The Book

of Days
A resource book of activities for special days in the year

Adrian Wallwork
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP, United Kingdom

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, United Kingdom
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia

© Cambridge University Press 1999

The pages in this book marked The Book of Days PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University
Press 1999 may be photocopied free of charge for classroom use by the purchasing individual or
institution. This permission to copy does not extend to branches or additional schools of an
institution. All other copying is subject to permission from the publisher.

First published 1999

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

ISBN 0 521 62612 9 Resource Book

ISBN 0 521 62611 0 Cassette Set
Contents
Acknowledgements 4

Map of The Book of Days 5

Teacher’s Introduction 7

Bibliography 9

DAY 1 New Year’s Day January 1 (Europe + America) 10

DAY 2 Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday January 15 14
DAY 3 Valentine’s Day February 14 16
DAY 4 Carnival before Lent (most Christians) 20
DAY 5 Fasting March/April (Christians), others: varies 22
DAY 6 Women’s Day March 8 24
DAY 7 Mother’s Day GB: 4th Sunday in Lent, others: 2nd Sunday in May 28
DAY 8 Easter March/April 30
DAY 9 April Fools’ Day April 1 (Innocents’ Day: Dec 28) 34
DAY 10 May 1 May 1 38
DAY 11 Buddha’s Birthday April/May 40
DAY 12 Children’s Day US: 2nd Sunday in June (Japan: Jan 15, Mar 3) 42
DAY 13 Father’s Day GB: 3rd Sunday in June (Catholic: Mar 19) 44
DAY 14 Summer Solstice June 21 – longest day of year 46
DAY 15 Independence Day US: July 4 48
DAY 16 Diwali Hindu/Sikh: September/October 52
DAY 17 Reunification Day October 3 (Germany, + ex-Communist) 54
DAY 18 Teachers’ Day October 5 – World Teachers’ Day 58
DAY 19 Columbus Day October 12 62
DAY 20 United Nations’ Day October 24 64
DAY 21 Halloween October 31 66
DAY 22 Day of the Dead November 2 (Catholics) 70
DAY 23 Guy Fawkes’ Night November 5 (UK) 72
DAY 24 Remembrance Day November 11 (2nd Sunday in November) 74
DAY 25 Thanksgiving US: 4th Thursday of November 78
DAY 26 Winter Solstice December 21 – shortest day of the year 82
DAY 27 Christmas December 25 84
DAY 28 Birthdays – 90
DAY 29 Wedding Day – 96
DAY 30 Days of the Week Fridays 102
Appendix 106
DAY 1 New Year’s Day A
A Welcome to One World, which tonight comes to you
from Edinburgh in Scotland. First let me
Date January 1 (different for some religions) introduce our guest, Fiona Macdonald, who’s going
Level intermediate to be talking about New Years’ Festivals in Japan and
Age all ages China. So do they have anything in common with
Time Ex 1 20–30 minutes what goes on here in Scotland?
Ex 2 15 minutes B Well, in Scotland we only celebrate for one day,
whereas in Japan they basically eat, drink and visit
Ex 3 15 minutes
shrines for three days, and the Chinese have five
Grammar Ex 2 going to for future intentions
days’ national holiday.
Vocabulary celebrate, greetings card, resolutions, give up,
A Five days? But not in January?
predictions, calendar, shrine, temple, spring,
B The Japanese have the same calendar as us, so they
pocket money, lump of coal, disguise, Pope,
start on January the first. But in China they use the
Jewish, Druids
lunar calendar, so it varies from year to year. It’s
actually called a spring festival and was the time
when farmers and peasants used to rest physically
1 New Year celebrations and spiritually before sowing the seeds.
Listening 1 A I’ve heard that in Japan nearly everyone sends cards
at New Year, whereas we generally send our cards
• Hand out photocopies and begin by playing the song
at Christmas. Is that true of China too?
Auld Lang Syne (roughly translated: for old times’ sake).
Find out if anyone has heard it before or recognises the B I’m not sure that they do, actually. But one thing
tune. It is sung at midnight on Hogmanay, the Scottish both countries have in common is that they give
last day of the year. Scotland celebrates New Year’s Eve their children pocket money. Many Chinese also
much more extensively than the rest of the UK. The wear new clothes as a way of leaving behind the
version of the song sung today was made famous by old year and all its misfortunes.
the Scottish poet Robert Burns, though he was not the A So it’s a kind of ritual to bring good luck?
original author. When singing Auld Lang Syne, it is B Of course in Scotland we have the tradition of ‘first
traditional for everyone to link arms in a circle, as in footing’, you know, when the first person to visit
the illustration. your house in the New Year should be handsome
• Students then read the texts, and discuss what their and dark haired.
New Year has in common with New Year in Iran and A And a man.
Vietnam, and whether the first day of spring might be B Yes, not a woman, because in some communities
a more sensible time for the New Year to begin. they were thought to bring bad luck. And this man
was supposed to bring a lump of coal, a lump of
Listening 2 bread and a bottle of whisky.
• Students are going to hear a studio-recorded talk A What about resolutions? This year I’ve decided to
show, where the guest is a Scottish woman comparing give up smoking, like I do almost every year.
the New Year in Scotland with New Year celebrations Do the Chinese and Japanese go in for this kind
in China and Japan. Focus students’ attention on the of thing?
table. They can either answer the questions in relation
B Not really, no, but they do make predictions for the
to their own country, or, in preparation for listening,
future. For instance, at the Japanese shrines and
try and guess some of the answers for Scotland, China
temples you can find out your fortune from some
and Japan.
little bits of paper. Then at 12 o’clock they ring a
• Play the recording and point out that not all the table gong in a temple 108 times, to send away the 108
can be filled in. evil desires in the Buddhist religion.

