General Listening Quiz

What goes into a wedding in your country including activities, food, and a reception? Describe these things to someone who is not familiar with your country and culture.

“love to death” = to have extremely strong feelings of love for someone
“I love my sister to death because she will do anything for you. She paid for my wedding dress and helped me send out all of the wedding invitations. Now, she is going to pay for the wedding photographer, too!“

“fall head over heels in love” = fall deeply in love with someone, sometimes suddenly
“Jorie fell head over heels in love with my brother the first time they met.”

Listen to the recording and answer the questions. (See transcript)

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the recording:

• peaceful (adjective): quiet, calm
  – The family played very peaceful music during the wedding ceremony and reception.
• allergic (adjective): having a medical condition that makes you sick after you touch, eat, or breathe something
  – The bride is very allergic to milk products, so they didn’t serve ice cream during the reception.
  – Some of the guests might be allergic to peanuts, so let’s not serve any during the reception.
• break out (verb): to suddenly begin to have a rash on your skin
  – Emily’s son broke out in a very bad rash after he was stung by a bee in the backyard.
• come up with (verb): think of, create, or present an idea
  – My friends were going to have a wedding reception outside, but because the weather was going to be bad, they came up with the idea of having a friend’s house nearby.
• trashy (adjective): in poor condition, dirty
  – Unfortunately, they lived for a short time in a real trashy apartment until they could afford something better.
• catering service (noun): a company that prepares and serves food for parties, weddings, and other activities
  – My parents hired a catering service to prepare the food for the wedding.

Marriage customs, traditions, and rituals differ from country to country and from community to community even within the same country. Discuss these questions about your culture with a partner:

• What is the average age for a first marriage for both men and women?
• How do people meet and court each other?
• How long is a typical courtship?
• Where do people often get married?
• What do the groom and bride wear? How about the guests?
• What happens at a typical marriage? What activities do people do?
• What foods are often served at such events?
• Where do people go on a honeymoon if this is common practice?

Choose a country below. Then, use the internet to collect information on the questions in the Post-Listening section above. Share your ideas with a partner.

• Mexico
• India
• Japan
• Saudi Arabia
• Italy
• Morocco
• China
• France