EXAMPLE

Kurenti don’t blow whistles, they ring cow bells.

Potica is not traditionally eaten at the Carnival. Slovenians eat doughnuts.

Slovenians don't light bonfires on the day of the winter solstice but on the day of the summer solstice when the day is longest.

GRAMMAR LOG

Prepositions of time

Here are four prepositions we often use with expressions of time:
   AT - for precise moment in time

at 11 o’clock       

   ON - for specific days and dates

on Christmas Day   

   IN - for long periods of time

in 2009      

   IN - for a time in the future

See you in three weeks.        

   TILL/UNTIL - for saying how long something continues

She waited until it stopped raining.        

You will study prepositions of time in more detail in the next unit.

WORDS TO REMEMBER

frighten = (v.) fill with fear
scare = (v.) make afraid
whistle = (n.) device that makes a loud and high sound if you blow it
poppy = (n.) plant with bright red flowers whose tiny black seeds can be used as drug or food
seed = (n.) small thing that plants produce from which new plants can grow
bonfire = (n.) a large fire built in the open air, often for celebration or warmth
occasion= (n.) opportunity
solstice = (n.) the time of the longest or the shortest day of the year
firework = (n.) device that explodes and makes a display of coloured lights
fortnight = (n.) two weeks

ACTIVITY IDEA

Pick two countries that you are interested in and find out about their typical festivals. Here are a few examples: La Tomatina in Spain, the Snow and Ice festival in China, and Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Share what you have learned about the festivals you like with your partner.

AUDIO SCRIPT

I like Slovenia very much. I've stayed here for quite some time. I came in February and my Slovenian friends took me to Ptuj to see the Carnival. It was wonderful. The most fascinating masks were kurenti. These are men dressed in sheepskin, and they look quite frightening. Well, they are supposed to look like that because their role is to scare winter away. They make a lot of noise by jumping and dancing and blowing whistles. On that day, Slovenian women traditionally bake the famous nut roll potica. Potica is on the Slovenian table at Christmas, New Year, well, every celebration includes potica. I like it but not with nuts, I prefer it with poppy. You know, little black poppy seeds?

Then I remember how we celebrated May Day Holiday, which is on the first of May. I was staying in Ljubljana at that time and we walked to the Rožnik hill and there was a bonfire with loads of people and music and food, and it was fun. Bonfires are so romantic, so natural. People go out, drink champagne, and dance around bonfires. Slovenians light bonfires on other occasions, too. They also have them on the day of the winter solstice when the night is longest.

I liked New Year's Eve in Ljubljana. People celebrate it in the streets in the city centre with music, fireworks, and champagne. It was great, freezing cold, but great. In Sevilla, my hometown, it's never as cold as here, but I nevertheless enjoyed the celebration. I'm going back to Spain in a fortnight and I already miss all the nice moments in Slovenia. But I'll come back for sure.