4.1. Curiosidades

Pre-conocimiento
![]() Fotografía en Flickr de cosmic-spanner bajo CC |
An advice column is a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist (colloquially known in British English as an agony aunt, or agony uncle if the columnist is a male). The image presented was originally of an older woman providing comforting advice and maternal wisdom, hence the name "aunt". An advice columnist can also be someone who gives advice to people who send in problems to the newspaper.
An advice columnist answers readers' queries on personal problems. Sometimes the author is in fact a composite or a team. The nominal writer may be a pseudonym, or in effect a brand name; the accompanying picture may bear little resemblance to the actual author.
The term is beginning to fall into disuse, as the scope of personal advice has broadened, to include sexual matters as well as general lifestyle issues.
Texto adaptado de Wikipedia
Traducción:
Un consultorio es una columna de una revista o un periódico escrita por un columnista que da consejos (coloquialmente conocido en inglés británico como "agony aunt" o "agony uncle" si el columnista es un hombre). La imagen presentada era originalmente la de una mujer mayor ofreciendo consejos reconfortantes y sabiduría maternal.

Pre-conocimiento
A lo largo de este tema hemos tratado las relaciones personales, de amistad, amorosas y... ¿las bodas?, ¿se celebran de forma similar en los países anglosajones?, ¿hay costumbres peculiares? Lee el siguiente texto para comprobarlo:
Wedding traditions
Marriage is usually initiated by a proposal of marriage. It involves the presentation of a ring (engagement ring) and the asking of a question such as "Will you marry me?". The engagement ring is worn on the third finger of the left hand. A man who is engaged to be married is called fiancé; a woman is the finacée. In addition to the bride and groom, traditional weddings involve a lot more people. Typically, these positions are filled by close friends of the bride and groom.
In the past Wednesday was considered the most auspicious day to get married. Nowadays, most weddings take place on a Saturday. Traditionally, the side on which people sit depends on whether they are friends or family of the bride or of the groom. The front rows are generally reserved for close family or friends, with the very first seats reserved for the bridal party. However, in many ceremonies the bridal party will remain standing at the altar during the ceremony along with the bride and groom.
The groom and his best man wait inside the church for the arrival of the bride and her "entourage".This entourage generally arrives in elegant cars or in horse-drawn coaches. The bride's entourage normally consists of the bride, the bride's father and all the various bridesmaids, flower girls and page boys.
During the ceremony the bride and groom make their marriage vows. Marriage vows are promises a couple makes to each other during a wedding ceremony. In Western culture, these promises have traditionally included the notions of affection, faithfulness, unconditionality, and permanence. After the vows, the couple exchange rings. Afterward, guests file out to throw flower petals, confetti, birdseed, or rice over the newly-married couple for good luck.
The bride stands with her back to all the guests and throws her bouquet over her head to them. Whoever catches the bouquet is the next person to get married. Finally, a photo session ensues of the couple leaving the church, and everyone has to stand around to form formal groups for the photo album. A lot of people video the whole thing, which can be good for a laugh on YouTube.
Texto adaptado de learnenglish
Traducción:

Pre-conocimiento
Otra costumbre anglosajona que seguro conocerás es St Valentine's Day (el día de San Valentín). Te ofrecemos un texto con el que conocerás más sobre esta tradición:
![]() Fotografía en Flickr de George Larcher bajo CC |
People celebrate St Valentine's Day on 14 February. It's the day when people show their affection for another person or people by sending cards, flowers or chocolates with messages of love. And traditionally on Valentine's Day in a leap year - every four years - women can propose marriage to their partner!
The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories of who he was. The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD.
Valentine's Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival.The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February, officially the start of their springtime. As part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They'd be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they'd get married. Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too.
Gradually, St Valentine's name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.
Texto adaptado de CBBC
Traducción:
El día recibe su nombre de un famoso santo, pero hay varias historias sobre su identidad. La creencia popular sobre San Valentín es que era un cura de la Roma del siglo tercero después de Cristo.
El día se San Valentín es una tradición muy antigua, y se piensa que se originó en un festival de Roma. Los romanos tenían un festival llamado Lupercalia a mitad de febrero, oficialmente el inicio de la primavera. Como parte de las celebraciones, los chicos sacaban nombres de chicas de una caja. Serían novios y novias durante el festival y a veces se casaban. Más tarde, la iglesia quiso transformar esta festividad en una celebración religiosa y decidió usarlo para recordar a San Valentín.
Gradualmente, el nombre de San Valentín empezó a usarse por la gente para expresar sus sentimientos a aquellos a los que querían.