Festivals Around the World

Good Morning & Happy Monday!

Today's article is about festivals around the world. I like to discuss the purpose of festivals and leisure activities, as well. This article complements the article in Unit 4 in Q Skills for Success Intro - Special Edition: Celebrating with Food.

Thank you for visiting and have a great week!

 FESTIVALS AROUND THE WORLD

There are many kinds of festivals around the world. Some of them are very old and some are new. People around the world love to celebrate. They do so with different festivals. Here are some interesting festivals around the world.

Night of the Radishes

People in Mexico celebrate radishes. Yes, radishes! A radish is a small, red vegetable. It is very spicy! Farmers carve radishes into different shapes. They make art with it. The festival lasts only a few hours. People come to enjoy the radish art. They also buy a lot of vegetables. Farmers make a lot of money at this festival, and people have a great time! Night of the Radishes is a new festival. It was started not too long ago.

International Balloon Festival

This Balloon festival is held in New Mexico, in America. People and companies make all kinds of hot air balloons. A hot air balloon is filled with heated air. The air in the balloon is hotter than the air around it. This makes the balloon rise. There is a basket attached to the balloon. People ride in the basket. The hot air balloons at the Balloon Festival are different shapes and sizes. People pay to ride in these balloons. Thousands of people come to watch them float in the air. They have picnics while they watch. Others buy fun snacks to each while they watch. People film the balloons with their cameras. People also buy T-shirts and other things to remind them of the festival.

Las Fallas Festival

The Las Fallas Festival is held in Spain. It is an old festival, from 500 years ago. People create puppets to poke fun at others. They often make puppets of famous actors and figures. The puppets are more than 20 feet tall. They are very big and different colors. The puppets are on display for many days. On March 19, men stuff the puppets with fireworks. They set off the fireworks to burn the puppets. One puppet is saved for the Museum. Las Fallas is a very noisy festival!

Harbin Ice Festival

This ice festival is held in China. It is the largest ice festival in the world. It starts in January and lasts about one month. People make artistic sculptures from ice and snow. They use lasers and lanterns to carve them. There are sculptures of flowers and artistic shapes, as well as other kinds. The artists leave them out for a month for people to see. More than a million people come to see the sculptures. It is very cold and everyone must wear jackets and hats. At night, the sculptures are strung with lights. People from around the world come to look at these brilliant ice sculptures.

Thank you for visiting!

Faiza Raintree

To download the worksheet for this article, please click below.

School Around the World - ESL Worksheet

Good Morning & Happy Monday!

Today's worksheet is about school around the world. Students read about school in America, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. I had no idea that Japanese students spend so much time in school!

This article complements an article from Q Skills Special Edition Intro. However, the worksheet can be used in most any high-beginner, low-intermediate classroom. The Q Skills Special Edition series seems to be popular here. I've had a chance to look at this series and find that I quite like it. The articles are interesting and the activities are generally relevant to the reading.

Thank you for visiting and have a great week!

School Around the World

How much time do you spend in school? People around the world go to school at different times. Yet most people feel that they spend too much time in school. Here are three students from three different countries. Their schools are different. Yet the students want to spend less time at school and more time on fun!

United States

John goes to a public school in the United States, so it is free. Most people in America go to public school. There are no uniforms in public school. John starts school at 7:45 a.m. and finishes at 3:30 p.m. He has a lunch break at 1:00 p.m. After school, John stays for an hour for club work. He has a different club every day. John has theatre on Monday and Wednesday, and he plays football the rest of the week. John often gets home at 5:00 p.m. He has football practice on the weekend. John also goes to a religious school on Sunday morning. He does not get homework at Sunday School.

Saudi Arabia

Reem is from Saudi Arabia. She starts school at 6:30 a.m. School lasts until 1:00 p.m. Reem gets home around 1:30 p.m. Reem does not go to any clubs at school, but she goes to a religious school two days a week. She has homework for both schools.  Reem also studies with a tutor most days of the week. She has many exams and subjects to study for. Schools in Saudi Arabia have two terms. Reem wears a uniform at school. Like many people in Saudi Arabia, Reem goes to a private school. Her parents pay for her school, and Reem brings her own lunch.

Japan

Yoko goes to school in Japan. She attends school six days a week. Yoko goes to a public school, but her parents pay for it. Public schools cost less than private school. Yoko has a long day at school. When she gets to school, she takes off her shoes and puts on slippers. Slippers help to keep the school clean.  Yoko has a lunch period.  She talks quietly with her friends during lunch. After lunch, students clean up the cafeteria. Yoko stays in her classroom most of the day. She and her classmates clean their classroom at the end of each day. Most days after school, Yoko goes to a club. She tutors other students during math club. Yoko gets home around 5:30 p.m. After dinner, Yoko goes to a cram school for more lessons. She finishes around 8:00 p.m.

Thank you for visiting!

Faiza Raintree

To download the worksheet for this article, please click below.