ENGLISH LEARNING

Foundation
Session 3: Wedding

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 OVERVIEW
• Review
• Warm-up
• Reading 1: The traditions and superstitions that rule at the
wedding
• Reading 2: What’s a wedding without 18.000 cookies in 150
varieties made by 45 helpers
• Recap

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 REVIEW
• Propose • With an eye towards • Present continuous
• Proposal • Reach out to sb • Past continuous
• Engage • Look out for sb/sth
• The big day • Blind spot
• aisle • Just the ticket
• Not (do sth) for (all) the world
• Bride / groom / bridesmaid /
groomsman / the best man
• Make sense

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 GRAMMAR

Started Finished The time of speaking

past now future

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 WARM-UP
• Watch the clip
• Wedding dress

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 READING 1
• FOR those fond of summer weddings, ''The Pleasure of Your Company'' at
the New Canaan Historical Society Townhouse Costume Museum might
be just the ticket. The exhibition, with added title ''Frolics, Rituals and
Traditions,'' which runs through Aug. 29, narrows into dresses, shoes,
bouquets, traditions and superstitions.
• Just the ticket: informal - very suitable and exactly what is needed
• Superstition: belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is
connected with old ideas about magic, etc.
• Bouquet:

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 READING 1
• ''We've tried to incorporate traditions and rituals, many of which were born of
superstitions,'' said Janet Lindstrom, executive director of the society. For
instance, veils, common for brides today, date back to the ancient Romans who
thought wearing one would frighten spirits away. In those days, favored colors
were bright -- reds and oranges, for example.
Veils were introduced at Jewish weddings in the belief that heads should be
covered. In arranged weddings, where it was sometimes feared the groom might
back out, he never saw the bride before the completed ceremony. By the 1870's,
Ms. Lindstrom said, it was generally accepted that a streaming gossamer veil
was a central point at a wedding.
• Born of sth: formal - existing as the result of something
• Veil: a piece of thin material worn by women to cover the face or head
• Date back to (phrasal verb): to have existed for a particular length of time or since a
particular time
• Back out (phrasal verb): to decide not to do something that you had said you would do
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 READING 1
• The Costume Museum has a large collection of wedding gowns they have
not exhibited in 10 years. And there have been important additions
recently, which combined with June and moon inspired the exhibition. But
instead of just showing wedding gowns, ''we wanted to look at them from
another viewpoint, their traditions, rituals,'' Ms. Lindstrom said.
• Gown (n, C): a woman's dress, especially a long one worn on formal occasions
• June and moon?
• The tradition of "June Brides" dates back to Roman times and the June 1st festival celebrating the
marriage of deity Juno and his wife Jupiter (the Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth, no less). In the
14th Century, June was the top pick because it's when people began to bathe again following winter,
and brides wanted a pleasant smelling crowd. It was also convenient because flowers were newly
available and very necessary to mask the smell of those who hadn't yet cleaned up. This is the origin
of the bouquet after all!
• In the Celtic calendar, the term 'honeymoon' referred to the first moon of after the summer solstice
(June 21). The term became synonymous with 'time following the wedding', even when it happened
outside of June weddings.

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 READING 1
Gown (n, C): a woman's dress, especially a long one worn on formal occasions

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 READING 1
Wedding gown vs. Wedding dress

Wedding dresses / gowns Wedding dresses / gowns

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 READING 1
• The exhibition opens with an introduction just outside the gallery. Part of a
display of wedding accessories and mementos includes small packets
of rice wrapped in tulle. ''Rice was thrown because it was the symbol of
fertility,'' Ms. Lindstrom said. ''It is not considered ecologically correct
today.''
The story of a small box to hold souvenir wedding cake was ''when you
took it home and slept with it under the pillow, dreaming of the same man
three nights in a row, you were destined to marry him,'' Ms. Lindstrom
said.
• wedding accessories and mementos: something extra that improves or completes
the thing it is added to / an object that you keep to remember a person, place, or
event related to weddings
• in a row: one after another without a break

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 READING 1
''Rice was thrown because it was the symbol of fertility,'' Ms. Lindstrom said.
''It is not considered ecologically correct today.''

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 READING 1
The story of a small box to hold souvenir wedding cake was ''when you took
it home and slept with it under the pillow, dreaming of the same man three
nights in a row, you were destined to marry him,'' Ms. Lindstrom said.

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 READING 1
• The first section opens into ''Preparation for the Wedding.'' At the
seamstress's place of work, the wedding gown is spread on a sewing
table, its jacket fitted on a dummy, trousseau pieces and embroidered
linens bedecking a chair.
The next area called ''View from the Aisle'' showcases a panorama of
wedding gowns and veils, some shown from the back (as the bride goes
down the aisle), one with a train of orange blossoms, a fertility symbol.

