Cultura THE ENGLISH CORNER DIEGE ZARAGOZA WINTER IS COMING… ... and Christmas is coming along with it. Since an important part of learning a language involves cultural awareness of history and traditions from the targeted country, let’s have a look at a well-known Christmas story. At the same time, let’s also learn how English speakers use language to narrate in the past, and to state facts. These are typical tasks at functional level (L2), so pay attention: Sources Did You Know? On December 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for the celebration of Christmas. The warring countries refused to create any official cease-fire, but on Christmas the soldiers in the trenches declared their own unofficial truce. www.history .com www.thefactsite.com During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies. Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and there were more instruments than just the voices of the soldiers, since reports were made of brass bands from the German trenches. At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured soccer game. 63
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