This page has been downloaded from www.reward-english.net. It is photocopiable,but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2003 elem–pre-int

Worksheet A

Valentine’s Day1. What do you know about the origin of Valentine’s Day? Read

the text and find out how it all started.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated in honour of a 3rd centuryRoman priest named Valentine. The Emperor at that time,Claudius II, banned marriages because he believed unmarriedmen made better soldiers. Valentine didn’t accept this law andmarried couples in secret. When the Emperor found out,Valentine was sentenced to death. While he was in prison, hefell in love with the jailer’s daughter and just before he wasput to death, on 14th February, he wrote a final message to herand signed it ‘From your Valentine’. Not long after his death,Valentine was made a saint.

The story of Valentine spread and it soon became traditionto send a card to the person you secretly admired. Thecards were always signed ‘From your Valentine’. Thefirst commercial, mass-produced cards appeared in themid 1800s.

Today, we send over a billion Valentine cards each year.Seventy percent of them are sent by women.

Artwork © Nova Development Corporation

As well as Valentine’s Dayon 14th February, we have another special

day called ‘Black Day’ on 14th April. This is for peoplewithout boyfriends or girlfriends. On this day, people havenoodles with their friends. The noodles are black, so that

is why it is called Black Day.(Suk, Korea)

When we were children at school,it was always a competition tosee who got the most cards on

Valentine’s Day. (Lee, USA)

In Taiwan, men giveflowers to their loved ones. A single

red rose means I like you, 11 roses meansyou are my favourite, 99 means forever

and 108 red roses means marry me.(Mai, Taiwan)

2. Read about these Valentinetraditions from around the world.Are any similar in your country?Are there any more Valentinetraditions in your country?

On 14th February it’s atradition that the first person youspeak to will be your Valentine. Youhave to be careful who you talk to!

(Karen, England)

British newspapershave pages and pages of Valentine

messages that people have sent in.It’s fun to read them. (Fiona,

Scotland)

Worksheet B

3. Are you the perfect Valentine? Complete the questionnaire to find out.

This page has been downloaded from www.reward-english.net. It is photocopiable,but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2003 elem–pre-int

1. Your partner suggests doingsomething special one evening.Which do you prefer?a. Staying at home and cooking

your favourite meal togetherb. A candle-lit dinner in a

restaurantc. McDonalds and then a film

2. Which is the most romantic toyou? a. A moonlit walk on a beachb. Going to the moviesc. Watching your favourite soap

opera on TV together

3. What’s the perfect Valentine’s giftfor your partner?a. Me, of courseb. A box of chocolates and flowersc. A surprise weekend by the sea

4. Do you believe in love at firstsight?a. Yesb. I used toc. No

5. When you send flowers, do you ...a. order a dozen red roses?b. have a bouquet made up in your

partner’s favourite colours? c. buy a bunch at the supermarket

checkout counter?

6. Your partner is coming to dinner.What music do you put on in thebackground? a. Classical b. Romantic movie theme tunes c. Drum ‘n’ bass

7. Where would you like to go onyour honeymoon? a. The Football World Cup Finalsb. Disneyland c. Paris

8. What have you done with your oldValentine cards?a. Kept them allb. Kept a few special onesc. Thrown them all away

Score as follows:1. a.1, b.2, c.0 2. a.2, b.0, c.03. a.0, b.1, c.2 4. a.2, b.1, c.05. a.1, b.2, c.0 6. a.2, b.0, c.07. a.0, b.0, c.2 8. a.1, b.2, c.0

12–16 You are hopelesslyromantic. Will you be myValentine?

8–12 You know what romance is,but you’re not very good at it. Youneed to try a bit harder. Go andwatch a few more weepy movies.

0–8 Oh dear! You’ve got a lot tolearn about romance. Go and dothe questionnaire again.Seriously though, you are morelikely to have a long-lastingrelationship than those whoscored higher than you!

Artwork © Nova Development Corporation

Teacher’s notesTask

To find out about the history of Valentine’s Day and some of its contemporary traditions around theworld.

To complete a light-hearted Valentine’s questionnaire.

Preparation

One copy of worksheets A and B for each student.

Procedure

1. Ask the students what they know about the origin and history of Valentine’s Day. You could askthem to discuss this in pairs or small groups. Give the students a copy of worksheet A and askthem to read the text. Ask some students to report to the class what they have read. You couldask questions about the text to elicit the information and to check comprehension.

2. Ask the students to read the extracts about the Valentine traditions. You could ask questionsabout the extracts to elicit the information and to check comprehension. Ask the students todiscuss the Valentine traditions of their country. Then ask them to report anything interestingfrom these discussions to the class.

3. If you feel it is appropriate for your students, ask them to do the questionnaire on worksheet B.They could exchange their completed questionnaires for scoring and for the analysis to be given.

Websites

For more information about Valentine’s Day, visit the following websites:www.stvalentines.netwww.holidays.net/amore/www.howstuffworks.com/valentine.htmvalentinenet.com/traditions.htm

This page has been downloaded from www.reward-english.net. It is photocopiable,but all copies must be complete pages. Copyright © Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2003 elem–pre-int