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Topic 24 of 60

Discussion picture Discussion questions Key words

Picture warm-up

1. What do you see in this picture?
2. Who are these people, and what are they doing?
3. Does this look like your life here, or in your home country? How is it the same or different?

Discussion questions

1. What is the most important holiday in your home country? How do people celebrate it?
2. Which American holiday do you enjoy most? Why?
3. How did you celebrate your first Thanksgiving or Fourth of July?
4. Do you still celebrate holidays from your home country here? How?
5. What holiday foods are special in your culture?
6. Do people give gifts on holidays in your culture? Which holidays?
7. Is it hard to be away from family during holidays?
8. What do you think about Halloween?
9. Are American holidays too commercial? Why or why not?
10. What new holiday would you like to create?
11. Do you get time off from work for your cultural or religious holidays?
12. How do people celebrate New Year’s in your home country?
13. What holiday decorations do you like?
14. What is something you are thankful for this year?
15. What holiday would you like Americans to learn about from your culture?

Key words

Say the word, then read the example sentence out loud.

• celebrate
  We celebrate Eid with a big family meal.
• tradition
  Eating turkey is a Thanksgiving tradition.
• decorate
  We decorate the house with lights.
• fireworks
  We watched fireworks on the Fourth of July.
• parade
  There is a parade downtown on Memorial Day.
• feast
  The family prepared a huge feast.
• gift
  I bought gifts for my nieces.
• federal holiday
  Labor Day is a federal holiday.
• thankful
  I’m thankful for my health and my family.
• costume
  My kids wore costumes for Halloween.
• religious
  Christmas is a religious holiday for many people.
• time off
  I asked for time off for the holidays.
• gathering
  Holidays are a time for family gatherings.
• commercial
  Some people think Valentine’s Day is too commercial.
• festival
  The spring festival has music and dancing.

Next topic: 25. Birthdays & Parties

Topic chosen by comparing popular ESL conversation resources (see How these topics were chosen). Questions and example sentences are original to this collection. Translations are a guide and should be reviewed by a fluent speaker.