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RUSSIAN
HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS
Every country has customs and traditions. I want to tell you
about some holidays and traditions of my country.
Russians really love holidays. We usually celebrate them with a
lot of food, presents and in big companies of relatives and
friends.
There are three types of holidays in Russia. They are family
holidays, state holidays and religious holidays.
Let me tell you about family holidays first. They include
birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and others. Each family has
its own traditions of celebrating this or that holiday. For
example, my family celebrates my birthday for two days. On the
first day I celebrate it with my parents, grandparents, my uncle
and aunt. The second day of celebration is only for my close
friends. They usually come in a big group with a lot of
presents. I like my birthday very much.
State or public holidays in Russia include Constitution Day, New
Year's Day, the International Women's Day, May Day, Victory Day
and Russia Day. During these holidays, people do not work. They
spend time with their families and friends or go to the centre
of big cities to celebrate there. Banks, companies and some
shops do not work on these days either.
New Year's Day is the major holiday in Russia. We put up a New
Year tree and decorate it with colourful toys and glass balls.
The main fir-tree of the country is put up in the State Kremlin
Palace. Small fir trees are put up in shop windows, in streets
and squares, even on roofs of buildings. A lot of people like
buying natural fir trees, others prefer plastic ones. Children
like the holiday a lot. They can stay up late and then get their
presents. At ten minutes to midnight on the 31st of December
families gather in front of the TV-set and watch the president
making his traditional speech. After the clock on the main tower
of the Kremlin strikes midnight, everybody says Happy New Year
and drinks champagne. After that the time for presents comes.
Russian children believe that Father Frost brings presents.
After all the presents are given out, Russians have fun, drink,
eat, and play games all night long.
Victory Day is a very important holiday for Russian history. On
this day we remember those who protected our country from the
German invaders during World War II. A great parade is held on
this day in Red Square. Numerous war and patriotic films are
shown on television. On this day people congratulate veterans
and give them flowers.
The so-called religious holidays include Christmas, Easter and
others. There is also a pagan holiday — Shrovetide or Pancake
Day. These holidays are not state, so people usually work and
study on these days. At Shrovetide, people see spring in, eat
pancakes and burn a scarecrow, which symbolizes winter.
Russian Christmas is celebrated on the 7th of January, but there
is no exact date for Easter, it is different every year.
Nowadays foreign celebrations are becoming more and more popular
in Russia. They are Halloween and St. Valentine's Day. On
Halloween Day some clubs organize parties and masquerades. St.
Valentine's Day is mostly popular with young people. They
usually buy presents for their girlfriends and boyfriends such
as chocolate and sweets and make greeting cards in the shape of
a heart.
I like Russian holidays and look forward to celebrating each of
them!
Vocabulary:
anniversary [l£emlv3:s(3)n] юбилей
close friend ['klauz Trend] близкий друг
custom ['kAstam] традиция
Easter [i:sts] Пасха
family holidays ['fsemili'rmbdeiz] семейные праздники
fir tree [Тз:Ш:] елка
in the shape of a heart [Xerpava'hait] в форме сердца
masquerade [maeska'reid] маскарад
pagan holiday ['peigan 'httladei] языческий праздник
public holidays ['рлЫгк httbderz] народные праздники
put up ['put4p] ставить (елку)
relative ['rebtrv] родственник
religious holidays [n'hdsas'httbderz] религиозные праздники
scarecrow ['skeakrau] чучело
see spring in [sii'sprm'm] встречать весну
speech ['spi:tf] речь
state holidays ['steit'rmbderz] государственные праздники
strike [straik] бить (о часах)
wedding ['wedirj] свадьба
Questions:
1. What are the three types of holidays in Russia?
2. What are family holidays? How does your family celebrate
them?
3. What are the state holidays in Russia?
4. What is the maj or holiday in the country? What do Russians
do on this day? What are the traditions of this holiday?
5. What is Victory Day and when is it celebrated?
6. What do religious holidays include? How are they celebrated?
7. What foreign celebrations are there in Russia?
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