Can You Say "Merry Christmas"?

Here we are, just a few days away from Christmas, America's biggest holiday. At Lingua Espresso, we are planning to host a free public event, a Pronunciation Master Class, on Saturday, December 21st, 10:30 am JST. I will be the designated teacher for the event, and I am really looking forward to it! For more details about the event in Japanese, click here.

Also, a few weeks ago, I sent a Christmas greeting to my current students that I'd like to republish here for everyone interested in Christmas as a modern American holiday:

Dear Students,

Christmas is coming up soon, and I wanted to sent holiday greetings to all of you. I know that Christmas is not the biggest holiday in Japan, but in America, it's the biggest holiday of the year, particularly for children. Children wait all year for Christmas and daydream about the wonderful candy and toys and time off from school.

Christmas is a hard holiday to explain. Formally, it is a religious holiday, the celebration of the birth of Christ, and so, Christianity. So things such as nativity scenes, and stars on the top of trees, and angels singing are all part of the Christian tradition. Some things, like yule logs are even older than Christianity: these were parts of Pagan celebrations that became part of Christmas as Christianity swept over Europe. And many things, like Santa Claus and his reindeer (including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), are either modern inventions or a mixture of Pagan or Christian traditions with a modern "twist."

Many Americans feel that Christmas has become too commercial and too focused on "things" such as gifts instead of love, which is the true meaning of Christmas. I believe this is true, but I also believe that some of the color and glitter and gifts are part of what make it magical for children. And also, most Americans just can't resist being just a little bit happier at Christmas. At Christmas, it seems like most people are kinder and more open-hearted. You might say that Christmas brings out the children in all of us.

Some of my happiest Christmas memories include:

1. The television claymation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

2. Christmas Carols.

3. My first Easy-Bake Oven (they still make them for little girls).

So to all of you and your families in this month of December, may you be blessed with the love that is Christmas, and have a Happy, Happy New Year!

Lynna