For ESL Learners - Five Questions and Answers About Canada's Remembrance Day

By Jane Wangersky

Canada, like many countries, has a national holiday on November 11th. The Canadian holiday is called Remembrance Day. If you come from another country, you may have questions about it. Here are some answers.

1. What does this holiday celebrate? It honors Canadians who have died in all the country's wars. This grew out of an earlier holiday, Armistice Day, which celebrated the end of World War I. (An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting.)
2. Is there a long weekend? Only if the 11th falls on a Monday or Friday! The date is the anniversary of the end of the First World War. This has meaning for many Canadians, and they don't want the holiday moved. However, schools and many workplaces close on Remembrance Day. (If you need to buy something, you will probably be able to find an open store.)
3. What are the red flowers everyone wears? They're artificial poppies. During World War I, a Canadian army doctor, John McCrae, wrote a poem about poppies growing in a military cemetery. The poem, "In Flanders Fields",became well known. The poppy became a symbol of remembering the war dead. You can get a poppy by donation at many public places just before Remembrance Day.
4. What happens on Remembrance Day? In many towns, there is a ceremony. At 11:00 in the morning, when the armistice was signed, everyone is silent for two minutes. After that, a bagpiper may play a lament (music for the dead). In Ottawa, the Governor General puts a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. For the past few years, people at the Ottawa ceremony have taken off their poppies and put them on the tomb.
5. Is it just like U.S. Veterans Day? It's on the same date, but Remembrance Day is more about honoring the war dead. Veterans Day honors living veterans - the U.S. has another holiday, Memorial Day, to honor its war dead. Still, Canadian veterans and soldiers are an important part of Remembrance Day.

Jane Wangersky is an ESL teacher and author. To get a reading for your ESL class right now, visit her site, The ESL Dollar Store.