Holiday questions
Here is a worksheet to discuss special days and public holidays around the world. There is always a holiday coming up soon so these holiday questions can be used all year round. Note that if you are looking for travel-related holiday questions, you can find them on the travel conversation questions page.
The most difficult words that you may need to teach before starting this speaking activity include – fireworks, public, celebrate, dressed up, strange, receive, decorate, long weekend, religion, popular, origin, and resolution.
The pictures on the worksheet represent these holidays –
Christmas Day – December the 25th
Day of the Dead – November the 1st
Easter – A Sunday between March and April
Halloween – October 31st
Lunar New Year/Spring Festival – The beginning of the year according to the lunar calendar
Valentine’s Day – February the 14th
The holiday conversation questions are –
1 – If you could create a holiday, what would it be for and what would you call it?
2 – What was your favorite holiday when you were a child? Why did you like it?
3 – On what holidays do you usually see fireworks? Have you ever lit any fireworks?
4 – What is the most important day of the year in your country? What is it about?
5 – Do you ever send cards or emails for special holidays? Who do you send them to?
6 – When is the next public holiday in your country? What will you do on this day?
7 – Does your country celebrate Christmas? How is it celebrated?
8 – Are there any special foods for holidays in your country? What are they?
9 – How many public holidays does your country have each year?
10 – Do people ever get dressed up on holidays in your country? What do they wear?
11 – What foreign public holiday or festival do you think is strange or interesting?
12 – On what holidays do people give presents? What kinds of presents do you like?
13 – Have you ever received a really bad present? What was it and who gave it to you?
14 – What would you like to wear as a costume to a Halloween party?
15 – Do any holidays in your country have parades? What can you see there?
16 – Are there any holidays about wars in the past in your country? What are they?
17 – Is there any holiday that you don’t enjoy? Why don’t you like it?
18 – Do you ever decorate your home for a holiday? How do you decorate it?
19 – Does your country have many long weekends? What holidays are these for?
20 – What holidays that you know involve religion? Do you celebrate them?
21 – Can you explain the history and origin of a popular public holiday in your country?
22 – What do people usually do on New Year’s Eve in your country?
23 – Have you ever made a New Year’s resolution? What was it? Did you keep it?
24 – If you could create a new holiday, what would it be about? On what day would it be?
25 – Which holidays involve a lot of shopping and spending money?
