February 14 is Valentine’s Day in the US and many other countries.
Like many holidays, Valentine’s Day has main colors: these are red, pink, and white.
Starting several weeks before February 14, you will start seeing many candies and chocolates for sale. Many are in heart-shaped boxes. For the holiday, many people also give red roses, cards, candles, or other small gifts. Cards sent on this holiday can also be called “Valentines.” Many of the cards will say “Be my Valentine.” Many people take their loved one out to eat at a nice restaurant that night or the weekend before.
This holiday is also called St. Valentine’s Day. The abbreviation “St.” can mean “street” or “saint.” A saint is a holy person. No one knows for sure how Valentine’s Day began, but the most popular story comes from the time of the Roman Empire, about 2,000 years ago. At one time, a Roman emperor (king) made it illegal for his soldiers to get married. The emperor thought that single men made the best soldiers. He believed if a man were married and had children, then his mind would be more on his family and less on fighting for the emperor. However, an early Christian leader named Valentine broke the unjust law and performed secret weddings, in order to help people in love. Finally some guards caught him and put him in jail. While in prison, he fell in love with the jailer’s daughter and wrote her letters signed, “from your Valentine.” According to legend, this is how the tradition of sending Valentine cards began. The legend continues that the authorities killed Valentine on February 14 for breaking the law. Since he died trying to serve God and help people, the church leaders gave him the title “Saint Valentine.” February 14 later became his “holy day” and is now the holiday. It is an interesting part of the English language that the word “holiday” comes from “holy day.”
This page tells you more about Valentine’s Day in simple English.
Learn more about the history of this holiday here. (native-speaker level)
Do you want to improve your English? Take the first step!
Schedule an appointment with Scott
Since 2010, based in the friendly USA State of Virginia, DreyerCoaching.com has been providing customized, high-quality, real-time language instruction via the internet to a global audience in their home, school, or office. Think how comfortable, confident and successful you or your child will feel, receiving personalized guidance from college-educated teachers who are native speakers and have bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees plus decades of teaching experience. Whether you are looking for help with the ABCs or the SATs, or college admissions to conversational English to business writing, we serve all ages and levels to help our students make dreams come true. Discover the Dreyer Difference. Take the first step and visit DreyerCoaching.com, send Scott an email, or schedule a free consultation to get started.
自 2010 年以来，DreyerCoaching.com 总部位于友好的美国弗吉尼亚州，一直通过互联网向全球观众在家中、学校或办公室提供有制度的、高质量的实时语言教学。 想想您或您的孩子会感到多么自在、自信和成功，从受过大学教育的教师那里获得个别的指导，这些教师都是以英语为母语，拥有学士、硕士和博士学位，以及数十年的教学经验的教师。 无论是从 英语ABC的基础课程 或 SAT 的帮助，就读美国高中，大学入学申请，还是从会话英语到商务写作，我们都为所有年龄和水平的学生提供服务，帮助我们的学生实现梦想。 发觉 Dreyer 的不同之处。 迈出第一步，游览 DreyerCoaching.com网站，向 Scott 发送电子邮件，可开始安排一个免费咨询。
