Belarusian Customs and Traditions (Q&A)
1. Let’s talk about Belarusian customs and traditions. What can you tell me
about your favorite Belarusian holiday?
2.
Are you proud of our national holidays and traditions?
To begin I would
like to point out that Belarus has exciting and fascinating customs and
traditions. I love all kinds of holidays but most of all I admire the national
traditions connected with them. My best loved holidays are New Year with a New
Year tree, Christmas with plenty of delicious food to eat and Easter with red
eggs and an Easter pie. The preparation for these holidays starts long before
they come. Thus about a fortnight before the New Year streets are decorated
with colourful lights. Shops are filled with people buying gifts. Christmas
trees are decorated with colorful ornaments and twinkling lights. On New Year’s Eve
we have a special dinner with lots of tasty food, we put on our best outfits or
dress up.
Kupala holiday,
which occurs on the day of summer solstice 7 July (the seventh of July) is one
of the most poetic and mysterious holidays in Belarus. Girls gather flowers and
weave wreaths at dawn, they throw their wreaths into the river. People light
bonfires, perform traditional dances, sing folk songs and jump over the fire.
One of the culminating moments of the event is the search for a magic
fern-flower in the forest. As the old legend says this flower blossoms only
once a year, on ‟Kupalle”, and the one who
finds It will be happy for the rest of his life.
There are two very
special holidays in the country: the Eighth of March and the Ninth of May. On
the Eighth of March women are traditionally presented with flowers and gifts
and words of love and respect are addressed to them. The Ninth of May is both a
happy and a sad day. On this day we celebrate our victory over fascism in the
Great Patriotic War and at the same time pay tribute to those who gave up their
lives for the liberation of our motherland. Deep respect and warm gratitude are
shown to war veterans. The day is made special by a military parade in the
morning. Children wave flags and people cheer. It is a moving occasion and
everyone feels proud. There are grand fireworks at night.
To conclude I’d
like to stress that it is important to keep and remember our national
traditions.
3.
What questions can you ask a friend about his/her last New Year
celebration?
1) Did you
celebrate New Year’s Day with your family or with your friends?
2) Where did you
celebrate it?
3) What present did
you get?
4) Did you make any New Year resolutions?
5) What is your idea of a perfect New Year’s Day?
4.
What national souvenirs will you recommend a tourist to buy in Belarus?
Belarusian
people are very talented and hard-working. We can do different things from
wood, for example wooden spoons, but foreigners like Belarusian flax bedclothes
and straw things: dolls, flowers and bells. You can buy all these souvenirs in
the shop ‟Pavlinka.”
Belarus has
long been famous for its linen fabrics, symbolic
rushnyks (embroidered towels), unique products made of straw, clay and wood, valenki (felt boots)
and hats made of sheepskin.
Belarus boasts organic dairy and meat products, an
extraordinary variety of potato dishes, delicious and
savory bread, original alcoholic drinks with herbs, sweets made from apples and health-giving cranberry.
5. Do you think it is
important to follow our grandparents’ traditions? Why?
I
think it’s very important to follow our grandparents’ traditions, because we
should know our historic roots and national culture. And we should speak the
Belarusian language. It’s necessary if we don’t want to lose our identity and
culture.
References:
• Your English Exam Support:
Подготовка к экзамену по английскому языку: пособие для учащихся учреждений
общего среднего образования / [сост. Н.А. Сергиенко]. – Мозырь: Белый Ветер, 2015. – 97, [3] с.
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