Speaking about festivals and celebrations- gerunds practice

Speaking about festivals and celebrations gerunds practice

Work in groups of two or three. Try to make statements using the sentence stems on the next page that you both agree on/ all agree on, including the name of the festival, ceremony or celebration that you are talking about each time.

Suggested festivals and celebrations to discuss

• April Fool’s Day
• baby shower
• birthday party
• carnival
• cherry blossom viewing (party)
• christening
• Christmas
• Easter
• engagement
• Father’s Day
• Gay Pride
• Halloween
• harvest festival
• lunar new year/ Chinese New Year
• mother’s day
• New Year
• Oktoberfest
• retirement
• Saint Patrick’s Day
• spring festival
• stag night/ hen night/ bachelor party
• summer festival
• Teachers’ Day
• Thanksgiving
• Valentine’s Day
• wedding anniversary
• wedding ceremony
• wedding reception/ wedding party

Share one of your sentences and see if other groups agree with that statement about that festival or celebration. Then ask about anything above or below you don’t understand, etc, working together to make suitable statements each time.

Sentences to discuss and complete

I enjoy _____________________ during ____________________________.

I don’t enjoy ____________________ during _________________________.

_____________________ is a nice thing to do during _________________.

______________________ is popular during ________________________.

_______________ during _______________________ is nice but unhealthy.

___________ during ____________________ is expensive (but it’s worth it).

I recommend ____________________ during ______________________.

_____________________ is traditional during _________________________.

___________________ is nice to do as a family during ________________.

_______________________ during _____________________ is tiring.

____________________ during ___________________________ is boring.

_______________________ during __________________________ is fun.

_______________________ during _________________________ is exciting.

Most people’s favourite activity during ____________ is ______________.

_________________ often causes arguments during ___________________.

I’m looking forward to ____________________ during _________________.

I always look forward to ________________ during ___________________.

The most important thing during __________________ is ______________

______________________ during _________________ makes me nervous.

______________ during ________________ make me ________________.

For young children, ________ is the most popular thing during ___________.

Gerunds to discuss and agree on

Without looking above, write statements you both/ all agree on using words from this page. You can’t change the words there at all, but you can put any words before and/ or after.

arguing/ having arguments

buying

congratulating people

cooking

dancing

doing something special at night

doing things for good luck/ doing things to take away bad luck

dressing up

drinking

eating special foods

eating… (for breakfast/ lunch/ dinner/ a snack)

exchanging

getting/ receiving

giving

giving speeches

going shopping/ going shopping for

going to bed late

hanging decorations

having a barbecue/ having a picnic

having a party

joining parades/ joining processions

lighting candles/ lighting

listening to (special) music

making (homemade)

meeting your extended family/ meeting your whole family/ meeting relations

meeting

playing

praying (for)

sending cards

setting off fireworks

staying at home

visiting

waking up early – waking up late

watching movies/ watching special TV programmes

watching parades/ watching processions

watching…

wearing special clothes

wearing…

Share one statements and see if other groups agree.

Ask about any lines you couldn’t make a sentence about, etc, working together as a class to make an example sentence each time.