Coffee Break English season two, episode four.
Hello, and welcome to Coffee Break English.
My name is Josie. And I'm Mark.
And we're very happy to be here with you today for another episode of Coffee Break English.
Yes, here on the Coffee Break English podcast, each week we take a different text to discuss and this week we're off to Ireland to learn about St.
Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's Day is something that is very well known all around the world.
But perhaps some of our listeners don't know about the origins of St.
Patrick's Day. Let's find out more about this in today's text.
Josie, is there anything in particular that we're going to be looking at from a grammatical point of view?
Yes. So today we are going to be focusing on a very common verb tense, very common verb form, which is the present perfect.
And we're going to be looking at when we use the present perfect with the words since and for.
That sounds like a good idea.
Let's begin the lesson.
As usual, let's listen to the text and then we'll talk about it.
Hello Josie, hi Mark.
My name is Stephen and I'm reporting to you here from sunny Dublin.
In today's text, we're talking about an important celebration of Irish culture known throughout the world.
Let's get started. St.
Patrick's Day is a traditional Irish festival and it has been celebrated in Ireland since the early 17th century.
Since then, the celebrations have spread all around the world and the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, the USA and Argentina are just some of the countries which now recognize this festival.
In fact, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival.
So, what makes it so popular?
St. Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century.
St. Patrick was the man who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century, so he was regarded as a very important person.
The celebration is on the 17th of March every year, which was the day of St.
Patrick's death. St.
Patrick's Day has been a major celebration in Ireland and abroad for hundreds of years.
The main reason that the day is so popular in so many different countries is because of the big international communities of Irish immigrants.
In the 19th century, the potato was an important crop for the people of Ireland but when the crops became infected, no potatoes grew.
Facing a serious famine, many Irish families emigrated to other countries and now people with Irish ancestors can be found all over the world.
Since then, Irish culture and traditions have spread to many countries which is why St.
Patrick's Day has become so popular.
Today, the celebrations involve parties, parades and other fun traditions.
People often wear green and Irish clovers called shamrocks are displayed in homes, bars and restaurants.
In Chicago, the city's plumbers union colours the Chicago River green for 24 hours to celebrate St.
Patrick's Day. They have done this every year for over 50 years.
Maybe you can find some St Patrick's Day events near you to take part in next March 17th?
Thank you very much.
Josie, do you celebrate St.
Patrick's Day? I have celebrated St.
Patrick's Day in the past.
Here in Scotland, being quite close to Ireland, we have a lot of events happening on St.
Patrick's Day. Ok, let's go back through the text and talk a little more about St.
Patrick's Day. Good idea.
And this time, would you like to read it for us, Mark?
Ok, no problem. St.
Patrick's Day is a traditional Irish festival and it has been celebrated in Ireland since the early 17th century.
Yes. So here the first thing to notice is the spelling of St.
So obviously this word is spelled S -A -I -N -T.
But when we write it, we abbreviate it, we shorten it, we write ST dot.
Ok. So St. Patrick's Day, ST dot Patrick's Day.
And it has been celebrated in Ireland since the early 17th century.
Good, yes. So here we have our first use of the present perfect tense.
The present perfect has been, is made up of the verb have or in this case has, because it's the third person, it, plus the past participle, which in this case is an irregular past participle.
It's been. That's the past participle or the third form of the verb.
Let's just remind ourselves of the three forms of that verb.
Yes, we have be, was or were in the past simple and been, the past participle.
So it has been celebrated in Ireland since the early 17th century.
Good. So this here the present perfect is used for an action which started in the past.
So it started in the 17th century and it continues to the present.
So St. Patrick's Day started in the early 17th century and it's still celebrated today and it will be in the future.
Ok, could we have some other examples of the structure?
Of course. So here we're using the word since and since tells us when the action started.
So for example, we could say, I have studied English since I was 10 years old.
Ok, there, you're saying when you started studying English, you were 10 years old and you're continuing to study English.
Exactly. Or alternatively, he has lived in Scotland since 2010.
In that case, you're identifying a date or a year as to when he started living in Scotland.
That's right, exactly.
Ok, let's continue.
Ok. Since then, the celebrations have spread all around the world and the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, the USA and Argentina are just some of the countries which now recognize this festival.