c SCOTLAND CHINA JAPAN

1 Jan 1 varies Jan 1
2 ? no – agricultural yes (shrines/
temples)
3 1 day 5 days 3 days
4 ? (no, only at Christmas) ? yes
5 ? ? ?
6 first footing pocket money pocket money
new clothes
7 ? ? ?
8 ? ? yes
9 ? (yes) ? yes
10 Auld Lang Syne ? ring a gong

10
 DAY 1 New Year’s Day
Scots celebrate the
New Year by singing
1 New Year celebrations Auld Lang Syne.
Auld Lang Syne
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and days o’ lang syne?
For auld lang syne my dear,
for auld land syne:
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Then here’s a hand my trusty fiere 1,
and gie’s a hand o’ thine.
We’ll tak’ a right guid-willie waught 2,
for auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne my dear,
for auld lang syne:
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet,
1
for auld lang syne. friend
2
Robert Burns drink

New Year in Iran is called Nowruz and it always begins The Tet, our Vietnamese New Year, is
on the first day of spring. Nowruz celebrates the death the most important celebration in
of the old year and the rebirth of the new: Good versus Vietnam. Many people are superstitious
Evil. A few weeks before the New Year, we clean our and we make predictions for the new
houses. We make new clothes and cook delicious foods. year depending on what animal noise
People disguise themselves with make-up, wear brightly we hear first, or on who is the first
coloured clothes, and sing and dance in the streets. person to visit our house. We light
We visit all our friends, and we send cards to those candles to our guardian gods and they
Iranians who live in other countries. make reports on us in heaven.
(Sorayah Parsi, Iran) (Ngo Dai Len, Vietnam)

Your country Scotland China Japan

1 When is it?
2 Is it a religious festival?
3 How long do celebrations last?
4 Do people send greetings cards?
5 Is it a time for visiting relatives?
6 What do people do to bring good luck?
7 What typical foods are eaten?
8 Do people dance/drink a lot?
9 Do they make predictions or resolutions?
10 What happens at midnight on New Year’s Eve?

The Book of Days PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press 1999 11

DAY 1 New Year’s Day

2 Resolutions has been celebrated in England, and, finally, about

when different countries adopted the Gregorian
• Tell students that in Britain people make resolutions Calendar.
on New Year’s Eve about what they plan to do or give
up in the coming year. Tell the class one of your own
resolutions (e.g. This year I’m really going to listen c 2 Druid Nov 1, Anglo-Saxon Dec 25, Middle Ages Mar 25
when my children/husband/partner talk(s) to me). 3 England 1752, Greece 1923, Russia 1918, Scotland 1600
4 Do you know ...? A year is exactly 365.242199 days long,
• Hand out photocopies. Students first do the listening
i.e. 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds.
exercise and then answer the questions at the top of
their page.