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 READING 1
• A standout is Hattie Carnegie's simple, well draped gown
with yoke and sleeves outlined with satin bands on net and
a lengthy cathedral train. Another unusual gown is trimmed
wig chenille, sweeping from neckline to hips and around a
bustle. The entire setting is framed with a garland of
greenery weaving in and out like a free form garden.

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READING 1

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 READING 1
• This leads to ''Gowns of Different Colors.'' Many in the collection are not
what is now considered the traditional white. ''In earlier times, brides often
wore their best dress as a wedding gown,'' Ms. Lindstrom said.
One simple muslin dress, trainless and worn for a graduation first, bears a
fine mended patch. Another in pale blue satin, a four-piece affair, is meant
to be dressed up or down. A brown plaid is distinctly not what is pictured
today as wedding-ish. And perhaps most uncharacteristic, a Nettie
Rosenstein black crepe with red rooster print was worn for an elopement
on May 12, 1938, then again for a 50th anniversary in 1988.

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 READING 1
• ''Under it All'' displays beautiful handmade lingerie, ''Frolics, Celebrations
and Wedding Cakes'' traces weddings from simpler Colonial days through
a gradual escalation into more ceremony, gaiety and regional customs.

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 READING 1
• The star feature of the exhibition -- a recreation of a home wedding that
took place in New Canaan in 1915 -- comes last. The marriage united two
well-known New Canaan families, the Comstocks and Meads. Comstock
Hill, Mead Park and Mead Street are named after these original settlers.
The event took place in the parlor of the bride's parents' home at 222 Main
Street, which is still standing. The entire entourage is there at the
exhibition, the bride in flowing veil, of course.

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 READING 1
• Idea development: Introduction (time, location, purpose) => description of
the exhibition
• Vocabulary: wedding
• Grammar: review present perfect and past simple tense

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 READING 1
Present perfect

Past simple

Started Finished The time of speaking

past now future

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 READING 1
Present perfect Past simple
I/we/you/they have done/been - He/she/it has I/we/you/they /he/she/it did
done/been I/he/she/it was - We/you/they were
Tell us about only the past
Tell us about situation'now'
They went away, but I think they're back at
They've gone away. They'll be back on Friday.
home now.

Could use for new or recent happenings, could

Could use for new or recent happenings, and
not use for things that are not recent or new
for things that are not recent or new
I've repaired the washing machine. It's ok now.
I repaired the washing machine. It's ok now.
Did you know that somebody has invented a
Who invented the telephone?
new type of washing machine.

Continue to talk about a thing that was

Give new information
A: I've burnt myself.
B: How did you do that?
A: I picked up a hot dish.
Not use to ask 'When', 'What time', use with
'finished time' (yesterday, 10 years ago, in
2000, when I was born…)
=> Use to ask 'How long', use with the period of
time that continues until now
How long have you learned English?
I have learned English for ten years.
introduced with 'present perfect tense'
A: I've burnt myself.
B: How did you do that?
A: I picked up a hot dish.
Use to ask 'When', 'What time', use with
'finished time' (yesterday, 10 years ago, in
2000, when I was born…)
What time / When did you leave?
I went out 10 minutes ago.
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 READING 1
For Since
For + period of time Since + the start of a period
I've learned English for 10 years. I've learned English since 2008.
It's (= It is) / It's been (= It has been) + [a period
Note: not use 'for' with 'all…' (all day/all my of time] + since sth happened
life…) It's 10 years since I started learning English.
I've lived here all my life. It's been 10 years since I started learning
English.

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 READING 1 - SUMMARY
• There is an exhibition which runs through Aug 29 at the New Canaan
Historical Society Townhouse Costume Museum. The purpose of this
exhibition is to incorporate traditions and rituals many of which were born
of superstitions, which made the museum be displayed with different
wedding-ish things, such as veils which date back to the ancient Romans
or gowns which have not been exhibited for 10 years.
There are various parts of the exhibition, beginning with an introduction
outside the gallery. After that, there is a section called ‘Preparation for the
Wedding’, with the next area called ‘View from the Aisle’. In those areas,
gowns are seen in a panorama. Going through two mentioned areas,
visitors could see ‘Gowns of different colors’ and ‘Under it all’ which
displays beautiful handmade lingerie. Finally, the star feature of the
exhibition, which is a recreation of a home wedding that took place in New
Canaan in 1915, comes last.

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 RELAX
• Watch the clip
• Wedding superstitions
• A song with a blank to be filled

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 HOMEWORK
• Read the new passage and use the dictionary to find out the words you don’t know
• Prepare to summary

• Review important words/expression today

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