Teaching Reading Skills to Intermediate Level Learners
Kissing Your Way around the World
Kissing your way around the world is an article written from the point of view of a citizen of the United States. The author discusses the different meanings kissing has around the world.
Prereading Activity
Think about when and why people kiss in your culture. Make a list of those times and share it with your classmates.
First Reading
As you read the article try to discover how many different meanings a kiss can have.
Kissing your way around the world written by Leslie Dendy
What in the world is kissing good for? That depends on where in the world you are (were ).
A kiss means “I love you” in many countries but not everywhere. European explorers found plenty of places where people had never even heard of kissing. The Ainu people of Japan liked a bite their lover’s cheeks, Eskimos rubbed their noses together instead and so did certain African tribes and Pacific Islanders.
In other places, people would just put their nose close to their lover’s face and sniff. Many Malay tribes and probably the ancient Egyptians. In several languages the word for kiss means smell.
Kisses are also good for saying hello. Do you kiss relatives on the cheek when you visit them? If you leave in your room or South America you see many more of these greetings kisses. Some men kiss each other on the cheek at business meetings. It is like shaking hands?
Travelling from one country to another can get confusing if you don’t know the rules of greeting one another many European men and women say hello with two kisses one on each. But three kisses are polite in Belgium and the young people in Paris often prefer four. You must start with the right cheek. Starting with the lift would be as awkward as sticking out your left hand for the handshake.
A variation on the cheek kiss is found in Brazil. When ladies meet they put their cheeks together and kiss in the air. Kissing was even more common in ancient times. The Hebrew Christian Greek and Romans kissed a lot of families, friends, and perfect strangers. The Romans might have kissed anyone they met on the hand, the cheek, or the mouth. They often put a perfume such as myrrh in their mouth to make the kisses more pleasant.
Another thing kisses were good for in olden times was for sealing a promise. For over 500 years the knights in Europe knelt down before their Lords in a special homage ceremony. The knight promised to fight for the lord and the lord promised to give the night a piece of land near the castle. Then the men kissed each other on the mount. This ceremony lasted until the 15,000 AD
Have you ever seen a rule of XXXX at the bottom of a later, meaning kisses? That comes from the time of knights and castles too. The X is started out as a type of signature. In the Middle Ages, many people could not write their names. A person would sign an X on a paper (symbolizing across) and then kiss it to promise that he would stick to the deal. Now an X just means a kiss.
Kisses can also show respect. People kiss religious statues and flags. They have kissed the feet and footprints of kings and queens, as well as their hands, knees and robes. Romans students kissed their teachers’ and sometimes the people kiss the ground when they come home to a country they love.
European and Latin Americans say “beautiful” by kissing their fingertips when they see a pretty girl, a Ferrari, or a great soccer play. But you can also say goodbye to someone by kissing your fingertips and blowing the kiss away.
Did you ever kiss is a hurt finger to make it well? That custom comes from England. People used to think the kisses had magic powers. The French started kissing their cards for good luck in gambling and some people still kiss a pair of dice before they roll them. And don’t forget all the magical kisses in fairy tales that were supposed to wake in the sleeping princess or turn a beast into a prince.
Humans may be the only animal who believe in magic, but we are not the only animals who kiss. Chimpanzees greet each other with a little peck or big. a wide-mouth to kisses. They also kiss to make up after a fight. When prairie dogs meet, and they kiss each other so to see who is a family member and who is a stranger. Fish called kissing gouramis press their mouth together like a suction cup.
Kissing will probably still be around a thousand years from now but the rules may keep changing. Even a piece of mistletoe on the ceiling can change the rules for a few days.
Mistletoe: A plant with small white berries.
FYI: The world’s Largest Kiss on record lasted 17 days and 10.5 hours
How well did you read?
Read the following statement if a statement is true write T on the line if it is false right F
- …………A kiss means the same things all over the world
- …………In many places, a kiss is a kind of greeting.
- ………… Kissing is more popular now than ever before.
- ………….In ancient times a kiss was used to seal promise.
- ………….. Kisses can be a sign of respect.
