VALENTINE’S DAY

Warm Up Questions

1 What events or special holidays are in February?

2 Have you ever received a Valentine’s card?

3 Do you give chocolate or anything to anyone on Valentine’s Day?

4 Do your parents do anything special on Valentine’s Day?

5 Do children celebrate Valentine’s Day in your country? How?

6 What are some Valentine’s customs in other countries that you know of?

Part 1: https://youtu.be/mQmJ4jZ5LBU

Part 2: https://youtu.be/FNVytCnjN2g

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Listening Questions

Watch the YouTube video and answer the following questions.

1 When is Valentine’s Day? What do people give to others?

2 Who goes out for dinner?

3 What do children do on Valentine’s Day? What do children give each other?

4 In North America, what should men be like on Valentine’s Day?

5 Who receives chocolate on Valentine’s Day in Japan?

6 When is White Day in Japan?

7 What do women receive on White Day?

8 What kind of store is happy about Valentine’s Day and White Day?

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Speaking Activity

Use the illustrations to talk about Valentine’s Day, and culture.

Word Bank

thoughtful | personal | from scratch | couple

homemade | exchange | favor | clever
department store | especially | give out
differently | commiserate | return a favor
relatively | single | co-worker | celebrate

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MATCHING

Match the words on the left with the meanings on the right.

1 clever (adj) A two people who are married, engaged, or dating

2 department store (n) B made at home or by hand, not in a store or factor

3 romantic (adj) C a small gift or souvenir

4 thoughtful (adj) D relating to a specific person’s body, feelings, or emotions

5 couple (n) E quick to understand, intelligent

6 favor (n) F to give something and receive something of the same or

similar kind in return

7 homemade G showing consideration for the needs of other people

8 personal (adj) H to make something using no instant or pre-made

ingredients

9 from scratch (phr) I a large store that sells a large variety of different items

10 exchange (v) J showing feelings of love

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PRACTICE

Discuss the following questions.

1. Are there any other times when you give chocolate to your friends?

2. Are there any special days like White Day or Black Day in your country?

3. Do/did you give Valentine’s Day cards to your classmates?

4. Have you ever made food from scratch? What was it?

5. What’s your favorite kind of chocolate?

6. How often do you eat chocolate?

Fill in the Blanks

Use the words from the Vocabulary Box to complete the sentences below.

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! My boyfriend said he would like to spend the whole day with

me! He asked me what I want to do. He is very ……………………….1 I said I want to go

shopping-my favorite thing to do! I want to buy some shoes, and a camera, and some

chocolate milk. We will go to a big …………………………………2 to get all these different

things. I think I will surprise him by making some ………………………….3 cookies in my

kitchen for tomorrow. He loves my cookies because I make everything

…………………………………4 I never use instant mixes! I’m sure he will bring me some

chocolate as well, so I want to have the cookies to ………………………………5 with him. At

night we will have a ………………………….6 candle-lit dinner at a fancy restaurant. It will be

very crowded by my boyfriend is so ……………...7 He made a reservation at the restaurant

a week ago! Tonight, he sent me some flowers. Red roses! I especially like the

………………………8 message he wrote that came with the flowers. I have to think of a way

to return this kind ………………………….9 We have only been a …………………………10 for

three months, but I think he will be my boyfriend fr a long time!

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MISSING WORDS

Watch the video again and complete the sentences.

Valentine’s Day (part one) https://youtu.be/mQmJ4jZ5LBU

I’m so excited! It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th.
For many people, it is the most ………………………1 day of the year. People often give
flowers, cards, jewelry, and of course …………………...2 Couples often go out for a
romantic dinner.
In North America, Valentine’s Day is celebrated from a very young age. Children often make
…………………………..3 Valentine’s Day cards. They use crayons, colored paper, scissors,
glue, and many other things. After making the cards, they write a ………………………..4
message on it and then they exchange them with each other. Children also exchange and
eat lots of chocolate. Hershey’s Kisses are especially …………………………5 Will you be
my valentine?

Valentine’s Day (part two) https://youtu.be/FNVytCnjN2g

Here is some more about Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is celebrated differently around
the ……………………….1 In North America, men are expected to be romantic,
………………………….2 and giving.
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is relatively modern. Women are expected to make the chocolate
from ………………………….3 and give it to the men in their lives. In fact, they actually have
different names for chocolate that they have to give out and chocolate that they want to give
out.
Chocolate that they give to boys or men that they like is called HONMEI. Chocolate that
they give to co-workers and people that they might not like is called GIRI chocolate. So,
there is bad chocolate and good chocolate.
But wait! That isn’t the end of Valentine’s Day. In Japan, they also have White Day, which
is celebrated on March 14th. This is when it is time for men to return the
…………………………….4 They are supposed to give women marshmallows, cookies, and
candy.
Japan is very clever. They have created two events for lots of gift giving! The department
stores are very ……………………………….5!

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Transcripts

Valentine’s Day (part one) https://youtu.be/mQmJ4jZ5LBU

I’m so excited! It’s almost Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th.
For many people, it is the most romantic day of the year. People often give flowers, cards,
jewelry, and of course chocolate. Couples often go out for a romantic dinner.
In North America, Valentine’s Day is celebrated from a very young age. Children often make
homemade Valentine’s Day cards. They use crayons, colored paper, scissors, glue, and
many other things. After making the cards, they write a personal message on it and then
they exchange them with each other. Children also exchange and eat lots of chocolate.
Hershey’s Kisses are especially popular. Will you be my valentine?

Valentine’s Day (part two) https://youtu.be/FNVytCnjN2g

Here is some more about Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is celebrated differently around
the world. In North America, men are expected to be romantic, thoughtful, and giving.
In Japan, Valentine’s Day is a relatively new event. Women are expected to make the
chocolate from scratch and give it to the men in their lives. In fact, they actually have
different names for chocolate that they have to give out and chocolate that they want to give
out.
Chocolate that they give to boys or men that they like is called HONMEI. Chocolate that
they give to co-workers and people that they might not like is called GIRI chocolate. So,
there is bad chocolate and good chocolate.
But wait! That isn’t the end of Valentine’s Day. In Japan, they also have White Day, which
is celebrated on March 14th. This is when it is time for men to return the favor. They are
supposed to give women marshmallows, cookies, and candy.
Japan is very clever. They have created two events for lots of gift-giving! The department
stores are very happy!
In Korea, they actually take it one step further. On April 14th, they celebrate Black Day. On
this day, singles who didn’t receive any gifts on Valentine’s Day or White Day, get together
to eat Korean noodles with black bean sauce, to commiserate with each other about being
single.
What will they think of next?

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Answer Key

Answer Key

Listening Comprehension Answers

1. February 14 - flowers, cards, jewelry, chocolate

2. couples

3. Valentine’s Day cards - cards and chocolate

4. romantic, thoughtful, giving

5. men and boys

6. March 14

7. marshmallows, cookies, candy

8. department stores

Matching

1. – E 2. - I 3. – J 4. - G 5. – A 6. - C 7. – B 8. – D 9. - H. 10. - F

Missing Words

Part 1 - 1. romantic 2. chocolate 3. homemade 4. personal 5. popular

Part 2 - 1. world 2. thoughtful 3. scratch 4. favor 5. clever

Words in Context - Fill-in-the-Blanks

1. thoughtful 2. department store 3. homemade 4. from scratch 5. exchange 6. romantic

7. clever 8. personal 9. favor 10. couple

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