Сходства и различия в традициях празднования Рождества Беларуси и Великобритании

Learning of foreign languages is a vital need. It's not a secret that they have come into our everyday life. But it’s not enough to know only one language. Language is only the first condition that is necessary for communication.

Studying culture and customs helps develop person's cultural level.  It’s not enough only to know language in order to understand another nation better. It is very important to get acquainted with the culture of the people and their traditions. Holidays and traditions are an important part of the people’s life.

It is certain that Christmas is celebrated all over the world. Perhaps no other holiday has developed a set of customs and symbols. The Christmas story comes from bible. To people all over the world, Christmas is a season of giving and receiving presents.

The relevance of the work lies in the fact that the study of foreign languages, including English, is an integral part of the life of a modern person. The study will allow us to better understand the mentality of UK residents and get into their psychology.

The aim and the purpose of our research are:

- to get acquainted with the traditions of English people when they celebrate Christmas;

- to learn and find out more about Belarusian Christmas;

- to find similarities and differences in the traditions of celebrating Christmas in Belarus and the UK.

The methods of investigations are:

- Studying of information about British and Belarusian cultures

- Analysis of the results

In our work we will try to show the most interesting traditions of celebrating Christmas in Belarus and the UK and find out the amazing similar elements and differences in British and Belarusian customs of celebration. We believe it will be interesting to see and to compare how holidays are celebrated in these two countries with such different history and geographic situation.

There are 8 public holidays or bank holidays in a year in Great Britain. They are : Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Easter Monday, May Day, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday. Public Holidays in Great Britain are called bank holidays because banks as well as most of offices and shops are closed. Christmas is the most popular holiday. Children enjoy receiving presents which are traditionally put into the stocking. Most houses are decorated with holly and there is usually a Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. The traditional Christmas dinner includes roast turkey or goose with potatoes, peas and carrots and pudding for dessert. An important part of Christmas is carol singing.

For most British families, this is the most important festival of the year. It combines the Christian celebration or the birth of Christ with the traditional festivities of winter. The celebration of Christmas in England last 3 days. Christmas Eve, Christmas day and the Day of Donation (gift). A week before the holiday home is thoroughly clean, wipe to Shine window. On the Sunday before Christmas many churches hold a carol service where special hymns are sung. Sometimes carol-singers can be heard on the streets as they collect money for charity. Most families decorate their houses with brightly-colored paper or holly, and they usually have a Christmas tree in the corner of the front room, glittering with colored lights and decorations.