Haggis hunting? Ceilidh dancing? Learn about the Scottish celebration called Burns Night.
As an English learner, you’ll want to join me to uncover the urban myths associated with haggis (traditionally eaten on Burns Night) so that if you visit Scotland you won’t get caught out!
Transcript and Vocabulary:
Here is the transcript to the video above. I have paused throughout to give you the vocabulary definitions.
Scroll to the bottom to test yourself.
Transcript:
Today, I am out here in the wild in Scotland about to start looking for Scotland’s traditional animal – the haggis.
Okay, so I’m not that mean. I’m not going to string you along. I’ll let you in on the secret. The whole hunting haggis thing – that’s just a joke that Scottish people love to tell tourists.
Even if it weren’t a joke, I wouldn’t be out here hunting haggis because I’m a vegetarian and you actually cannot hunt haggis because it is not an animal. It is a dish made up of a mixture of different types of food. So don’t fall for it if anyone in a hotel or a restaurant in Scotland starts telling you about how hard it is to hunt haggis.
However, the official animal of Scotland is indeed the Unicorn. That one is quite true and it’s quite fitting given that Scotland is quite a magical place.
Vocabulary:
To string someone along (phrasal verb) = means to deceive or lead someone on by giving them false hope or promises.
E.g. The company promised to give everyone new work laptops, but it was just stringing its employees along with empty promises.
To fall for something (phrasal verb = to be tricked into believing something that isn’t true.
E.g. The news of the star’s accident was fake but many people fell for it.
Fitting (adjective) = appropriate for a particular situation or purpose.
E.g. His qualifications were quite fitting for the role and so he felt confident in the interview.
Transcript:
Hello! If we haven’t met, my name is Sarah from Free Your English. I am a native English speaker, and an English Coach for high-level English speakers but I’m not a haggis Hunter.
Today, I want to teach you about a very special day that is celebrated in Scotland called Robbie Burns Day or Burns night. A lot of Haggis is eaten on this day both in Scotland and around the world.
Haggis, as we’ve established, is not in itself a type of animal. This national dish of Scotland is, however, quite unusual fare. It’s a savoury pudding made from sheep organs (like liver heart and lungs) minced with suet, oatmeal and lots of spices. It’s traditionally packed into a sheep’s stomach and boiled. For a vegetarian, it doesn’t sound appealing although there are a lot of vegetarian haggises on sale at this time of year and I do absolutely adore those.
My husband’s family, from Brazil, have tried the real deal when they visited and they weren’t really huge fans. Tell me below in the comment section: have you ever tried a haggis or do you think you would if you were given the chance? I would love to know!
Vocabulary:
Fare (verb) = a formal word meaning food or meals provided or served somewhere – like a restaurant.
E.g. The fare at the wedding reception was delicious.
Savoury (adjective) = food that is not sweet but is salty or spicy.
E.g. The meal had a perfect balance of savoury and sweet flavours.
The real deal (phrase) = someone or something considered to be genuine and authentic or a really good example of their kind.
E.g. Wow! I thought this watch was made of fake gold but now I look closer I can see it’s the real deal.
Transcript:
Robbie Burns Day, also known as Burns Night, is a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns a famous Scottish poet. It is typically celebrated on January the 25th which is the poet’s birthday.
During the celebration, people gather together to enjoy traditional Scottish food such as haggis as well as neeps and tatties (aka turnips and potatoes). They also listen to Burns’ poetry and may even participate in Ceilidh dancing which is a traditional form of dancing loved by adults and hated in equal measures by teenagers throughout Scotland.
Seriously I hated learning Ceilidh dancing as a teen at school. It just seemed so awkward and embarrassing. As an adult though, I just love it! There’s nothing as fun as Ceilidh for throwing away your inhibitions and having a laugh while feeling a really lovely sense of connection to community and, dare I say it, Scotland itself. If you’re curious to get a feel for what Ceilidh is like, I really recommend clicking on this interactive Ceilidh experience. You can find the link in the description.
One of the most important parts of the celebrations during Burns Night is the “Address to a Haggis” in which someone recites a poem written by Burns that pays homage to the haggis. Literally a poem is read to the haggis before a ceremonial knife is lifted and the haggis is opened.
Vocabulary:
Aka (abbreviation) = also known as.
E.g. I will never buy a car from that nightmare of a place, aka Car Bargains.
Inhibitions (noun) = self-conscious feelings that prevent people from acting in a comfortable and natural manner.
E.g. He had no inhibitions about expressing his opinions in the meeting.
Homage (noun) = an expression of great respect, admiration and praise for a person or thing.
E.g. The song was an homage to the artist’s love of his country.
Transcript:
Mark January 25th in your calendar and join in on the celebrations for Burns Night. Raise a glass, recite Burns poetry and enjoy the taste of haggis. Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of an acquired taste!
Oh, I nearly forgot – one tip for if you visit Scotland: never take a haggis home with you! There’s an urban myth, that just won’t die, that states that one visitor returning to their home country was arrested at the airport because the airport security thought that the haggis was a bomb!
Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed learning about Robbie Burns Day or Burns Night and of course about haggis.
Before you go, I have a quick task for you. As a communication coach who helps Intermediate to Advanced Learners speak English with more confidence, the number one question I get is “How can I speak more English each day?” My answer is just: speak more!
To do that, use habit stacking. Habit stacking is a technique where you take a new habit you want to develop and stack it onto an existing habit so that your list of good habits builds. For example, if you already have the habit of watching videos on YouTube, you can stack the habit of speaking a summary of the video onto it. Your summary doesn’t need to be perfect. The point is to practice speaking. This method makes it easier to form the new habit as it piggybacks on an already established habit which makes it more likely to stick.
Vocabulary:
Acquired taste (noun) = something or someone that is not immediately liked or appreciated but over time may be.
E.g. Strong coffee without milk is an acquired taste for people who usually drink tea.
Urban myth (noun) = a story or belief that is so widely shared that it seems true even though it actually isn’t.
E.g. There is an urban myth that that hotel has a ghost in it but it’s not true.
To piggyback on (phrasal verb) = to use something that already exists as support for your own ideas or work for your own advantage.
E.g. He piggybacked on the research of the previous team and made a new discovery.
Transcript:
This way you can make use of the time you already spend watching videos to improve not only your listening skills but also your speaking. It may be difficult at first, but the more you practice the more comfortable you’ll become.
Pause the video and speak out loud your summary of everything I’ve covered in this video. Did you do it? Did you speak out loud your summary of the video? If so, you might like to look at this example:
This video is about Burns Night which is a celebration of the life and poetry of Robert Burns a famous Scottish poet. I mentioned the traditional Scottish food that is eaten on this day and the other aspects of the celebration including poetry and Ceilidh dancing. I also dispelled the myth of a haggis being an animal that can be hunted and shared another urban myth about a haggis-related mishap at the airport.
Don’t forget to hit that like button and subscribe. It really means the world to me. Also, if you would like to have a complete rundown of all the vocabulary words I’ve used in this video, click the link in the description below to go to my blog. Bye for now.
Vocabulary:
To dispel (verb) = to make a doubt, feeling or belief to vanish or to stop something from existing.
E.g. It’s so hot! I hope there will be a thunderstorm; the rain dispels the heat.
Mishap (noun) = an unfortunate accident.
E.g. She tripped over the stool but thankfully it was just a minor mishap and she wasn’t hurt.
Rundown (noun) = a summary of the most important points of information.
E.g. The professor began the first lecture with a rundown of everything they would be studying during the course.
