CultureSpecial events

Talking about culture in French requires a knowledge of vocabulary and an awareness of grammar. When talking about celebrations it helps to use a range of tenses effectively.

Part ofFrenchTalking

Special events

Three pictures showing traditional settings for Christmas day, new years and burns night in Scotland.

You are carrying out a project on festivals and special celebrations with your French partner school. You created a short presentation and your class has put together some questions and answers. Listen to the audio then try to answer the questions that follow. Follow up activity - How would you answer these same questions?

Parle-moi un peu d'une fête typiquement écossaise.

Le hogmany est une fête écossaise importante qui a lieu le trente-une decembre et c'est une célébration du nouvel an. Il y a de nombreuses coutumes. Une tradition ancienne mais courante est le 'first footing' qui commence juste après minuit. Si on est la première personne à franchir le pas de la porte d'un voisin, on apporte un petit cadeau. Traditionnellement c'est du sel ou du charbon. Mais, ce qui est plus typique aujourd'hui c'est le whisky ou le sablé.

Question

Give three pieces of information this person says about Hogmanay.

Question

She mentions the custom of ‘first footing’, if you are the first person to enter someone’s house, what does she say you should bring, traditionally?