Mireia's English Blog

By Khokarahman (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

What do you know about Diwali?

True or false?

1. Diwali is a 5-day festival
2. It is celebrated by millions of Hindus across the world
3. Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness
4. Leicester (UK) has one of the biggest Diwali celebrations outside of India
5. People celebrate Diwali by lighting up lamps
6. There are fireworks
7. Gifts are exchanged

Now watch this video (video 1) and correct the false statements or those statements which are only partially true.

What’s it all about?
Hindus celebrate the return of deities Rama and Sita to Ayodhya after their 14-year exile. They also celebrate the day Mother Goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha.
Sikhs particularly celebrate the release from prison of the sixth guru Hargobind Singh in 1619. But Sikhs celebrated the festival before this date.
In fact, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the most holy place in the Sikh world, was laid on Diwali in 1577.

Now watch this video (video 2) with more information about Diwali and answer: Why is Diwali so important to these girls?

By The Local People Photo Archive [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

In teams of 4, you will prepare a presentation on a festival.

To do your presentation, think about:

1. Origins.

2. When, Where and How it is celebrated.

3. Are there any songs and/or dances connected to it?

4. Is there any typical food connected to it?

5. Are there any games connected to it?

4. Has the Festival / Celebration been depicted in movies, TV series and/or books?

5. Is this festival / celebration celebrated worldwide with the same name or with a different name (even a different date) and with some slight changes?

Remember to include bibliography, webgraphy and to use images labeled for reuse.

Do not copy paste from the Internet. Use your own words.

Do not fill your slides with too much text, just facts and figures and key words. You can use index cards to remember what you want to explain. 

When delivering the presentation, feel confident, make eye contact with your audience and smile at them, be sure to have inflection in your voice so that you engage listeners, use hand motions and beware of your body language.

Don’t forget to include a table of contents at the beginning.

List of Festivals & Celebrations:

• May Day
• Notting Hill Carnival
• Hogmanay
• Calennig
• Guy Fawkes Night
• The 4th of July
• St Patrick’s Day
• St David’s Day
• New Orleans Mardi Gras
• Hanukkah
• Valentine’s Day
• Halloween