PREVIEW ACTIVITY Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2023. For use only with license.

Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)

PAGE 1

PART 1 Describe each Valentine’s Day tradition/activity you see in the images below. What
other popular Valentine’s Day traditions/activities do you know about?

1 2 3

4 5

Discuss the questions below depending on whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or
PART 2
not.

Do you celebrate Valentine’s

Day?
YES NO

1 How do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? 1 Why don’t you celebrate Valentine’s Day?
2 What do you like/dislike about it? 2 What do you think some people like/dislike about it?

Tick () the statement that reflects your opinion the most about Valentine’s Day.
PART 3
Explain your answer.

A Valentine’s Day is just a pointless materialistic and major consumer holiday.

B Valentine’s Day is a great chance to show your partner your romantic and
soft-hearted side and shower them with gifts.

C I see nothing particularly great or terrible about Valentine’s Day. If people

choose to celebrate it, that’s up to them.
BET YOU DIDN’T KNOW | Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2023. For use only with license.
VALENTINE’S DAY HISTORY Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)
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PREVIEW DISCUSSION: Read the discussion topic

below and discuss it with your partner or teacher.

Do you know anything about the history of

Valentine’s Day? If so, what do you know? If not,
what do you think could be the possible origins?

VIEWING ACTIVITY

PART 1 List the Valentine’s Day historical events in order from 2 - 6. The first one has been
done as an example.

Saint Valentine’s Day became associated with love and romance.

Saint Valentine was sentenced to death by the Roman Emperor.
Great Britain began a tradition of exchanging Valentine’s cards or letters.
1 The Christian chruch christianized a celebration known as ‘Lupercalia’.
Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as a date for honoring Saint Valentine.
Valentine’s Day soon exploded into a major consumer holiday.

PART 2 Discuss/Write short answers below according to the information from the video.

0:37 1 Why was Saint Valentine sentenced to death?

0:39 2 What did the Roman Emperor Claudius ban and why?

PART 3 Choose true or false according to the information in the video.

1:45 1 TRUE FALSE People send more cards on Valentine’s Day than on Christmas.

2:03 2 TRUE FALSE Jewelry is the most popular Valentine’s Day gift in the USA.

2:13 3 TRUE FALSE Millions of couples get engaged on Saint Valentine’s Day.
VIEWING FOLLOW-UP Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2023. For use only with license.
Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)
PAGE 3

PART 1 Discuss the questions below.

1 What do you think about getting engaged on Valentine’s Day? Do you

think it’s a good day for couples to get engaged?

2 ‘Singles Awareness Day’ takes place the day after Valentine’s Day on February
15th. What do you think happens on this day?

PART 2 Discuss the questions about the vocabulary words as used in the sentences below.

1 “ The roots of Valentine’s Day go all the way back to a raucous ancient Roman
fertility festival held in mid-February, called Lupercalia.”

• What do you think raucous means?

• Have you ever attended a raucous festival or celebration? If so, describe it.

2 “ While the most popular gifts were candy and flowers, nearly 20% of Americans
splurge on jewelry — shelling out as much as $4 billion dollars annually.”

• What do you think it means to splurge on something?

• Do you ever splurge on holidays, vacations, or other people?

PART 3 Choose the correct adjective + noun phrases that fit the text below.

heart-shaped boxes soft-hearted Valentine mass-produced cards

ultimate romantic gesture major consumer holiday

1 At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14th as a date
for honoring the . Back then, people also believed
that February 14th was also the beginning of birds’ mating season.

2 The first emerged in the 1840s, and Valentine’s Day

soon exploded into . More than 35 million
of chocolate are sold and more than 220 million
roses are produced for the holiday in a typical year.

3 Some people prefer the on Valentine’s Day. A recent

survey revealed that 6 million couples are likely to get engaged on this day.
INTERVIEW TASK
Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2023. For use only with license.
Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)
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STEP 1: Choose one of the people from the list below by ticking () the box.

A local flower vendor A friend who just got A friend who is

engaged single

STEP 2: Imagine it’s February 15th, the day after Valentine’s Day. Write 3 questions for
this person below about their Valentine’s Day.

OPTIONAL: Choose at least one of the words from the list below and use it in a question.

soft-hearted heart-shaped splurge on

consumer holiday romantic gesture

STEP 3: Give the questions you wrote in Step 2 to your partner/teacher. Your partner/
teacher will interview you. Imagine you are answering the questions as the person you
chose.

STEP 4: Discuss how your interviews went. Who did you interview? What do you learn
about this person?
 OPTIONAL BONUS ACTIVITY
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Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)
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PART 1 Study the usage and examples of compound adjectives.

In the video, the narrator talks about the growth of Valentine’s Day. He says...

“ The first mass-produced cards emerged in the 1840s, and Valentine’s

Day soon exploded into a major consumer holiday. More than 35 million
heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are sold.”

Compound adjectives are made up of two or more words, normally with a hyphen ( - ) between
them. Both examples above use a past participle adjective, however; compound adjectives can
take a variety of different forms. See the example of the sentences below without using a
compound adjective.

EXAMPLE The first cards that were produced in mass emerged in the 1840s, and
Valentine’s Day soon exploded into a major consumer holiday. More than 35
million boxes of chocolate that are shaped like hearts are sold.

As you can see, we often use compound adjectives to convey our idea more concisely.

Write/Discuss a definition of each compound adjective below. Use a dictionary if

PART 2
necessary. Then write a sentence about love or Valentine’s Day using each adjective.

EX. sweet-toothed used to describe someone who likes sweet or sugary foods

My sweet-toothed wife loves receiving boxes of chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

1 narrow-minded

2 well-groomed

3 hand-written

4 old-fashioned

5 middle-aged

QUIZ & REVIEW ACTIVITY Fluentize, LLC. Copyright 2023. For use only with license.
Bet You Didn’t Know | Valentine’s Day History (B1 - B2)
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Work with a partner. Complete the quiz and review activities below.

PART 1 Questions. Answer the questions below about the video.

1 How do people celebrate Valentine’s Day?

2 What was ‘Lupercalia’? How is it associated with Valentine’s Day?
3 Why was Saint Valentine sentenced to death?
4 What do you remember about the economics of Valentine’s Day?

Vocabulary: Define each vocabulary term below. Then write/say a sentence out loud
PART 2
using each word about Valentine’s Day.

1. get engaged

2. splurge on

PART 3 Grammar/Vocabulary: Rewrite each sentence below using a compound adjective.

EX. My wife, who has a sweet tooth, loves getting boxes of chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

My sweet-toothed wife loves receiving boxes of chocolate on Valentine’s Day.

1 Pope Gelasius declared February 14th to honor Saint Valentine, who had a soft heart.

2 The first Valentine’s Day cards that were produced in mass emerged in the 1840s.

3 More than 35 million boxes of chocolate that are shaped like hearts are sold.

4 My boyfriend, who was groomed very well, proposed to me on Valentine’s Day!

5 My husband gave me such a lovely letter that was written by hand on Valentine’s Day!