Valentine's day

Have you ever been in love?

How did you feel?

What is love? Give your own definition.

Discuss in group.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Discuss.

1. Who was St Valentine?

Read the text and find out.

Two thousands years ago, Lupercalia was a winter festival on 15th February. On that day pagans asked their gods to give them good fruit and vegetables and strong animals.

When the Christians came to Britain, they brought the story of a man called Saint Valentine. He was a man who lived in the 3rd century. The Roman emperor of the time, Claudius II, wasn’t a Christian, so he decided that his soldiers must not marry, because married soldiers aren’t good soldiers. Valentine helped a soldier to get married, so the emperor decided that Valentine had to die because he did wrong. In prison Valentine started to love the daughter of the man who worked in the prison; the day he died, he sent this woman a card with pictures of flowers and birds and a short poem. Valentine died on 14th February so the date of the festival changed from 15 to 14 and the name was Saint Valentine’s day. At the beginning of the 19th century, when the post office started in Britain, people started to send their beloved Valentine’s cards.

2.Answer the questions:

1. What was Lupercalia?

______________________________________________________

2. When did St. Valentine live?

___________________________

3. Why did emperor Claudius II decide that his soldiers must not marry?

_____________________________________________________________________________

4. Why did Valentine go to prison?

______________________________________

5. Who did Valentine write to when he was in prison? What did he send?

______________________________________________________________________________

3.How do you celebrate St Valentine’s Day?

A. Some teenagers from different countries were interviewed about Valentine’s Day.

Read the texts carefully.

Here in Ireland you usually send a card to the girl/boy you like. But you don’t sign your name so they don’t know who it’s from. You just write “Be my Valentine” or “From your Valentine”. And kids sometimes send cards to their parents.

Niall O’cuillin

In Norway we don’t have Valentine’s Day, but I think it’s a really good idea.

Gunn-Mari Oygarden

Here in Indonesia teenagers have just begun celebrating Valentine’s Day – they love it!

Dewi Chandrasa

My mother told me that here in Hungary they didn’t have Valentine’s Day when she was young. So it must be quite a recent thing.

Anna Maria Filep

In America over a billion Valentine cards are sent every year and most of them are to teachers. Some kids even send cards to their dogs, cats…!

Kim Hancock

In Japan it’s so popular that we have two days. On February 14 girls give chocolates to boys. Then on March 14, which is called “White Day”, boys have to express their love to girls. I think this was all invented by the chocolate companies!

Midori Yamamoto

In Denmark we send flowers, poems and love messages which contain a series of dots, one dot for each letter of your name. If the person you send the message to guesses that you have sent it, then you have to give them an egg at Easter. But if they don’t, they have to pay a forfeit.

Lina Thorgaard

B. Say in which country …

1) kids write Valentine cards to their pets.

2) kids might send a card to their parents.

3) young people have started now to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

4) Valentine’s Day is celebrated on two different days.

5) Valentine’s Day is not celebrated at all.

6) people send flowers and love messages to those they love.

7) Valentine’s Day is a recent celebration