Christmas in English

Christmas in english

Traditions, songs, recipes and more

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Decoration What kind of Christmas tree do you have in your house? Very often we have artificial trees, but in countries like The United States and England it’s not uncommon for people to go to Christmas tree farms to pick up their own trees, cut them down and bring them home.

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We usually decorate our trees with either store-bought or homemade ornaments. In the USA Christmas trees were often decorated with fruits, candy and strings of popcorn or cranberry. Some families still make bowls of popcorn, and put them together with a needle and thread to make a long string that will be wrapped around the tree.

Besides ornaments, people also put candles, stockings and nutcrackers and Santa Claus or other Christmas-related items around the house, as well as wreaths on the outside doors. They’ll also put lights outside their houses and even inflatable Santas or Reindeers.

STOCKING

NUTCRACKER

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WREATH

Food Surely every region and every family have their own traditions, but some food items appear across many of the English-speaking countries. They are: Figgy pudding

Eggnog

Flan

Pecan pie

StuďŹƒngs

Gingerbread cookies

Cranberry sauce

Pork

Mulled wine

*Click on the names of the food items to see a recipe for each of them.

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traditions You can say “Merry Christmas”, or or a more ecumenic “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings” to your friends and family. People sing Christmas songs, also known as Christmas Carols. You have probably heard some of the most famous ones, such as “We wish you a Merry Christmas” or “Jingle Bells”.

Among the traditions are finding the Christmas pickle in the tree. Families will have a pickle-shaped ornament that is the last one put on the tree. On the 25th in the morning the children will try to find it and whoever does it, gets an extra present. Also for children, there’s the Elf on the Shelf, a toy to be displayed in different places and positions along the month of December, to remind children that they have to be good to receive a gift from Santa, otherwise they’ll just get a bag of coal.

Like us, many friends and family participate in a Secret Santa: a game in which people exchange presents, very often without knowing in advance who they are buying for, just making a pile of presents within a previously arranged price range and people will take turns getting a gift from the pile and they are able to “steal” a present if what the gift is not to their liking.

Eating chocolate or candy canes, exchanging cards, assembling the nativity scene, attending Midnight Mass are some traditions many Brazilian families share with English-speaking countries. In the UK people usually watch a Pantomime, exchange Christmas hampers (baskets filled with holiday food) and there’s the Queen’s message, which started being broadcast on TV in 1957, recalling major events of the year and sending off greetings to all the Commonwealth.

If all you want for Christmas is some love, lookout for mistletoe, as if you and the person you like find yourselves standing under it, you have to kiss.

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traditions Other traditions include making an Advent Calendar that is a type of countdown to Christmas calendar. Some are very simple, others are rather elaborate and might even be shaped like dollhouses.

Displaying and gifting poinsettia, also known as the official Christmas flowers, is also quite common.

One big difference I do spot is that like us, many European countries celebrate Christmas’ Eve, the 24th, with their close family and loved ones, especially during dinner time. They may have gatherings with friends on the 25th or spend this day also with the family and the extended family. In the USA, however, the main celebration with family and loved ones is on Christmas Day, the 25th. Also, as they usually spend Thanksgiving (the 4th Thursday in November) with the close family and may live far away from their parents and siblings, they may not be able to visit on Christmas, so it’s normal to spend it with close friends or host parties.

The day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day, which has different historic explanations and is now a day to start post-Christmas sales, but used to be a day to donate and spread joy to those who could not afford a grand celebration over the holidays. The 25th also marks the first of the “the twelve days of Christmas”, which runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings’ Day). Only then do people take out their decorations and return to their regular lives. I guess most families do the same in Brazil, right?

Relaxing and enjoying this time of the year is a very good preparation for the year to come. And we can all enjoy some downtime after everything that has happened in 2020.

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For you

Holiday songs playlist

Christmas for Children playlist

Christmas specials playlist

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For you

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