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Unit Five Happy Birthday: Before You Listen

The document discusses birthday traditions and customs. It explains that birthdays are often celebrated with gifts, cakes with candles representing the person's age, and wishes. Parties include entertainment, cake, presents, and toasts. Additionally, it provides cultural notes on birthdays in America, including milestone ages and traditions surrounding sweet 16 parties. Brief histories of birthday celebrations and gifts are also summarized.

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Monica Ayu R
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51 views3 pages

Unit Five Happy Birthday: Before You Listen

The document discusses birthday traditions and customs. It explains that birthdays are often celebrated with gifts, cakes with candles representing the person's age, and wishes. Parties include entertainment, cake, presents, and toasts. Additionally, it provides cultural notes on birthdays in America, including milestone ages and traditions surrounding sweet 16 parties. Brief histories of birthday celebrations and gifts are also summarized.

Uploaded by

Monica Ayu R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Unit Five: Happy Birthday

UNIT FIVE
HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BEFORE YOU LISTEN

A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date


of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift,
party or rite of passage.

In many portions of the world an individual's birthday is celebrated by a


party where a specially made cake, usually decorated with lettering and the
person's age, is presented. The cake is traditionally studded with the same
number of lit candles as the age of the individual. The celebrated individual
makes a silent wish and attempts to blow out the candles in one breath; if
successful, it means the wish will be granted. In many cultures, the wish
must be kept secret, or it won't "come true". Presents are bestowed on the
individual by the guests appropriate to his/her age. Other birthday activities
include entertainment usually by a hired professional, i.e., a clown, magician
or musician, and a special toast or speech by the birthday celebrant.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday

²NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY!

Click the following link >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ddcS8hVm0M


<<< Then listen to it carefully. You may repeat it several times.

13
Unit Five: Happy Birthday

AFTER YOU LISTEN

Cultural Note:
 In America people celebrate the birthdays of famous people such as Martin
Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Birthdays are
celebrated more for the children than for the adults, unless it is a milestone
birthday such as 21, 30, 40 or 50. Furthermore, in the United States the sweet
sixteen party is held for the girls. The symbol for the sweet sixteen party is sugar.

Source: http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/usabirthdays.htm

 Americans like to celebrate, and rarely more so than on their birthdays.


Expect cake, balloons and presents at any birthday party you attend in America.
And if you attend parties for Americans turning one of the five ages below, you
should know that they have hit a significant milestone in their lives. They are
age 5, 13, 16, 18 and 21.

For further reading, go to:


http://www.universitylanguage.com/guides/important-birthdays-and
milestones-in-american-lives/

14
Unit Five: Happy Birthday

— Do You Know?

Birthday History
History of Birthday observance can be traced back before the rise of Christianity. In
pagan culture it was believed evil spirits visited people on their birthdays. To protect
the person having birthday from the evil effect, people used to surround him and
make merry. A lot of noise used to be created in such parties to scare away the evil
spirits. In those times there was no tradition of bringing gifts and guests attending
the birthday party would bring good wishes for the birthday person. However, if a
guest did bring gifts it was considered to be a good sign for the person of honor.
Later, flowers became quite popular as a Birthday gift.

For further reading, go to:


http://www.tokenz.com/history-of-birthday.html

15

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