Презентация к конкурсу по теме "День Святого Валентина"

Saint Valentine’s Day

Friendship!

Happiness!

Affection!

Romance!

Love

People say these words on Saint Valentine’s Day. This happy holiday celebrates friendship, love and romance.
Valentine’s Day is a good time to think of others who are important to us – Moms and Dads, grandparents, sisters and brothers, friends and classmates, teachers.
It’s a nice time to tell them how much you like them and how you feel.

To each and every friend of mine
I’ll send a lovely valentine.
Mom, Dad, Sis, and Brother, too.
Will receive a heart that says,
I love you.

This holiday is celebrated all over the world.
St. Valentine’s Day is a holiday which is celebrated in Great Britain, the USA, and in many European countries.

St. Valentine’s Day has roots in several legends.
This is the legend of how St. Valentine’s Day began. According to one story, St. Valentine was a kindly priest named Valentine. There was a law against marrying. At that time the priest named Valentine married young couples secretly. The story goes back to about 200 A.D.

Another legend tells us that Valentine was a Christian priest in the Roman empire three hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ. On February 14, Valentine was beheaded, not only because he performed a miracle- he cured the jailer’s daughter of her blindness the night before he was executed. But he had written a letter to the girl, signing it “From your Valentine”.

Some people believe that St. Valentine was the saint patron of birds. The legend tells that birds choose their mates on February the 14th and began to build their nests on this day.
There also was another St. Valentine who was a good friend to children. Because he would not worship the gods decreed by the Roman emperor, he was put in prison. While St. Valentine was imprisoned, the children missed him and brought him loving notes. This man was executed on February 14 in 270 A.D. Some people think this is why we exchange friendly and caring messages on this day.

Written valentines began around 1400. The oldest one we know of dates from 1415. A Frenchman, Charles, Duke of Orleans, was captured by the English in a battle. He was put in prison in the Tower of London. There he wrote valentine poems. Many of them were saved and can be seen today in the British Museum.

The custom of sending valentine cards in Europe started in the 1700s. For a long time valentines were made by hand. Commercial valentine cards were first made in the early 1800s.
Now sending valentine cards on the 14th of February has become the most popular way of expressing love, affection and friendship. The ornaments that decorate valentines are symbols of love and friendship.

In the language of symbols, a red or pink heart, pierced with an arrow denotes eternal love. It’s the most popular symbol of the holiday of love and romance.

Lace symbolizes a net for catching a lover’s heart. So if you get a valentine with a piece of lace, it means that a person who has sent it is passionately in love with you. Lace means “You have caught my heart in a net”.

Cupid, the Roman god of love, is a symbol of passionate, tender, or playful love. His arrows are invisible and his targets are our hearts. When his arrow hits your heart, you’ll fall hopelessly in love with someone.

One symbol which has slipped into the background is the true love knot. With no beginning and no end, the love knot consists of graceful loops, sometimes in the form of hearts. It’s not easy to invent a true love knot of your own.

A ribbon means that a person is tied up. It says ”You are tied up” or “You’re my girl”. A red rose is the most romance symbol of love.

Nowadays people usually send greeting cards with words of love and affection to their sweethearts, friends and members of their families. They say “Be My Valentine”. They give roses, chocolates and other presents to them.

We congratulate you with St. Valentine’s Day. We wish you great success in learning English. We hope you’ve learned a lot and remembered much about such a wonderful holiday as St. Valentine’s Day. We think all of you have got a lot of pleasure and enjoyed this presentation.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF ENGLISH!