Listening 3 A
• Students hear four teenagers’ resolutions for the New In England the New Year hasn’t always begun on
Year. They should simply note down what the January 1st. Halloween was the Druids’ New Year’s Eve
resolutions are. After listening, elicit which festival, so what is now our November 1st would have
construction is used to make resolutions – going to. been their New Year. The Anglo Saxons then fixed the
beginning of the year to coincide approximately with
c Boy 1: give up chocolate;
Girl 1: be more organised;
the sun’s rebirth on around December 25th. Then
most of Europe switched their New Year to the
Boy 2: stop lying to parents, and stop eating beefburgers;
beginning of spring. So, for many years, March 25th
Girl 2: give up junk food and eat more healthily.
was New Year’s Day.
In fact most of Europe had been following the Julian
A calendar, which had been designed under the
A Well, I think this year I’m going to try and give up instructions of the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. But
chocolate. this calendar was too long by over 11 minutes a year, and
B Are you? after a number of centuries this amounted to 10 days.
So in the 16th century Pope Gregory the 13th had a new
A Yeah, because I eat so much of it. And you know, it
might make me fat or spotty or something, so I calendar designed which revised the concept of leap
think I should, you know, see if I can give it up. years and set the beginning of the year to January 1st.
Most of Europe then adopted this new calendar in
B I’d never be able to do that.
around 1582, even though it meant cancelling 10 days.
A What about you, what are you going to do?
B I’m definitely going to become more organised The Scots changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1600,
from 12 o’clock tonight, definitely. as it was obvious that any trading with other countries
A I’ll believe that when I see it. would be chaotic if they kept to the old Julian calendar.
B It’s true. But the English held out until 1752 since they resented
a Catholic pope telling them what to do. The Russians
C I’ve got two. I’m going to try, the first one I’m
going try and stop lying to my parents, because I’m waited till 1918, and the Greeks till 1923. Eastern
constantly lying to them, all the time. And the Orthodox churches and the Ethiopians still use the
second, I’ve got to stop eating beefburgers. Julian calendar, which is why they celebrate Christmas
[Why?] I can’t stop eating them. and Easter approximately two weeks later than other
D I always I always find that I eat too much junk food Christians.
and and like McDonald’s and beefburgers and
things like you say. I’ve got to start giving up that
i
and eat more more healthily, and eat more fruit
and vegetables and stuff like that. I always say I’m While most countries of the world have adopted the western
going to do that, never do. Gregorian calendar for commercial purposes, some have still
retained their old calendars for religious uses. Let’s imagine that in
the West we are in the year 2000. The Hindu calendar is then in
3 Which New Year? the year 2056. The Muslim calendar is based on lunar years and
begins in 622, the year when the Muslim prophet travelled from
• In multinational groups ask students to discuss what Mecca to Medina, so that our 2000 is their 1421. The Jewish system
system their calendar follows and when their is based on the year the world was created, which was 3761 years
New Year is. before the beginning of the Christian era. Their year lasts from 354
• Focus attention on the calendar for October 1582. Ask to 385 days, thus they are in the year 5771.
students what they notice about it and get them to
hypothesise on what happened to the missing ten days.
Then do the listening task.

Listening 4
Students hear an explanation for October 1582. They
also hear about the different days on which New Year

12
 DAY 1 New Year’s Day

2 Resolutions
1 Did you make any resolutions last year? What were they? Did you keep them?
2 What do you regret (not) having done last year?
3 What were the best/worst things that happened to you last year?
4 What three important things are going to happen to you in the coming year?
5 Is it important to make resolutions, and to have aims and ambitions in your life?

3 Which New Year?

1 Look at this calendar for October, 1582. What do you notice?

1582 OCTOBER 1582

M T W T F S S

1 2 3 4 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

2 New Year hasn’t always begun on January 1. Complete the table.

New Year’s Day

Modern New Year January 1

Druid New Year

Anglo-Saxon New Year

New Year in the Middle Ages

3 In which year did the following countries change over to the Gregorian calendar?

Catholic Europe 1582

England

Greece

Russia

Scotland

4 Do you know exactly how long a year is? How many days, hours, etc?

The Book of Days PHOTOCOPIABLE © Cambridge University Press 1999 13