來自世界不同地方的六位學生在美國相遇。他們都是交換學生，到美國大學就讀一個學期，學習英語，了解美國文化，同時修專業課程。英語「日常會話」 (Everyday Conversations)系列圍繞這六位學生在美國的經歷展開。這套材料適於中級或中級以上英語水平的學生使用。
在這個對話中一個學生 (Ajay) 向另一個學生(Lucía)解釋他將歡慶的不同節日。
Ajay: How’s the studying going, Lucía?
Lucía: I can’t wait for finals to be over! In another week, I』ll be flying back home. What are you doing over the winter break?
Ajay: Alan invited Lee and me to stay with his family. Home-cooked food for three holiday meals!
Lucía: Three holidays?
Ajay: Alan’s dad is Jewish, and his mom is Christian, so they celebrate bothHanukkah and Christmas. And his mom is a professional chef, so she goes all outfor both holiday meals.
Lucía: And what’s the third holiday?
Ajay: New Year’s Day. They have all their family over, and Alan’s mom cooks again. Alan has raved about his mom’s cooking all semester, so Lee and I can’t wait.
Lucía: Holiday meals cooked by a professional chef. I want to hear all about it later. I』ve never had a traditional Hanukkah meal.
Ajay: Neither have I. I’m looking forward to it.
讓我們來學習一些詞語（也可閱讀英文解釋）：How’s (something) going? （一切或某事）怎麼樣？這是向一個人詢問某事進展如何或者泛泛問他/她近來生活怎樣的說法。例如： 可以說How’s the studying going? (學習進行得怎樣？)。How’s it going?也是一種比較隨便的打招呼用語，意思相當於 How are you?。
Can’t wait：等不及，迫不及待
A winter break：寒假，通常包含一些冬季節假日，如元旦
Home-cooked or homemade food：自己家裡做的飯/食品
Hanukkah or Chanukah： 持續八天的猶太教光明節，時間通常在11月下旬至12月下旬之間，紀念2000多年前耶路撒冷聖殿的重新獻祭
Commemorate：紀念（過去的重要人物或事件）
To go all out：全力以赴
To rave：極力誇獎，狂熱讚賞
A holiday meal：節日傳統餐，即只有在某一節日才會吃的菜餚，例如，美國許多家庭的感恩節傳統餐包括蔓越桔醬，而它在一年其他時候很少見於餐桌。
有興趣聽更多英語對話嗎？請瀏覽「英語學習」專題網頁。
American English 網站提供可供英語學生和教師免費使用的多種英語資源。American English Facebook網頁提供每天更新的英語學習資料。
「日常會話」由美國國務院教育與文化事務局英語語言項目處（Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs）資深項目官員海蒂·豪蘭（Heidi Howland）編寫。
Everyday conversations: Holiday season in the U.S. [audio]A lit menorah and Christmas tree (Flickr Creative Commons/Matt DeTurck)Six students from around the world meet. What do they have in common? They are all exchange students studying at a U.S. university for a semester. Throughout the semester, they learn more English, learn about U.S. culture, and learn more about their fields of study. This series of Everyday Conversations is about these six students and their experiences during a semester at a university in the U.S. These conversations are for intermediate-level English-language learners or higher.
In this conversation, a student (Ajay) explains the different holidays he will celebrate with another student (Lucía).
Ajay: How’s the studying going, Lucía?
Lucía: I can’t wait for finals to be over! In another week, I』ll be flying back home. What are you doing over the winter break?
Ajay: Alan invited Lee and me to stay with his family. Home-cooked food for three holiday meals!
Lucía: Three holidays?
Ajay: Alan’s dad is Jewish, and his mom is Christian, so they celebrate bothHanukkah and Christmas. And his mom is a professional chef, so she goes all outfor both holiday meals.
Lucía: And what’s the third holiday?
Ajay: New Year’s Day. They have all their family over, and Alan’s mom cooks again. Alan has raved about his mom’s cooking all semester, so Lee and I can’t wait.
Lucía: Holiday meals cooked by a professional chef. I want to hear all about it later. I』ve never had a traditional Hanukkah meal.
Ajay: Neither have I. I’m looking forward to it.
Now let’s review the vocabulary.How’s (something) going? This question is used to ask someone about his/her progress or about life in general. For example, how’s the studying going meanswhat’s the progress of your studying. The general question how’s it going is informal and similar to how are you.
Can’t wait means to be very eager, anxious or impatient for something.
A winter break is a period of vacation between semesters of college or other schools that includes the winter holidays, such as New Year’s Day.
Home-cooked or homemade food means food prepared at home and not made in a factory, store, etc.
Hanukkah or Chanukah is an eight-day Jewish holiday, usually in late November or December, that commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem more than 2,000 years ago.
Commemorate means to do something special to remind people of an important event or person from the past.
To go all out means to put all of your energy into what you are doing or to put a lot of effort into doing something.
To rave about something is to talk or write about something in an excited and enthusiastic way.
A holiday meal is special food prepared and eaten for a certain holiday. Sometimes these foods are only made and eaten during a certain holiday season. For example, for many families in the U.S. on Thanksgiving, the holiday meal includes cranberry sauce. This is not a food that many people eat at other times of the year.
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Everyday Conversations are developed by the State Department’s Heidi Howland, a senior program officer in the Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.