❄️❄️ CHRISTMAS OFFERS 50% OFF ❄️❄️

Day(s)

:

Hour(s)

:

Minute(s)

:

Second(s)

#157 Valentine’s Day in the United States (rep) ESL

Listen to a new episode of Speak English Now Podcast, your favorite material for practicing your spoken and heard English. You will also learn about lifestyle and culture, language, vocabulary, and how to improve your English more effectively.

Transcript:

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody! I am Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

In today’s episode, I will talk about Valentine’s Day in the United States. And with a mini-story, you will improve your English speaking.

Remember! You can get the transcript at speakenglishpodcast.com.

Ok. Let’s get started!

Although it is a very commercial holiday, Valentine’s Day has a fascinating history that goes back to ancient Rome! In the United States and other parts of the world, people celebrate February 14 by giving away candy hearts and red roses.

Historians believe that Valentine’s Day originated in ancient Rome as a pagan fertility festival.

But despite its origins, in 1300, it officially became a holiday associated with love and romance.

The Roman Pope officially declared February 14, “Valentine’s Day.” It was then associated with love because many believed that birds began their mating season on February 14.

There was more than one St. Valentine.

There have been multiple St. Valentines throughout history, like a bishop and a pope.

But the most common one was the one who challenged Emperor Claudius II.

Back then, Claudius had forbidden marriage because he thought it would distract young soldiers.

However, Valentine disapproved, so he illegally married couples until he was captured.

After he was convicted, young couples would visit his cell and give him flowers and cards. It’s said that he died on February 14.

Let’s see how Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day nowadays.

Since 1840 sending cards became a tradition and Americans send out 145 million Valentine’s Day cards every year.

Americans spend a lot of money on Valentine’s Day

About 50% of Americans celebrate Valentine’s Day and spend about $19 billion a year, and over $2 billion on candy alone. That’s a lot of money, right?

But do you know where most of the money goes?

Americans spend almost 5 billion dollars on jewelry on Valentine’s Day!

They also spend more than $3.7 billion on going out at night, followed by flowers, clothes, and candy.

Ok. Now let’s get a bit romantic.

Nearly 6 million couples get engaged on Valentine’s Day.

[END of EXTRACT]

Get the FULL TEXT in PDF here.

Resources:

Recommended Material:

Fluency Course

Can you understand a conversation in English but still can’t speak? The Fluency course will help you speak English automatically. Learn how to speak English without translating mentally.

Fluency

1 Comment

  1. gabriel

    Thanks its very wonderfoul story

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

With Georgiana’s method  I have started speaking English from minute one and this is exactly what I needed. With the traditional method you will practice grammar, grammar and grammar, but with Georgiana’s method you will practice listening and speaking and in my opinion this is the most important thing when you are learning a new language. Ricardo

“Thanks to Georgiana, I have lost my fear of speaking English. I have eliminated my frustration and started to enjoy this language.” Miriam

“I did not study English when I was a child. I contacted Georgiana at a time when I felt blocked. She has helped me to lose my fear of speaking English.” Ana