Read and speak about American traditions to celebrate St. Valentine’s Day.

Festival of Romance and Affection

Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th as a festival of romance and affection. People send greeting cards called “valentines” to their friends, sweethearts, and members of their families.

Many valentines have romantic poems; others are humorous. But almost all valentines ask “Be My Valentine”. This may mean be my friend or be my love or be my companion. Valentines often show a cupid with an arrow. Cupid, also called Eros, was an ancient Roman god of love.

Valentine’s Day is not a legal holiday; schools and banks are open as usual. Merchants sell valentines and decorations for valentine parties and dances. All the decorations are bright red, and the most popular ones are heart shaped.

Schoolchildren decorate their classrooms with bright red paper hearts and celebrate the day in their classroom. They also make valentine cards for their friends and parents. Red is the color most often used in valentines because it is a symbol of warmth and feelings. This is the reason that red roses have long been the symbol of love. Pink is a mixture of red and white and is quite commonly used also. White is the symbol of purity and is a color often used in valentines. It is believed that the bridal veil may have inspired the use of lace on valentines.

Stores advertise heavily for this holiday since it is traditional for sweethearts, spouses, and members of the family to exchange gifts on Valentine’s Day. Heart shaped boxes of candy, jewelry and flowers are some of the popular gifts given on this day. Many newspapers carry advertisements or messages placed by people in love. Both men and women want to let their sweethearts know how much they love them. On Valentine’s Day, many radio stations play romantic music all day long. One very famous song is called “My Funny Valentine”.

Valentine’s Day is a day to share loving feelings with friends and family. It has become traditional for many couples to become engaged on this day. Also, famous couples are remembered. Some of them are Romeo and Juliet, Caesar and Cleopatra, among others. This is a happy day because it is specially dedicated to celebrate love, affection and friendship.

Tasks

Match words with similar meanings.

romance a. boyfriend; girlfriend
affection b. love
humorous c. tenderness; warm feelings
decorate d. make attractive
merchant e. wife or husband
spouse f. emotions
feelings g. funny
companion h. celebration
festival i. storekeeper
sweetheart j. friend

Cross out the phrases or words that don’t belong.

humorous serious funny light-hearted comic
affection a hug a kiss holding hands anger
merchant customer salesperson seller florist
feelings love anger homework happiness
companion a person a friend a car a roommate
festival a party a celebration a funeral a parade
sweetheart boyfriend enemy wife husband
spouse husband mate parent wife
decorations paper hearts flowers pictures dresses
romance relationship affair love fight

Select the word that best completes the sentence.

On the classrooms walls there are (celebrations, decorations, festivals).
Valentine(s Day is a celebration of love and (romance, decorations, parents).
Valentine’s cards have messages of (affection, humorous, share).
It is traditional to send flowers to (celebrate, spouses, dedicate) on Valentine’s Day.
On this day people share feelings of affection with friends, family and (flowers, affection, companions).
(Sweethearts, spouses, merchants) decorate their stores with red hearts and cupids on Valentine’s Day.
This is a day to celebrate (feelings, humorous, decorations) of friendship and love.
Some Valentine cards are funny; they have (loving, humorous, romance) messages.
Lupercalia was an ancient Roman (sharing, god, festival).
Many people call people they love (sweethearts, romance, spouse).

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words (change into the past tense as needed).

Romeo and Juliet loved each other very much; but their parents didn’t know it. They had a secret ______________ .
The young man got married. Now he was a ______________ .
Mary likes John very much. She has good ______________ toward him.
The grandmother asked her grandchild to go with her on the trip to Washington. She asked her to be her travelling ______________ .
The high-school students decided to have a large party to celebrate the Spring. It was a beautiful ______________ .
Martin told Helen: “I have warm feelings for you”. He feels ______________ for her.
Everybody laughed when they heard the story. It was very ______________ .
The couple were very much in love. They called each other ______________ .
The owners of the stores formed a group association. It is a group of ______________ .

Select the correct word form to complete each sentence.

Noun – romance, festival, humor, decoration, affection.

Adjective – romantic, festive, humorous, decorated, affectionate.

1.It is a (romance, romantic) poem.

2. The spring party was a (festival, festive) occasion.

3. The TV comedy was full of humor, humorous).

4. The Christmas tree was (decorated, decoration) with colored lights.

5. He wrote a message of (affection, affectionate).

Match the famous couples.

1.Carmen 8. Tarzan a. Batsheba h. Kermit the Frog

2.Adam 9. Grace Kelly b. Josephine i. Prince Rainier

3.Lady Di 10.Rhett Butler c. Jane j. Orpheus

4.Napoleon 11.Cho-Cho-San d. Eve k. Scarlet O’Hara

5.David 12.Sophia Loren e. Prince Charles l. Captain Pinkerton

6.John Lennon 13.Euridice f. Don Jose m. Carlo Ponti

7.Miss Piggy g.Yoko

Fill in the blanks with words:

name leaves pieces water appear window chant graveyard sunrise rise future

brave dream riser

Love Lore

Girls, would you like to know the (1) ___________ of your true love? If you are (2) ___________, you can go to a (3) ___________ on St. Valentine’s Eve at midnight, sing a certain (4) ___________ and run around the church twelve times. This is supposed to make your truelove (5) ___________. If graveyards are not for you, you can write the names of boys on (6) ___________ of paper, roll the pieces up in bits of clay and place them in (7) ___________. The first one to (8) ___________ to the top will have the name of your truelove on it. If you would like to (9) ___________ of your truelove, pin five bay (10) ___________ on your pillow on St. Valentine’s Eve. If you are an early (11) ___________, you can get up before (12) ___________ on Valentine’s Day and stand at your (13) ___________. The first man that you see, or someone who looks like him, is destined to be your (14) ___________ husband.

Fill in the blanks with words:

merged love forbade secretly worship signed friends authorities cured prison couples legend saints cell

Saint Valentine

Some (1) ___________ associate Valentine’s Day with one or more (2) ___________ of the early Christian Church. Over the years the various Valentines (3) ___________ into one. Many legends have been handed down about St. Valentine. One (4) ___________ says that he (5) ___________ married young (6) ___________ even though the emperor (7) ___________young men to marry.

Another story says Valentine was a Christian who made (8) ___________ with many children. When he was put in (9 ___________ for refusing to (10) the Roman gods, the children tossed (11) ___________ notes into his (12)___________ .

One more legend says that Valentine (13) ___________ the jailor’s daughter of blindness and fell in love with her. Supposedly, he sent her a letter which he (14) ___________, “From your Valentine”.