Good. So here immediately we have another use of the present perfect with since.
Since then. So then is this specific point in time when the celebration started.
Since then, the celebrations have spread all around the world and spread is an irregular verb, but it's actually quite simple.
We have the present spread, the past simple spread and the past participle also spread.
Nice and easy. Indeed.
The next thing which is interesting in this sentence is the spelling of the word recognize, as we've already seen many times.
Why is this interesting, Mark?
I think our listeners will know this by now.
I -S -E in the UK and British English I -Z or Z -E in American English.
Exactly. Let's continue.
In fact, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival.
So what makes it so popular?
Good. I think we can continue straight on to the next part, Mark.
Let's find out why it is so popular.
St. Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century.
Yes, so an official Christian feast day.
The word Christian can be an adjective to describe the faith of Christianity, so this feast, it is a Christian feast day, or it can be used to describe a person who follows the faith of Christianity – a Christian.
In that case, it would be unknown.
That's right, exactly.
So it's a Christian feast day.
What is a feast, Mark?
It's a celebration, a big meal very often.
That's right, exactly.
So we eat lots of food often to celebrate something.
Okay, let's continue.
St. Patrick was the man who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century.
So he was regarded as a very important person.
Yes, so he was regarded as a very important person.
A couple of episodes ago, in episode one, in fact, we looked at the passive.
And here's another nice example of the passive voice.
He was regarded. We could say, people regarded St.
Patrick as a very important person.
Or if we want to start with the interesting part, St.
Patrick, we say he was regarded.
So using the passive voice there.
Excellent. Okay, so the celebration is on the 17th of March every year, which was the day of St.
Patrick's death. So let's take a look at this date.
So when you said this date, Mark, you said the 17th of March.
But often, when we see this written down, we don't write it with the words the and of included.
Usually we just see 17th March.
And when we say this date, we have to add in the 17th of March.
And that applies to pretty much all dates.
That's right. It's not only the 17th of March.
You're right. Okay, we're going to take a short break there and we will be back in just a moment to find out more about St.
Patrick's Day and how it is celebrated around the world.
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Today we're learning about St.
Patrick's Day and we're about to find out how it is celebrated around the world.
Would you like to continue with the text, Mark?
Okay. St. Patrick's Day has been a major celebration in Ireland and abroad for hundreds of years.
Good. So here we have another example of the present perfect.
St. Patrick's Day has been a major celebration for hundreds of years.
Again, we're using the present perfect to say that this action started in the past and it continues to the present.
It's still a major celebration today.
This time, instead of using the word since to tell us when the action started, which word are we using, Mark?
We're using the word for.
That's right. And for is used to say how long the action has lasted so far until now.
So it's used with a period of time.
So we say for hundreds of years.
That's a very long period of time.
I think it would be useful to see more examples of this.
Good idea. For example, we could say, I have studied English for five years.
Okay. In that situation, you have studied English for five years.
The period of time is five years and that's the focus here.
That's right. Or we could say, I have lived in Scotland for a long time.
Again, the focus is the long time that you have lived in Scotland.
Can we compare that with our earlier sentences?
We can indeed. So earlier we said, I have lived in Scotland since 2010.
There we use the word since to show the exact time when I started living in Scotland.
2010. If we compare that with I have lived in Scotland for a long time, for is used to show how long the period of time is that I have lived in Scotland.
That makes perfect sense.
Good. There's one other thing I'd like to talk about here.
And that's the word abroad.
So St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in Ireland and abroad.
What does abroad mean, Mark?
Abroad means overseas or not in the country about which we're talking.
That's right, exactly.
OK, would you like to continue?
The main reason that the day is popular in so many countries is because of the big international communities of Irish immigrants.
Good. I think we can continue from there as well.
In the 19th century, the potato was an important crop for the people of Ireland.
But when the crops became infected, no potatoes grew.
So the potato was an important crop.
A crop is a plant or an animal product that we grow for food to eat.
In this case, the potato.
That's right. Facing a serious famine, many Irish families emigrated to other countries.
And now people with Irish ancestors can be found all over the world.
Yes, so here we have the word famine, which means an extreme lack of food.
OK, and we also saw emigrated.
And previously in this passage, we heard about immigrants.
Can you explain the difference?
That's right, so they're very similar words.
