REPÚBLICA BOLIVARIANA DE VENEZUELA

UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA EXPERIMENTAL LIBERTADOR

INSTITUTO PEDAGÓGICO DE BARQUISIMETO
LUÍS BELTRÁN PRIETO FIGUEROA
SUBDIRECCIÓN DE EXTENSIÓN
PROGRAMA DE EXTENSIÓN ACADEMICA
PROYECTO ICSESDI

Reading

Name: ID Date: _______

Saint Valentine’s Day

Possibly one of the best-known celebrations of love is Saint Valentine’s Day which is
celebrated on February 14 th in different countries. The exact roots of the festival are
unknown, although there are various stories and legends about Saint Valentine and even
several valentines who may inspire the holiday. In one popular story, we are told that
Valentine was a roman priest. The emperor Claudius II had ordered the local priest not to
marry young couples, as he believed that unmarried soldiers were better fighters. However,
Valentine refused to obey and carry on with what he felt was his duty. Sadly, he w as killed
as a result of his defiance. Nearly 2.000 years later people still remember his name and
celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day, typically with cards, flowers, and chocolates.

In recent years, the festival has traveled as far as Japan an d South Korea, but it is
celebrated slightly different there, as women are expected to give chocolate to men. There
are even different types of chocolates, depending on whether you are giving them, to a good
friend, a boyfriend, or a person whom you would like to date.

Of course, many countries have their own days when love is celebrated. In Brazil, for
example, they celebrate ¨Lovers Day ¨on June 12 th , and in Colombia, the ¨Day of love and
friendship¨ is celebrated on September 20 th . Rather than being only for couples, the day is
get-together for a group of friends who may go out together for drinks or dinner. The black
day celebrated in South Korea on April 14 th , is for singles only. Young people not in a
friendship dressed up in black clothes and eats black noodles. This is a great way to meet
someone else who is single, so the people who participate probably not be sin gle for long.

Some other countries like the United States have their customs. Here
yummy confections are often given on Valentine’s Day. Chocolate is one of
those. Approximately, 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are given on
this day, with people spending about 1 billion on the yummy sweet. Another
favorite candy you often see sold in February is candy hearts. They have fun
little sayings on them, such as, ‘be mine’ or ‘I love you’.

As you can see lots of money is spent ea ch year on cards, chocolate, flowers,
and other gifts, and according to statistics, it has been noticed that the
majority of purchases are made by men. They tend to spend the most money,
spending an average of 120$ and women spend half that amount.

Prof. Junior Caballero