SAINT PATRICK´S DAY: Communicative Activity: READING B1

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick"), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

To foster students´cultural awareness, to provide them with information about this national festivity as well as to make them practise their reading skills, I have elaborated the following activity.

It is based on the European Language Portfolio descriptor/subdescriptor for READING B1 level: (See Skills/Levels ELP DESCRIPTORS)

• Provided I can reread or use a dictionary if needed... I can find specific information, after a quick reading, in short texts such as: news in brief, for example, who did what and where. 

                        SAINT PATRICK´S DAY reading activity B1

A bit of history:

Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It celebrates the heritage and culture of the Irish in general. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Christians also attend church services and the Lenten restrictions on eating and drinking alcohol are lifted for the day, which has encouraged and propagated the holiday's tradition of alcohol consumption.

Saint Patrick's Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival. Modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. In recent years, there has been criticism of Saint Patrick's Day celebrations for having become too commercialized and for fostering negative stereotypes of the Irish.

Other Saint Patrick´s Day entry in the blog