Our Family Traditions
B1 · Vocabulary · Traditions
🏡 What Makes Your Family Special? — Global Teen Magazine
Amy Clarke, 14: “Every Sunday, all my relatives gather at my grandmother’s flat for lunch — about fifteen people in a very small kitchen! Grandma always makes dumplings, and the recipe has been passed down from her own grandmother. Nobody is allowed to leave until we’ve all made at least ten. I’ve never made a perfect one, but I’m getting better.”
Tom Webb, 15: “Our tradition is a bit strange. Every New Year’s Day, my whole family swims in the sea at Sunbeam Bay. It’s usually about eight degrees. My grandad started it in 1980, and he has never missed a year. I’ve done it five times now. The first time, I screamed so loudly that a dog ran away.”
Rosa Martín, 14: “On the night of 5 January, Spanish children leave their shoes out for the Three Kings, and in the morning there are presents. We still do it in Sunbeam Bay, even though none of my friends here have heard of it. My mum also makes a special cake, the roscón, with a tiny toy hidden inside. Whoever finds it is king for the day.”
Ben Taylor, 14: “Our tradition is the annual camping trip. Every August, my dad, my sister Daisy and I camp in the same field in Wales. It always rains. We always say we’ll never come back. And every year, we do.”
Vocabulary
- tradition — something people have done in the same way for a long time
- celebrate — do something special for an important day
- relatives — people in your family
- gather — come together in one place
- recipe — instructions for cooking a dish
- pass down — give to younger people in the family
- annual — happening once a year
- custom — a usual way of doing something in a culture
Sample questions (13 questions)
- What is the rule at Amy’s grandmother’s Sunday lunch?
- Everyone must make at least ten dumplings before leaving.
- Nobody can talk during lunch.
- Everyone must bring a dish.
- Who started Tom’s family tradition, and when?
- his dad, five years ago
- his grandad, in 1980
- his cousins, last year
- What happens to the person who finds the toy in the roscón?
- They are king for the day.
- They must bake next year’s cake.
- They get extra presents.
Answers and hints from Migo appear when you do it online.