Lectura en inglés para adolescentes: 10 fun facts about Christmas in the USA

¿Quieres conocer unos cuantos datos curiosos sobre las celebraciones de Navidad en Estados Unidos? Te invitamos a leer 10 fun facts about Christmas in the USA elaborado por la redacción de la revista para aprender inglés I Love English, a partir del contenido del número de diciembre (I Love English 328).

Aprenderéis sobre sus tradiciones y costumbres en esta época del año, y además conoceréis nuevo vocabulario y podréis practicar la lectura en inglés. Es una lectura perfecta para adolescentes y alumnos de Secundaria.

10 fun facts about Christmas in the USA 

1. Christmas is the most celebrated holiday in the USA. However, Alabama was the first state in the USA to officially recognize Christmas in 1836. That is why it is said that Alabama is America?s Sweet Home of Christmas. 

2. It is a traditional practice for the President of the USA to have a Christmas tree shining brightly in the window of the White House. However, nobody knows which President put up the first White House Christmas tree! 

3. Americans send more than 2 billion Christmas cards every year. The most popular greeting on a card is "Merry Christmas", followed by "Happy Holidays". In 1975, one American man sent 62,824 Christmas cards: a difficult record to beat! 

4. Dutch immigrants brought the Christmas cookie to the USA in the 17th century. Their cookies had spices, dried fruit and nuts. Today, kids leave cookies and milk for Santa on 24 December. Many Americans buy cookies for Santa, but some bake their own! 

5. The cakes people eat during the Christmas period are usually known as plum cakes, but, actually, there are no plums in the cakes! That is because raisins were known as plums in medieval times. In fact, raisin pudding is one of the traditional Christmas recipes in the USA. Other common cakes are: pumpkin or apple pie, fruitcake, muesli truffles, Christmas biscuits, Christmas tree cakes and coconut snowballs!  

6. Families have an "elf on the shelf". The elf observes kids? behaviour before Christmas and reports back to Santa Claus in the North Pole each night. And every morning, the elf has moved to a different place in the house. Kids enjoy finding him!  

7. Each member of the family has a stocking, often with their name on, so that Santa Claus can fill it with little presents on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, Americans hang their stockings by the fireplace (if they have one), but you don?t need to buy Christmas stockings, you can just use some big colourful socks. 

8. In the USA, people decorate their Christmas tree with candy cane lights and garlands. A "popcorn garland" adds a vintage touch. You don?t eat the popcorn (or the red cranberries) on the garland ? it?s for decoration only! 

9. Nutcracker dolls are also a traditional Christmas decoration on the Christmas tree. They originated in Germany in the 17th century to crack nuts. Later, the composer Tchaikovsky put one on his famous ballet. After World War II, soldiers brought nutcracker dolls home to the USA and Americans adopted them as part of their Christmas traditions.  

10. Originally, Jingle Bells was not a Christmas song, but a Thanksgiving song. In the 19th century, a Georgian organist performed a song at his church?s Thanksgiving concert. This song was then re-published in 1857 with the title Jingle Bells.