Customs and Traditions

Maturita topic 18, general part, at Cambridge B2 First level. The specific part of this topic is Festivals and Holidays in English-Speaking Countries; for the Czech side, see Festivals and Holidays in the Czech Republic.

What to talk about

• what customs and traditions are and why they matter
• family traditions and celebrations – birthdays, name days, weddings
• traditions connected with the year – Christmas, Easter, New Year
• customs and manners in different countries (greetings, tipping, punctuality)
• traditions disappearing or changing; adopting foreign traditions

Model answer

Traditions are customs and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. They can be connected with religion, history, the seasons or simply with family life. I think they’re important because they give us a sense of belonging and identity, they connect us with our ancestors, and they bring families and communities together.

Every family has its own traditions. In my family, birthdays are always celebrated with a big family lunch and a homemade cake, and we also celebrate name days, which is a typically Czech custom that foreigners find surprising. Weddings are another occasion full of traditions – in the Czech Republic, for example, the bride and groom break a plate and sweep up the pieces together to show that they can cooperate, and the bride’s family prepares lots of small wedding cakes called koláčky.

The most important traditions are connected with Christmas and Easter. Czech Christmas has many old customs, such as fasting on Christmas Eve to see the golden piglet, cutting an apple or floating walnut shells, and of course the carp. In Britain and the USA, children hang up stockings and Father Christmas brings presents on the morning of 25 December. Easter customs are also very different: Czech boys go out with a pomlázka, while British and American children look for chocolate eggs in Easter egg hunts.

Customs also include manners – the unwritten rules of polite behaviour, which differ from country to country. The British are famous for queuing patiently and for saying “sorry” all the time; Americans tend to be very friendly and informal, and it’s a custom to leave a big tip in restaurants. In Japan, by contrast, tipping can be seen as rude. It’s good to learn about such customs before you travel, so that you don’t offend anybody.

Some traditions are slowly disappearing, especially in cities, while others are being adopted from abroad – Halloween and Valentine’s Day have become popular among young Czechs. I don’t think that’s necessarily bad, because cultures have always influenced each other. But I’d be sorry if we forgot our own traditions, so I try to keep them alive – for example, every year I help my grandmother to bake Christmas biscuits.

Vocabulary

Grammar worth showing

• passive for traditions: Eggs are painted. The tradition was brought to Europe from America.
• be supposed to: If you see a star in the apple, you are supposed to be healthy.
• contrast linkers: while, whereas, unlike, by contrast.

Useful phrases

• It is a custom / tradition to… / It is customary to…
• According to an old belief, …
• Unlike in Britain, Czech children…
• In my family, we always…
• I think it’s a pity that…

Speaking practice

Part 1 – about you

Part 3 / 4 – discussion