Celebrate the 4th of July

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Hello, I’m teacher Robin. Today, we’re going to be talking about the Fourth of July. So as you may know, this is a very important celebration in the United States of America, where I’m from. I am from Texas and I want to share with you a bit of American culture. So the Fourth of July is an important celebration for Americans, because it is also known as Independence Day. So this is the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed in the year 1776. Okay, so many, many years ago, and we celebrate this every year. So if you are interested in American culture, if you are planning to visit the United States, one day, I want to give you all the useful vocabulary that you will need to celebrate the Fourth of July. Remember that if you have any questions during the class, that you can write them in the comments.

So as I said, the Fourth of July is the celebration of independence. And it’s a day that we celebrate our heritage as Americans. So this is a country’s culture, traditions and history, your heritage. And we celebrate it once a year on the Fourth of July. So it’s an annual celebration. So the word “annual” means “every year”. So I’m going to be talking about some of the most common ways that we celebrate the Fourth of July. But I know that this year is a little bit complicated because of COVID-19, Coronavirus, and social distancing. So not being able to celebrate in large groups of people. So I’m going to tell you some of the traditions, and then offer you maybe some alternatives.

So one of the biggest ways that we celebrate the Fourth of July in the United States is with a parade. So these happen, sometimes nationally, or even locally. So maybe in your town, you would have a Fourth of July parade. So a “parade” is a celebration with lots of people. Normally there’s music, there’s something called “a float”. So this is kind of like a moving car or vehicle with decorations with people. And people normally march or walk in the same direction, as well. So this is very common, “a Fourth of July parade”. This year, there may not be many happening. Or it’s possible that you can watch a parade on TV or online. So that’s one alternative for this year is to participate in a parade online instead of going and being around a lot of people.

Okay, so if you didn’t know, the colors of the American flag are red, white, and blue. So when many people participate in these Fourth of July celebrations, they wear those colors. So you might wear today, I’m only wearing red and white, I don’t have blue. But many people wear those different colors, red, white, and blue in celebration of our flag, which means that if you show “patriotism” or if you are “patriotic”, it means to show love and support for your country. So we could say the Fourth of July is probably the most patriotic day that we have, because it’s a celebration of our country.

So another thing that people do on Fourth of July, and at many other events like sports, events, etc, is we sing the national anthem, which in the United States is called the Star Spangled Banner. So everyone, every American knows the words to this song. And normally at the beginning of a sports event like baseball or football, etc, people sing the national anthem. And especially on the Fourth of July, to show our patriotism to be patriotic we sing the national anthem.

Okay, so another way that we celebrate, because this day, the Fourth of July, is in the summer, it’s very hot, so people like to go outside. So there are many outdoor celebrations going on on the Fourth of July. If you live near the sea or near a lake or something like that, then you might want to have a party there because you can go swimming or if you have a swimming pool at your house. People tend to have pool parties in their “backyard”, which is the space in the back of your house where you might have some grass, maybe a swimming pool. Lots of people like to have “barbecues”, so where you cook food on a grill, this is called a “barbecue”. You might even have a picnic. Maybe if it’s not your house, it could be at a park somewhere. It’s very typical to have something called a “potluck”. So a “potluck” is when you invite everyone to bring a different dish. So everybody brings something and then you share, all together. So maybe this year, it’s not the best idea, because we shouldn’t be sharing food with large groups. But one thing you can do is you can divide up the food ahead of time, you can make like some plates with a little bit of everything on it. And that way, you don’t have to be sharing with different people because of the the social distancing. But these are some common ways that we celebrate and there are so many typical foods that we eat to celebrate Fourth of July. As I said, we like the red, white and blue tradition. So many of the foods are in these colors. You might even have a cake that’s in the shape of the American flag, you can use cream, you can use blueberries for the blue strawberries for the white, etc. Other typical foods are like, again, barbecue foods, or picnic style food could be something like potato salad, fried chicken, different kinds of salads, this potluck thing when you bring food to a potluck, you bring something that’s easy for everyone to share. So all these kinds of different salads, things that are easy to divide up and share with people. These are the typical foods that we like to eat on the Fourth of July.

So as I mentioned before sports are very popular in the United States, and the biggest sport on the Fourth of July, because it’s summer, it’s baseball season, so many people attend baseball games. And the best part on the Fourth of July is that at the end of the game, you can watch fireworks, so different colorful firework shows. You can find these everywhere, they’re very popular at the end of baseball games, even if you don’t attend the baseball game, you can go maybe to the parking lot or go somewhere close to the stadium. So that’s where the game is played, so that you can watch the fireworks afterwards. So many, many cities have different firework shows going on. I know this year, it might be a little bit different. But a lot of places are broadcasting their firework shows online or on the local TV stations. So if you don’t want to leave the house to go watch a firework show, you can also watch it online. So that’s another way that you can celebrate the Fourth of July this year.

Okay, so I’ve given you a little bit of vocabulary related to the Fourth of July, how we celebrate as Americans so that if you are planning to go, maybe not this year, but maybe next year or another time, and you’re going to be in the United States, around these dates, the Fourth of July, then you might want to participate in a celebration. But I want to hear from you in the comments. How do you celebrate your country? Okay, so we have, as Americans, we have our independence, we celebrate the Declaration of Independence, but there are different histories of different countries. So how do you celebrate your country? How do you show patriotism? Okay, so every country has a flag, but maybe there’s like an anthem, a song that you sing, or maybe a special celebration on a certain day that you celebrate your country. So tell me in the comments, how do you celebrate your country? And if you have ever been to the states on the Fourth of July, then tell me about your experience there. So I look forward to reading your comments. I hope you’re all doing very well in this kind of de-confinement process. Again, all these different celebrations. The summer season is going to be a little bit different this year, but I think we can all find ways to celebrate even from a distance. So take care and I will see you back here at the same time next week. Bye!