- …………. Humans are the only animals that kiss
Identifying The Main Idea
A reading passage often has one main idea this idea. This idea is present throughout the whole passage and passage and represents the general message of the reading. Which sentence best describe the main idea of the article you have just read circle the number of your choice.
- In many countries, a kiss means, I love you.
- Kissing is a common form of greeting.
- Kissing has a different meaning in different cultures.
- Kissing is a sign of respect.
Second Reading
Now read the articles again more carefully this time while you read think about the way the author supports her ideas authors often support their ideas with examples.
Find examples in the articles to support the following ideas
- A kiss is not the only way to express I love you
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- The rules of kissing depend on what part of the world you are in
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- Kisses can be a sign of respect
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- Humans are not the only animals in that kiss
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Locating Information
Where do some of the meaning of kisses come from the look in the articles for the history of the following kissing customs?
- Sealing a promise………………………
- And x means a kiss…………………….
- Kissing a finger to make it well……
- Kissing for good luck………………….
Figure it Out Vocabulary in Context
It is not always necessary to know the exact meaning of every unfamiliar word you come across. Often time and an approximate definition or a general idea of the world is enough to understand the meaning of a sentence or paragraph. You do not need to waste a lot of time looking up every new word in the dictionary. It is important to be able to determine when and the exact definition is necessary and when general meaning is enough.
The vocabulary in context exercises in this book will help you develop strategies for understanding a new word. The exercises will guide you in using clues such as structure punctuations, grammar, and a general sense of the sentence. With this information, you should be able to make a logical guess about the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Without using your dictionary write an approximate definition or a synonym for the highlighted word in the following sentence.
Example 1 When the little boy saw a big spider walking toward him he became frightened and dashed out of the room.
Clues: what do you think of frightened little boy would do if he saw a bigger spider.
………………………………………………………
Example 2 Unlike garrulous wife, Jonathan was a man of few words.
Clues: The word unlike signals a contrast between Jonathan and his wife since you know from the rest of the sentence that Jonathan is a man of few words his wife must be a woman of many words.
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1. In other places people would just put their nose closed to their lovers’ faces and his sniff ….in several languages the word for kiss means you smell.
clues: What do you do with your nose what does kiss means in some languages.
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2. Kisses are also good for saying hello do you kiss relatives on the cheek when you visit them if you leave in Europe or South America you would see many more of these greetings kisses
Clues: The word these signals that greetings have been explained earlier in the text.
………………………………………………………………
3. You must restart with the right cheek is starting with your left would be as awkward as is sticking out your left hand for a handshake.
Clues: The structure is….as is used for comparison in this case she kissing and handshaking are being compared since you normally put out your right hand to shake the starting with your left hand would be awkward.
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4. A variation on the cheek kiss is found in Brazil when ladies meet they put their cheeks together and kiss the air.
Clues: Refer to the previous paragraph to find out more information about Cheek kisses. You will see that the style of cheek kissing change from one country to another country this should help you guess the meaning of variation.
………………………………………………………………
5. They often put a perfume such as myrrh in their mouth to make the pieces more pleasant.
Clues: Such as for example and for instance are expressions that introduce an example.
………………………………………………………………..
6. The X started out as a type of signature in the Middle ages many people could not ride their names.
Clues: Sometimes the meaning of a word is explained in the next sentence.
………………………………………………………………..
Application of Information
A. From the articles you learn that the customer of kissing has many meanings interview friends classmates and teachers to find out about the different meanings of the following customs in different countries try to get an example of when to use each one.
- Shaking handHugging
- Bowing
- Patting someone’s back
- Holding hands
- Kissing someone’s hand
- Curtseying
B. What other customs can you add to the list from your own culture make a list and share it with your classmates.
A proverb is a short well known saying read the following proverb and answer the questions about them then discuss your answer with your classmates.
- There is an old Italian Proverbs that says a kiss on the lip does not always touch the heart what do you think this proverb means.
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- Another old is saying about kissing was written in 1800 ad by George Meredith kissing doesn’t last cookery does do you agree with this one why and why not.
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- Can you think of any proverb about kissing in your native language?
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