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Valentine’s Day

Valentine's Day

What do you know about Valentine's Day? In this article, read all about how people celebrate romantic love on 14 February.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then read the article and do the exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

Valentine's Day is a traditional celebration of romantic love. It's celebrated on 14 February in many places. Here's how people celebrate it!

Cards

Sending a Valentine's card to someone you love is a custom that started more than a century ago. Couples give cards to each other, but you can also send an anonymous card to anyone you secretly love. Symbols on Valentine's cards include hearts, doves and the winged figure Cupid holding a bow and arrow.

Poems

Inside the cards, people normally write a message to show their feelings. One way to do this is by writing a poem in the card. Probably the most famous lines from a Valentine's Day poem are:

Roses are red, violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.

Gifts

As well as cards, 14 February is a day for giving gifts. Popular gifts include red roses, a box of chocolates, a teddy bear and a photo frame. More expensive ones include a meal in a nice restaurant, perfume, jewellery or a session at a health club.

However, some people complain that Valentine's Day has become too commercial. Actually, anything that your partner likes can be a great gift, and it does not need to be expensive. It can even be free! Some people make a video out of all their photos, add some nice music and then send it to their loved one on the day. You can also make a playlist of songs that you both like, and share it with them. Perhaps even more meaningfully, you can simply spend time with your loved one on Valentine's Day and give them your time and attention.

Valentine's Day is also a popular day to either propose or get married. You'd never forget your wedding anniversary!

Not for everyone?

Not everyone likes Valentine's Day. It can be a difficult time for people who are single, lonely or missing somebody. Some people feel they show their love for their partner every day, so they don't need to buy things just because it's Valentine's Day. Other people, single or not, think Valentine's Day is boring and unoriginal.

Many people just take 14 February as a normal day or do something special to celebrate the love they have for their friends and family. There are even anti-Valentine's events for people who are not in a romantic mood! Having competitions to make the worst Valentine's Day card, inviting people to a 'broken-hearted disco' or organising fancy-dress dating events are just a few fun ideas.
 

Worksheets and downloads

Worksheet92.06 KB
Discussion

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day? If not, is there a similar day in your country?

Language level
B1 Intermediate
B2 Upper intermediate
Topics
Valentine's Day
love and relationships
Average: 4.4 (7 votes)
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Comments

Submitted by PotatoTurtle on Mon, 02/14/2022 - 08:26

I don't celebrate Valentines Day - I am single like a pringle :D

Submitted by tiomich23 on Fri, 02/14/2020 - 09:03

i dont celebrate this crazy day

Submitted by sang0110 on Tue, 11/26/2019 - 15:11

In my country, we do have valentine's day but ít not our traditional.Two people in love they express their love by sending flower or gift each other especially the man. Sorry for my English skill

Submitted by _nguyenthanhtom on Tue, 11/26/2019 - 09:05

For me, Valentine's Day is a meaningful occasion for couples to express their love. In my country on Valentine's Day, couples often give each other chocolates, other special gifts ... Some people even propose to their girlfriends on this day.

Submitted by Kimkhanh305 on Tue, 11/26/2019 - 07:45

If you have a lover, this day will become a really meaningful event for you to express your in-depth love to your partner. To me, no matter which day is, every day is for giving and receiving love. Be nice to everyone daily, you can get more than you expect!

Submitted by yennhi2k0 on Sun, 11/24/2019 - 15:37

Valentine's Day on 14th February is a typical symbol of romantic love. People usually express love to their love by sending each other Valentine cards, flowers, chocolates and special gifts. But, for me as a normal day, normal activities because I don't have a boyfriend or crush. Instead of, I will send my best wishes for my parents. They have got married for 21 years already. I hope my family happily forever.

Submitted by Ngocthao60nna10 on Thu, 11/21/2019 - 06:20

I find the holidays very wonderful and special. Despite such days, I only spend time with my family and at home. But I find that on Valentine's Day, things get bustling, on the streets people sell lots of flowers and chocolate. I like the excitement and busy feeling of everyone.
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Submitted by Tuan_Quoc on Wed, 11/20/2019 - 04:45

Each year has three hundred and sixty-five days, each day has its own characteristics and meanings, and Valentine's Day is also one of such special days. Like in other countries around the world, Vietnam - my country also has Valentine's Day to be celebrated every year on February 14 of the solar calendar. It is the day when couples in love can give each other gifts even though they are not really big in terms of money but extremely important emotionally like a box of chocolate, a bouquet of flowers or simply a pink card but contained in it so much love affection, and the sweetest words. At the same time, Valentine's Day is also a day for two people who are in love to review the memories of the love journey they have gone through together to dream about a bright future that awaits them before.

Submitted by LinhNguyen_2208 on Sun, 11/17/2019 - 15:45

: In my opinion, I think Valentine's Day is one of the most important occasion, espcially in Western countries like The US, Britain,..., in order to express our love to each other (our lover), we can use one of six ways above to show our expression. For me, I really don't need be given gifts. I just hope to have a romantic date with my future boyfriend, we can eat dinner, go to the cinema and walk along street together. That's all things I wanna do when I have a Valentine's Day.

