traditions or start new ones?
  3. Are holidays too commercial now?
  4. Is it OK to celebrate holidays from other countries?
  5. Why is food so important in celebrations?
7

Roleplay

12 min
7.1

The holiday guest

You

Host

A foreign friend (your teacher) is spending Christmas or Easter with your family. Explain the traditions:
  • what happens on the day
  • what food you eat and what it means
  • what the guest should do (or not do)
  • what your family did last year
Speak for at least 2 minutes in total. Use Present Simple and Past Simple.
Your teacher

Foreign guest

Asks short questions, for example:
  1. What is kutia made of?
  2. When do we start to eat?
  3. Do I need to bring a present?
  4. What did you do last year?
7.2

Last year's celebration

You

Storyteller

Tell your teacher about the best (or the funniest) holiday celebration you remember:
  • when and where it was
  • who was there
  • what you ate and drank
  • what happened — the best or funniest moment
You do most of the talking. Use Past Simple: We went... · We ate... · My uncle made... · Then...
Your teacher

Listener

Asks short questions, for example:
  1. Where was it?
  2. What did you eat?
  3. Who cooked?
  4. Did anything go wrong?
8

Homework

at home

Your homework score

Do all four exercises, then press Check all homework. Correct answers will appear next to your mistakes.

– / 30
H1

Complete with a word

traditioncelebrateholidayfeastdishgathercustomlucky
  1. Painting eggs is an Easter .
  2. How do you New Year?
  3. Christmas is my favourite .
  4. The wedding dinner was a real .
  5. Borscht is a traditional Ukrainian .
  6. We all at my parents' house on holidays.
  7. It's a to take off your shoes at home.
  8. In many countries, the number 7 is .
H2

Present Simple or Past Simple?

  1. Every year, we kutia.
  2. Last year, we in a restaurant.
  3. My grandmother twelve dishes.
  4. We out.
  5. the turkey?
  6. They a cake.
  7. People usually eggs at Easter.
  8. We a great time.
H3

Correct or incorrect?

Decide if each sentence is grammatically correct.

  1. Last Christmas we visited my grandparents.
  2. We didn't went out.
  3. Every year we paint eggs.
  4. Did you ate the cake?
  5. My mum made a big dinner.
  6. They buyed presents.
  7. Our guests brought flowers.
H4

Match the two halves

  1. In my family,
  2. It's a tradition
  3. When I was a child,
  4. Last year,
  5. My favourite holiday dish is
  6. People believe
  7. At our parties,

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© Yevheniia Kolesnykova, Academy of Languages. All rights reserved. No copying or reuse without written permission.