2.1. Practice: When was it?

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Calendar

Imagen de studio curve en Flickr. Licencia CC

 

Now it's time to practice those dates.

First, you will choose the correct option to some questions. Then, you will complete some gaps according to the information in the Calendars. After that, you will listen to a conversation between Pablo and Peter and, finally, you will have a speaking activity.

Don't leave it for tomorrow, do it today... or maybe tomorrow but Save the date!

Do it yourself

Pregunta

1. What's today?

Respuestas

It's on the fifth of June.

It's fiveth of June.

It's the fifth of June.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

2. When's your birthday?

Respuestas

It's on the 29th of February.

It's on 29th of February.

It's the 29th of February.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

3. When were you born?

Respuestas

I was born in May 20th, 1975,

I was born on the May 20th, 1975

I was born on May 20th, 1975.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

4. When was the exam?

Respuestas

It was three days ago.

It was the fourteenth of June.

It was the fourteen of June.

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

5. The sentence 'I was in Scotland on January 6th' is correct because...

Respuestas

The date is expressed in American English.

No, it isn't. It isn't correct because the definite article 'the' is not present.

The ordinal number is expressed with the th at the end.

Retroalimentación

Do it yourself

Look at the images below and write the missing words (days, months, days of the week, prepositions and definite articles) by filling the gaps. Sometimes, you need to pay attention to the information in the context of the sentence. If you have to write an ordinal number, use letters not numbers.

 

A

January

Imagen de eagle1effi en Flickr. Licencia CC

B

 Independence Day

Imagen de Pieter Ouwerkerk en Flickr. Licencia CC

C

 November

Imagen de eagle1effi en Flickr. Licencia CC
CALENDAR A

1. New Year's Day is on first of January.

2. The 6th of is a holiday in Spain.

3. The last Saturday was the thirty-first of January.

 

CALENDAR B

4. In 2007, Independence Day was on a .

5. What was the date according to the mobile phone calendar? It was Monday, the of July, 2007.

6. Meetings and appointments have a small dot below the day. The last appointment was on the of July.

 

CALENDAR C

7. The four Sundays in November in 2012 were: the fourth, the , the and the .

8. The second Thursday in November, 2012 was the .

9. The Monday in November, 2012, was the nineteenth.

 

Special occasions

10. On the of February, some Americans celebrate President Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Two days later, it is St. Valentine's Day, on the fourteenth of February.

11. St. Patrick's Day is on the of March. It's a very special celebration in Ireland.

12. In the Anglo-Saxon culture and in most of the western countries, the first day of April is called April Fool's Day. In Spain this celebration takes place on the of December.

13. England celebrates St. George's Day on the of April because it is its patron.

14. People in the US celebrate the famous Cinco de Mayo, a festivity in honor of the Mexican culture. It happens on the of May, obviously, but Mexicans don't celebrate it in their country.

15. On the of September, people in the US celebrate Labor Day but Spanish people celebrate it on the first of May. It's a national holiday.

16. Halloween is on the of October. It's very popular worldwide.

17. Thanksgiving is an American festivity. It is on the fourth Thursday in November. Look at the calendar below. When was Thanksgiving in 2012? It was on the of November.

18. Boxing Day is a typical British celebration on the of December when friends meet to watch football on TV and drink some beers. It happens the day after Christmas Day.

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Do it yourself

 

Listen to Peter and Pablo talking about important days in the Anglo-Saxon culture. For questions 1 to 7, choose 'True' or 'False'. Number 0 is an example. You can hear the recording twice. For the audioscript, click on the button below.

0. Mother's Day depends on the country. True.

  1. Americans celebrate Mother's Day on the 2nd Sunday in May.
  2. In the US, Father's Day is on the third of June.
  3. St. Patrick's Day is on March 19th.
  4. Juan knows that the Spanish 'Día de la Hispanidad' is on the 12th of October.
  5. In America, October 12th is not 'Día de la Hispanidad' but Columbus Day.
  6. The fifteenth of November, people in England celebrate San Juan.
  7. Veteran's Day is on the fourth of July.

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Read the following questions below and write your own answers in a piece of paper (write the dates fully as it is explained here). Then, ask your partner those same questions and write down his or her answers. When you finish, check your spelling with your partner's answers.

a. When were you born?

b. When was the last public holiday in your country?

c. When was your last holiday (abroad and in your country)?

d. When was your last exam?

e. When were your parents born?

f. When was the first EOI born/created?

g. When's your best friend's birthday?

h. When does your course finish?

i. When does summer start? And winter?

j. When is your next appointment on your (mobile phone) calendar?