Peter comes from England and lives in the small, old town of Shrewsbury. As a non-Christian, Christmas is not a religiously important time for him, but he celebrates it as a family gathering and time off work. The Christmases he has now as an adult are quieter than when he was a child, receiving fewer presents and spending the day at home with just his parents. While he still enjoys traditional Christmas foods like roast turkey, he feels Christmas has become more commercialized with decorations and advertisements appearing earlier each year and more focus on buying and giving gifts than the religious meaning of the holiday.

1. downloaded from podcastsinenglish.com
transcript level 3
Try not to look at this until you’ve done all the exercises that go with the listening.
Jingle bells
Jackie: For this week’s podcastsinenglish.com we’re talking to Peter. Peter,
where do you come from?
Peter: I come from England and I live in a very small town, a very old town,
called Shrewsbury.
Jackie: Is Christmas an important time of the year for you?
Peter: Not really, because I’m not Christian.
Jackie: Many people aren’t Christians in the United Kingdom but they still
celebrate Christmas, why do you think that is?
Peter: Oh, I think it’s because they like to receive and give presents and for
me Christmas is not important as a religious event but more as a
family gathering and seeing my brother, my parents and just having
some time off work and relaxing, and eating lots of nice food. So it’s
a nice time but it’s not a very special event.
Jackie: OK. Are there any differences between the Christmases that you
have now and when you were a child?
Peter: I get less* presents now than when I was a child. Um, Christmas last
year was different because my brother was not there, cos** he now
lives a long, long way away. So Christmases are now are more quiet,
a day spent at home with my parents not doing very much. So less
excitement and less opening presents and running around.
Jackie: Do you still have traditional Christmas food though?
Peter: Oh yes, still have …um roast turkey. We have roast vegetables, and
Christmas pudding and we make a special brandy sauce and wine and
all the kinds of traditional Christmas trimmings.
Jackie: So it sounds like it’s still quite an important time for you, then?
Peter: I think it’s more important for my parents and they are Christian and
they… they see Christmas as being a religious celebration so it’s
important for them that, you know I go and join in and eat lots of
food.
© www.podcastsinenglish.com

2. podcastsinenglish.com
Jackie: OK. Um… do you think though that Christmas has become more
commercial?
Peter: Definitely. Um… I remember last year where I live the Christmas
decorations started appearing in November, the adverts appear on
the TV in even October sometimes and there’s a lot of pressure for
people to buy and give things and forget the real purpose of
Christmas.
Jackie: Mmm…Ok thank you very much, Peter!
Peter: Thank you, Jackie!
© www.podcastsinenglish.com