Valentine's Day

Listen to the following podcast by the BBC about the history and traditions of this day.
Then do the following activities:

1. Reading Quiz

• Are these sentences true or false? Or is the answer not given in the text? Choose the correct answer.

1. St Valentine was a famous Roman Emperor who was famous as a romantic. True / False / Not given
2. The very first Valentine’s card was sent over 500 years ago. True / False / Not given

3. Disappointed Korean men who have received no Valentine's cards eat a special dish in April. True / False / Not given

4. Some Valentine’s cards are now sent through cyberspace. True / False / Not given
5. Lonely policemen in Liverpool are looking for love by sending out many Valentine’s cards. True / False / Not given

2. Love idioms: guess their meanings!

• See if you can match these commonly used idioms connected to love with the correct definition:

1. to be head over heels in love

2. to fall for

3. to tie the knot

4. to have a crush on someone

a. to be attracted to someone without publicly showing it
b. to get married
c. to fall in love to with somebody
d. to be very much in love

• Now try and complete the following sentences using one of the above idioms in the correct form:

1. My fiancée and I have been engaged for nearly a year so we’re going to ________ in the summer.

2. I ________ one of my workmates but I’m too shy to tell him.

3. She is __________ in love with her new boyfriend. She talks about him all the time. It’s getting quite boring now.

4. I ________ my girlfriend the first time I saw her and I’m still crazy about her now.