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Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the long fast for the Lent period in many Christian churches and has many names, including Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the Tuesday of Carnival, and Pancake Day.The tradition of Shrove Tuesday derives from medieval Christianity, where Christians would enjoy one last day of feasting by using up all their eggs, butter, and milk – all of which were forbidden during the forthcoming Lent – to make pancakes and pastries.
Although the French term ‘Mardi Gras’ refers to a day of plenty, the term ‘Carnival’ – as it’s referred to in Spanish and Italian-speaking countries – is derived from the words “carne levar” (to take away meat) pointing out another aspect of the Lenten fast.
Download our French for Kids Activity Sheet for your crepes recipe!
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- Created: Thursday, 17 April 2014 00:00
Eat like an ITALIAN this Easter
The Colomba cake, is a sweet, eggy, yeasted bread (like panettone) shaped in one of the most recognizable symbols of Easter, the dove.
The Colomba cake takes on this form precisely because la colombain Italian means dove, the symbol of peace and an appropriate finish to Easter dinner.
“Christmas at home and Easter with whomever you wish” (old Italian saying).
Registrations for Term 2 clubs are open and we’ve made it EASY and QUICK for you to register for your Fun Languages club in Term 2! Visit the FIND A CLUB page to find your club and follow the link to register online.
or REQUEST A FREE TRIAL LESSON for a club near you.
Don’t forget to join our social community on
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to stay in touch.
See you in Term 2 and a very Happy Easter from all of us at Fun Languages!
In Verges, SPAIN,the traditional “ La Danza de la Muerte” or “death dance” is performed. Dating back to the 14th century, the tradition has people dressing in skeleton costumes and parading through the streets.
“Colomba con fiori” by Picasso
It’s common knowledge that Easter is a major part of many religious cultures and belief, the most well know to us being the Christian celebration of Christ’s rising.
But this holiday also has pagan origins.
Ever wondered where the colorUed eggs, cute little bunnies, baby chicks, leg of lamb dinners, and lilies come from?
In FRANCE the Chateau Vaux Le Vicomte, Maincy, outside of Paris hosts an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday and Monday.
Some 35,000 eggs are hidden for hunting.
A GERMAN tradition of decorating trees and bushes with Easter eggs is known as the Ostereierbaum, or Easter egg tree
Along with decorated eggs, many of the customs associated with Easter celebrations are originally from Germany including the Easter bunny.
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- Since we’ve just celebrated May Day we thought it would be a good time to share an interesting “Mayday morsel” with all our Fun Languages fans. And it has nothing to do with an ancient Northern Hemisphere Spring festival or celebrating the achievements of workers!
What we’re talking about is the emergency code word “Mayday” used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications.
Did you know …
The Mayday procedure word originated in 1923 with Frederick Stanley Mockford a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word “Mayday” from the French “m’aider” (shortening of venez m’aider “come help me!”)
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DOWNLOAD A FREE MOTHER’S DAY CRAFT ACTIVITY
FOR FRENCH OR SPANISH“The days are long, but the years are short” – Gretchen Rubin “The Happiness Project”
Raising children does funny things to our perception of time!
Days or hours can pass agonisingly slowly when you’re trying to get your overtired baby to sleep, when you’re attempting to soothe a grumpy toddler or when you are waiting for an errant teenager to return to the familial fold (past curfew!).
We crawl into bed with relief at the end of a day full of interruptions and irritations, a day that seemed to last a century; yet perusing old photos of our kids brings tears to our eyes, a longing for those same days and wondering where the years went.
When we look back in remembrance, the months have flown and the minutes turned into years. Our non-sleeping infant is walking, our toddler is off to high school and our teenager is now married.
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- Our lovely Regional Victorian club manager, Sally-Anne Symes, recently shared these great pics with us of a family hiking trip in the Grampians National Park in Victoria during the April holidays and the images really made us think about what it takes to raise a global citizen.
Helping the world communicate by sharing our love of languages and playing our part in raising children to succeed and make a positive contribution to the world is central to the Fun Languages’ mission. And it’s an ideaology that is embraced by all our club managers and teachers across Australia and New Zealand.
As we see it, raising a responsible global citizen is as much about nurturing a respect and love for our natural world as it is about giving children the tool of languages to be able to communicate with people from other cultures.
For the first time in the history of the human race, all four corners of the world are being brought into ever closer contact, with increasing integration arising from the interchange of world views and cultures.
And although it’s necessary for us, as adults, to constantly adapt to this new culturally and economically globalised environment, it is our children who will most need the adaptable qualities of temperament and mind that are necessary to handle the challenges that arise from our increasingly “small world”.
Thinking and teaching with a global perspective provides an opportunity to introduce children to world issues and concepts that help them to understand that the planet and its occupants are interconnected, interdependent and fragile!
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Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the long fast for the Lent period in many Christian churches and has many names, including Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the Tuesday of Carnival, and Pancake Day.
Since we’ve just celebrated May Day we thought it would be a good time to share an interesting “Mayday morsel” with all our Fun Languages fans. And it has nothing to do with an ancient Northern Hemisphere Spring festival or celebrating the achievements of workers!
Our lovely Regional Victorian club manager, Sally-Anne Symes, recently shared these great pics with us of a family hiking trip in the Grampians National Park in Victoria during the April holidays and the images really made us think about what it takes to raise a global citizen.