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Episode 14: Moon Lantern

Episode 14: Moon Lantern
Find out if there are other ways of saying sit down and light up as Chloe enjoys a moon lantern festival.

Transcript

Today, Chloe celebrates the Moon lantern festival a long way from home.

I'm making a lantern for the Moon Lantern Festival. I have no idea of making a moon lantern. Normally back home when we celebrate a Moon Lantern festival we buy ready-made lanterns so today will be my first experience.

Ready-made lanterns - they are lanterns that are already made that you can buy. Chloe has to make her own lantern.

The lanterns that we're doing today will be used by the kids so actually the kids, they are making their own lanterns so that they can hold their own lanterns during the parade at the Festival itself. I was paired up with this girl called Mahalia. She was here with her family and her friends . She's in year 5 and I'm in Uni so it's a bit of a different experience.

She was 'paired up' with a girl. If you pair up with someone, you agree to work together. Listen again:

I was paired up with this girl called Mahalia. She was here with her family and her friends . She's in year 5 and I'm in Uni so it's a bit of a different experience.

You can also say that you team up with someone. Now listen for whether 'patch' is used with 'on' or 'up':

Making the lantern was I think a lot harder than I expected. I didn't realise there was so many opportunities for mistakes. Getting the paper to stick without overlapping or without crumpling or without making a hole in it. We had so many holes.

See that hole in the side?

We just patch it up.

There's a patch for it.

Thank you.

Patch it up. To patch something up can mean to fix some minor damage or in the case of someone who's injured, to put on a bandage.

We had a little wander through of what would be paraded on the Moon Lantern Festival itself so we had a little sneak peek at the lanterns before they were actually displayed in public.

This would be...

It's a cookie tin.

Sure?

I don't know.

I think it's a money box.

A 'sneak peek' is looking at something before most people are able to.

Next, listen for a phrasal verb formed from the verb 'pass':

A few of us international students are just volunteering with the event. Obviously, Moon Lantern Festival is something we celebrate back home. Even though I don't really understand the history and the reason behind celebrating I think it's just tradition which has been passed on from my grandparents to my parents and we light up our lanterns, we'll eat moon cakes.

'Passed on' - a tradition which has been 'passed on' has been taught or shown to a new generation. Now listen for another phrasal verb ending in 'up':

Even though I don't really understand the history and the reason behind celebrating I think it's just tradition which has been passed on from my grandparents to my parents and we light up our lanterns, we'll eat moon cakes.

'Light up'. To light up a lantern is to make it shine. But you can just say light to mean the same thing. We'll finish with the phrasal verb sit down, which means the same thing as sit:

Ah yes , it does make me proud of my culture. I don't really feel homesick, because it's a totally different experience. It was a really enjoyable evening. I had lots of fun doing lots of various stuff, seeing lots of different things from drumming to origami to carrying that lantern. It's a bit cold now so I would like to sit down and have a moon cake.

English Bites is an informative and entertaining way to improve your knowledge of the English language.