Watch the Voxpop Community and answer the questions in written form

Can you describe an important or traditional ceremony or cultural event in your country?

Yerevan Wine Days (7-9 June, 2024) is a street wine festival in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan. The festival has been held annually since 2017 and takes place on several central streets of Yerevan. Since 2021 the festival is held on the first week of June. In 2023 Yerevan Wine Days has more than 120.000 visitors. The main goal of the event is to promote wine tourism in Armenia and to ensure the recognition of the wine industry in the country. The event has positively influenced the Armenian wine industry and raised the awareness of wine tourism. Since the event’s conception, the number of vineyards and wine production in Armenia have increased.

Have you ever taken part in a ceremony or event? If yes, how did you feel? If no, would you like to?

Yes, I definitely participated in many, many traditional and cultural ceremonies that took place in our capital. So, in short, the main feeling is happiness, in my opinion, and of course, when you see many people coming together, dancing and singing together, that is the greatest happiness that can ever exist. During those events, I felt a sense of satisfaction.

Navigate Upper-Intermediate slide 59, ex. 2 Complete the texts about two trends.

ex. 2 / Complete the texts about two different trends, using the words in the boxes.

1. According to recent research, the number of people living alone is shooting up dramatically. Globally, there’s been a rise from 153 million people in 1996 to nearly 300 million this year. It’s more popular to live independently in some countries than in others. Sweden has the highest percentage, with 47% of homes having just one resident, and the UK and Germany also have quite high percentages. But this is definitely a global trend, and for many countries, it represents a dramatic cultural shift. In fact, the nations with the fastest growth in one-person households are China, India, and Brazil.

2. In many countries, particularly in Northern Europe, but increasingly elsewhere, there is a big move towards something called co-housing. This is where people live separately in private houses, but the properties are grouped into a small community with some shared facilities, such as heating, gardens, a laundry, and entertainment space. In other words, it’s not that different from an old-fashioned village, where everyone supported each other, spent time together socially, and shared certain resources, like the village hall.