Emigrated and immigrate, emigrate, immigrate.
So to immigrate means to come into a country.
You can think of immigrate begins with an I.
So they're coming in.
Immigrate, coming in.
And then to emigrate means to go out of a country, to exit a country.
So we have the ease there to emigrate, to exit.
Perfect, so that makes more sense now.
So lots of Irish families emigrated to other countries.
And now people with Irish ancestors can be found all over the world.
What about ancestors?
Yes, so ancestors are your family or your relations, people related to you, but they are usually people who are older than your grandparents.
So if you think of the word ancient, we have A -N, ancient, very old ancestors, your distant relatives.
Good. Since then, Irish culture and traditions have spread to many countries, which is why St.
Patrick's Day has become so popular.
Good, so here again we have another use of the present perfect with the word since.
Since then, since this specific point in time, Irish culture and traditions have spread to many countries.
This culture has spread and it's still spreading today.
Good. Let's read our final paragraph now.
Today, the celebrations involve parties, parades and other fun traditions.
That's right. So what's a parade, Mark?
A parade is when people walk through the streets of a town.
Sometimes there are bands, dancers, musicians, singers, and sometimes people dress in a particular way.
That's right, yes. Let's continue.
People often wear green and Irish clovers, called shamrocks, are displayed in homes, bars and restaurants.
Good, so Irish clovers, called shamrocks.
A clover is a kind of a plant, a kind of little leaf.
Sometimes it has three leaves and sometimes it has four.
And we say, if you find a four -leafed clover, it's very lucky, isn't it?
Absolutely, it brings good luck to you.
That's right. So these Irish clovers, they have a special name, they're called shamrocks.
And there's one city in particular, which is mentioned here, isn't there, Mark?
That's right. In Chicago, the city's Plumbers Union colours the Chicago River Green for 24 hours to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
Good. So the city's Plumbers Union.
So a plumber is a person who you will call if you have a problem with your sink or your toilet and you need the water system to be fixed somehow.
And the Union of Plumbers in Chicago do something special to the river for St Patrick's Day.
They do. They colour it green.
So the whole river turns green.
Just for 24 hours though.
I would really like to see this.
They have done this every year for over 50 years.
Good. So here we have our final example of the present perfect in this text today.
They have done this every year for over 50 years.
So this means that the Plumbers, they first started colouring the river green 50 years ago.
So a long time ago.
And they have done this every year since then.
And they will probably continue in the future.
OK. Maybe you can find some St Patrick's Day events near you to take part in next March 17th.
Good. So to finish we have a phrasal verb here.
To take part in. And this just means to participate in.
So maybe you could participate in some St Patrick's Day events and celebrations.
Excellent. It is time now to listen to the text one more time.
St Patrick's Day is a traditional Irish festival and it has been celebrated in Ireland since the early 17th century.
Since then the celebrations have spread all around the world.
And the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, the USA and Argentina are just some of the countries which now recognise this festival.
In fact, St Patrick's Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival.
So what makes it so popular?
St Patrick's Day was made an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century.
St Patrick was the man who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century.
So he was regarded as a very important person.
The celebration is on the 17th of March every year which was the day of St Patrick's death.
St Patrick's Day has been a major celebration in Ireland and abroad for hundreds of years.
The main reason that the day is so popular in so many different countries is because of the big international communities of Irish immigrants.
In the 19th century, the potato was an important crop for the people of Ireland.
But when the crops became infected, no potatoes grew.
Facing a serious famine, many Irish families emigrated to other countries.
And now people with Irish ancestors can be found all over the world.
Since then, Irish culture and traditions have spread to many countries which is why St Patrick's Day has become so popular.
Today the celebrations involve parties, parades and other fun traditions.
People often wear green and Irish clovers called shamrocks are displayed in homes, bars and restaurants.
In Chicago, the city's plumbers union colours the Chicago River green for 24 hours to celebrate St Patrick's Day.
They have done this every year for over 50 years.
Maybe you can find some St Patrick's Day events near you to take part in next March 17th?
Thanks for joining us for this episode of Coffee Break English.
We hope that you've enjoyed it.
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We'll be back again soon with another episode of Coffee Break English.
And in that episode, we are coming home.
We are heading to Scotland.
For now, thanks for listening and we'll see you again soon.
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