IMMIGRANTS' AMERICAN CHRISTMAS:
Immigrants' American Christmas:
Little Ethiopia
(From NPR’s Morning Edition)
Pre-Listening Tasks
Discussion
In small groups, discuss the following questions:
o How long ago did you leave your home country?
o What things did you bring with you from your home country? What things did you leave behind?
o How do you maintain your cultural traditions in the US?
o How important is it to you to maintain traditions from your native country in the US?
o When immigrants move to a new country, what parts of the new culture do they often adopt? What parts of their home culture do they often give up?
Predicting
From the title of the story, “Immigrants' American Christmas: Little Ethiopia,” discuss what you think the story will be about.
Vocabulary
Match the words with their synonyms or definitions.
|___ |1. maintain |a. a strong feeling of wanting something |
|___ |2. bouquet |b. a substance that produces a pleasant smell when you burn it |
|___ |3. waft |c. to make something continue; preserve |
|___ |4. ceremony |d. to cook (beans, nuts, etc.) in order to dry or brown them |
|___ |5. incense |e. a religious or public occasion that includes formal actions |
|___ |6. fragrance |f. to move gently through the air |
|___ |7. struggle |g. a bunch of flowers |
|___ |8. roast |h. a pleasant smell |
|___ |9. longing |i. solid waste from animals |
|___ |10. dung |j. to have difficulty with |
Listening
A. Task Listening
Listen to the story at
Find the answer to the following question.
How do Christmas traditions keep Ethiopian immigrants connected to their home country?
B. Listening for Main Ideas
Decide if the following statements are true or false. Label each statement T or F.
1) ___ Ethiopian immigrants in LA don’t miss celebrating Christmas in Ethiopia.
2) ___ Many of the Ethiopian immigrants have found ways to connect with others
who share similar backgrounds and traditions.
3) ___ Most of the people interviewed have forgotten about Ethiopia’s Christmas
traditions.
C. Listening for Details
1) What happens in the Ethiopian coffee ceremony? Why is it an important tradition?
2) What were Selam’s first impressions of Christmas in the US?
3) What is the Coptic calendar? When is Christmas celebrated in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church?
4) Why must Ethiopian immigrants drive an hour east of LA to celebrate a Christmas tradition?
5) In the story, various Ethiopian immigrants describe sights, sounds, tastes and smells that they miss. Add some of them to the table below.
|Sounds |Sights |Smells |Tastes |
|-prayers from churches | |-roasted coffee beans |-spiced red butter |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
Sharing Your Thoughts
1. What do you think is hardest for Elias’ father (and others in the story) about being away from Ethiopia?
2. What specific sights, smells, tastes and sounds do you miss about celebrating a holiday in your home country?
3. How can sharing food bridge the gaps between immigrants and their home cultures?
4. Do you think immigrants should try hard to be like Americans?
5. If you have children or plan to have children, are there any traditions from your home country that you hope they’ll maintain? If so, how will you encourage them to do so?
6. If you have been in the US for several years now, how does it feel to celebrate holidays in the US now compared to the first time you celebrated these holidays here?
Writing Task
Write two paragraphs comparing and contrasting the way you celebrated a holiday in your home country with the way you celebrate that holiday now in the US. Make sure to use past tense (past simple, past continuous, used to, etc.) to talk about the way you celebrated the holiday before. Use present tense (present simple, present continuous, etc.) to describe the way you celebrate now. Include as many descriptive details as possible, such as sights, sounds, tastes, and smells.
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