Submitted by haahaa0912 on Mon, 11/11/2019 - 16:14

Valentine's day is considered not only well-known all over the world but also special for those having loved ones. In Vietnam, people seem eager and well-prepared to purchase the beautiful flower bunches, the good design chocolate boxes for their own partners. At first, I found it so sweet and cosy. But now, year by year, I am becoming bored and jealous a little bit by these sweet stories of thousands of couples around me.

Submitted by kieunguyen_1076 on Thu, 10/24/2019 - 09:10

Well, Valentine's Day is the same in my country. That day is the most romantic, wonderful time for couples but not me. During the day, anywhere you go is full of couples. I have not had a boyfriend so I do not expect Valentine's Day so much.

Submitted by hamynguyen on Tue, 10/22/2019 - 19:30

Hi! I actually haven't organized the valentine's day before. In fact, it is not popular in my country. However, ơn that day, you can see many couple spend tim together,

Submitted by AyuNguyen on Tue, 10/22/2019 - 15:16

Honestly, I haven't had Valentine's Day before . I don't care much about this day. For me, it's just a normal day like any other day. In my country, this day was not a very important day, but in recent years it has gradually become a special day for young people, especially couples. They often give each other special gifts, flowers, chocolate or go somewhere. Sometimes I also catch a few husbands who go to buy flowers or gifts to give to wives. This is also my favorite moment when it comes to Valentine's Day.

Submitted by lyly on Tue, 10/22/2019 - 15:13

In Vietnam, the couples which means in love, or married couples are very fond of February 14 nowadays. On this day, lovers express their love to each other by sending meaningful Valentine's cards, roses, chocolate and other special gifts. Restaurants and cafes are decorated in a romantic way to attract couples to come to enjoy meals, chat, and celebrate the holiday.

Submitted by kimthao_60nna2 on Mon, 10/21/2019 - 09:37

Valentine’s Day on February 14th is the day where the whole world honors a couple’s love, affection between heterosexual couples and friends, they express their love by sending each other valentine cards, roses, chocolates and some special gifts. However, for me as a normal day, normal activities, I still eat, sleep and study on time and never mind that day because I don’t have a boyfriend.

Submitted by havy230819 on Sun, 10/20/2019 - 07:49

Valentine's day is a typical symbol of romantic love. In Vietnam, I found that youngster is interested in Valentine's day more than older ones. People usually express love to their lovers or confess to their "crushes". For me, I don't have a boyfriend or a "crush", so I don't celebrate Valentine's day. Instead, I will call my parents and send them my best wishes. They have got married for 25 years already, my father never says such romantic things like "I love you" or "my love" to my mother but he shows his love to her by many little things. In addition, there's a similar day to Valentine's day called "Tanabata". Based on a tale about the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, it celebrates the meeting of them. The Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. People also believe that eating red beans sweet soup on this day will help them have a lot of luckiness in their love.

Submitted by ThanhLam on Sun, 10/20/2019 - 07:37

I'm from Vietnam . we also celebrate Valentine's Day.. All the lovers ( special teenagers) share with each-other different gifts to show their love such as chocolates, flowers, teddy bears etc.. but i think that the most important thing is be near the one you love
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Submitted by trmynguyn7 on Wed, 10/16/2019 - 03:08

In my country, Valentine Day is not celebrated widely . On that day , i used to see some couples hang out together, some men or boys buy flowers , small box with heart shaped chocolate inside or spend a lot of money to buy big teddy bear for their mates,... blah blah. For me, Vanlentine Day is just normal day, is not speacial and quiet boring day

Submitted by lienquanmobi462 on Tue, 10/15/2019 - 17:51

In my country, Valentine's Day is also popularly practiced by young people. On the street, there are lots of flowers and gifts like chocolate, stuffed animals, etc. The boys and girls often send love letters, Valentine's cards and gifts to their crush or lover. I also received letters and presents from my boyfriend on Valentine's day. I was very touched to know that this gift was made by himself. That's why I'm so happy. I think that Valentine's Day is a very meaningful day because thanks to this day, I realize that love is an indispensable thing in this life.

Submitted by Trucnguyencute on Tue, 10/15/2019 - 15:41

To me, valentine's day is really normal day, there are no special activities, no gift, no flower, no cards,.. but sometimes I will receive some chocolate from my friends on this day.

Submitted by baki on Tue, 10/15/2019 - 09:44

i do not celebrate valentine's day. Honestly, i am looking for my girlfriend :((

Submitted by KRISHNA17 on Thu, 02/14/2019 - 06:03

I have no girlfriends, i not celebrate Valentine's day
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Submitted by Kaah_Mayer on Sun, 02/25/2018 - 23:36

In my country, the valentine's day is celebrated with kisses and huggies, upon a time, one girl received flowers, my dad and mom go to a romantic dinner.
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Submitted by Kaah_Mayer on Sun, 02/25/2018 - 23:32

Heey! In my country, valentine´s day is on June, I don't celebrate the date because: One, I don't have boyfriend or girlfriend and two, I don't have feelings, just this :)
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