37169 kiss me im irish

Colegio Laico Angol
Idioma Extranjero Inglés 8° año Básico
Profesor: Macarena Arévalo Alarcón

UNIT 4: Cultural elements Part 2.

Reading Lesson

Kiss me I’m Irish

Name: ________________________________ Grade: ___________________ Date: _______________________

Warm up: Let’s start.
This is a reading lesson, so that we are going to learn
vocabulary and practice your reading skills. Pay attention to
the instructions given by your teacher.

Objectives:
• To read a text related to Irish folk.
• To know the use of sequence in a text using connectors.
• To respect other culture.

Let’s have fun learning English!

Before reading activities:
I.

Let’s answer the following questions:

1. Do you like other countries’ mythology? ___________________________________________________________________
2. What famous legends do you know? ______________________________________________________________________

Irish Folk
Irish folktales and Celtic tales were put down in writing mainly in the 1800s. They are oral fictional tales of the
Irish-speaking districts, originally told in various dialects. These stories talk about semidivine, dwarfish beings and persons
they met, and other incidents. Some of these beings have their roots in Celtic mythology.

The Celts were a group of tribal societies in ancient Europe who spoke Celtic
languages and had similar culture. Present day Celts live in Scotland, Ireland,
Wales and small parts of France and England.
Northern Ireland is sometimes called ULSTER and it consists of six counties:
Antrim, Down, Armagh, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Londonderry. Belfast is the
capital city. The island is surrounded by sea. Five of the mentioned six counties
meet at Lough Neagh, a vast lake that is formed by volcanic lava.
The Celts were one of the biggest nomad people in Europe, that is why lots of European
countries share similar cultural elements.

Celtic symbols

Giant’s Causeway is the eighth wonder of the world. It consists of about 40,000 regular
hexagonal-shaped mass basalt columns, packed closely together at different heights.
Some clusters of columns make distinctive shapes which have been given appropriate
names such as Giant’s Organ, the Punchbowl and the Wishing Chair. According to the
legend this was the Giants’ work and in particular, the work of the giant called Finn
McCool. He was very strong and one time when he fought with a Scottish giant, he
picked up a huge piece of earth and threw it at him. Then the earth fell into the sea and
became the Isle of Man. As a result, the hole filled with water and called Lough Neagh
Giant’s Causeway

Another legend is connected to this wonder it is said to be the end of a road, because Finn fell in love with
a lady giant who lived in the Scottish Hebrides at Staffa, that is why he began to build this wide causeway

to bring her across to Ulster.

Don’t think that Halloween is just for kids ! More than thirty per cent of adults wear
People decorate their houses for Halloween parties,
costumes for Halloween. They go to Halloween balls or parties where a jury gives prizes

and they prepare food like pumpkin pies and toffee
for the best costumes. In New York, Greenwich Village Halloween parade is the largest and
apples. They dress up, which makes a spooky
most festive Halloween party in the world.
atmosphere. Scary costumes like witches, skeletons,
Halloween may not be a national holiday in the USA, but it is certainly a national
vampires and ghosts are the most popular.
Kids trick or treating !
Adults partying !
celebration !


Antrim, there are nine glenns or valleys which form a lovely and
romantic area of rivers, waterfalls, wild flowers and birds. People who
lived there are great storytellers. Storytelling was always part of Irish
life. The Irish said to be superstitious people. Stories were told in oral
form about gods, fairies, warfare and romance by the side of fire and
so many of folk tales survived. Some fairies are the following:
Leprechaun, Banshee, Love Fairy, Mermaids, Pooka, Selkies, Fairies and
Tuatha De Dannan.

Antrim panoramic view

People often go to, pubs to meet and drink with their friends or families, they serve a range of

alcoholic and soft drinks. The most traditional drink is beer. It has got three types: British beer
or ale is brewed and should not be drink cold; bitters are also popular and have a strong taste;
lager beer is cold and more gassy than ale. In a bar you can have a round or a drink for each
person in a group. Pubs are important in social life with their own character and atmosphere.
Some of them serves pub meals (sausages, chips) or international dishes. An interesting habit
exists the following when it is closing time comes, the barman or barmaid rings a bell and calls
out ”Last orders!” to give them time for ordering one more drink. After it the bar person calls
”Time!” Customers have ten minutes for finishing their drinks and must leave.

Irish beer

While reading activities:
Irish Facts: True or False?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

_________Irish tales are always true.
_________The Celts contributed to the Irish culture and folklore.
_________ULSTER is another name to Northern Ireland.
_________The Giant’s Causeway can be called the eighth wonder of the world.
_________Antrim is a horrible place in Ireland.
_________ Fairies and mermaids are part of the Irish folklore.
_________Irish people don’t like beer.

What did I learn about Ireland?

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