Christmas Traditions in the U.S. vs Colombia | B2 English Listening
Christmas Traditions in the U.S. and Colombia?
Welcome back to the Peach Teach English Podcast! In this episode, we’re exploring Christmas traditions and comparing how this special holiday is celebrated in the United States and Colombia, through real-life experiences.
Christmas is more than just gifts and decorations. It’s a season full of family, food, music, religion, and emotions, both joyful and meaningful. And even though the traditions may look different from country to country, the heart of Christmas often stays the same: togetherness, giving, and joy.
Together, we’ll talk about:
When and how Christmas celebrations begin in Colombia
Popular traditions like La Alborada, Día de las Velitas, and Santa Claus
Traditional Christmas foods in both cultures
Differences between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations
Why Christmas is such an important family holiday in both countries
Whether you’re living in the U.S., living in Colombia, or simply curious about how different cultures celebrate Christmas, this episode is a great way to improve your listening skills, expand your holiday vocabulary, and feel more confident talking about traditions in English.
This episode + transcript is perfect for intermediate English learners (B1–B2) who want to build fluency, connect with cultural topics, and enjoy learning English through real-life holiday experiences.
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📝 Episode 43 Transcript:
00:00 – Introduction to Christmas Traditions
Welcome back to the Peach Teach English Podcast. I’m Frankie Mesmer, your host. Today I’m going to talk about Christmas traditions.
And we’re going to compare the similarities and differences between the traditions in the United States and Colombia. I’m originally from the United States, near the city of Savannah, Georgia. I lived most of my life in Georgia, 24 years, and then I moved to Colombia, and I’ve been here for seven years.
So I have spent many Christmases in the U.S. and Colombia, and I’d like to share my experiences with you.
00:38 – Colombian Christmas Kickoff: La Alborada
So I’m going to start with the first celebration that happens here in Colombia, which is on November 30th,
December 1st, because it’s at midnight, so it’s that change from November 30th to December 1st,
and it’s called the Alborada. This is a celebration unique to Medellín. Maybe some other cities celebrate it too, but it’s very important to Medellín in terms of the Christmas celebration.
And basically, on the day of the Alborada, at midnight, a lot of families will set off fireworks, kind of like for New Year’s.
And it’s a way of welcoming the month of December, because here in Colombia, December is such an important month to spend time with your family, celebrate Christmas, giving, and it’s just a party all month. And I think this is true in the U.S. as well. We celebrate it differently, but you know, even before December, same in Colombia, people are getting out their Christmas decorations.
You can see Christmas-themed objects being sold in the store, even in November, people are preparing for Christmastime. So here in Colombia, it’s starting on December 1st, this Alborada,
02:14 – El Día de las Velitas: Little Candle Day
And after that, here in Colombia, on December 7th and 8th, is a holiday called El Día de las Velitas, and basically it means Little Candle Day, or the day of the little candles, we could translate like this.
And basically, this holiday has Catholic roots, and it’s a really fun holiday. I enjoy the little candle day. Basically, you get together with your family, and you take these little candles, and you put them around in the street. And you can walk around your neighborhood or in the parks and see a lot of beautiful candles lit up.
And before you light the candle, you should make some wish, really think about it, as that candle is lit and the candle is slowly melting away. And usually at this celebration, we’ll enjoy some Christmas treats like buñuelos, which is a fried ball of bread with like cheese in it, and natilla, which is a caramel custard type of food.
They’re both very delicious. I enjoy them very much. And these are traditional Christmas foods. So those are the first two Christmas celebrations in Colombia.
03:41 – Christmas Celebrations Throughout December
I don’t think as Americans we’re waiting to celebrate Christmas until the 24th of December. We will have Christmas parties all throughout the month. You can have gift exchanges with your friends. Christmas dinners. There’s often Christmas work parties as well. Sometimes we get together and do Christmas-themed activities, like watching Christmas movies, building gingerbread houses. If you’re religious, your church might go around and sing Christmas carols door to door.
That’s actually something I grew up doing as a child with the church that I went to. There was one day of December that we would get together in a group of maybe like 15–20 people, and we’d knock on doors and sing famous Christmas carols, and that was always a really good time. And the same thing is happening here in Colombia.
You can have your work Christmas parties, some Christmas parties with your friends, where you’re also exchanging gifts. This is always a lot of fun.
04:56 – Christmas Eve Festivities in Colombia
And then finally comes the real Christmas celebration, right? So in most of Latin America, Christmas is actually celebrated more on Christmas Eve, which is the 24th of December.
Families often come together, and they celebrate all through the night. Specifically, here in Colombia, you could have a nice Christmas feast. This could be some rice with raisins, some type of salad, and maybe some type of meat, like ham, with a special fruit sauce you can put on top of that.
And every family is going to have their unique traditions. This is often what my family does for Christmas. And perhaps we’ll drink wine with that Christmas feast. But after that, many people, those that like to party, Christmas is going to be a big party time with a lot of music that’s popular around Christmas.
I believe in Colombia that music is going to be very different compared to which region you’re in. My family is from the coast, specifically Cartagena. And so they really like listening to vallenato, lots of songs by Diomedes Díaz, and there’s some Christmas-themed songs by him, which are really famous. People are drinking lots of beer, maybe whiskey or rum, and they will party until the morning, or until you get sleepy. Whatever your preference is.
06:41 – Christmas Eve Traditions in the United States
In the U.S., our Christmas Eve, December 24th, is very different. We have the tradition of Santa Claus. Oftentimes, we’re going to be quiet on December 24th. We’re going to go to bed early. We need to be sleeping so that Santa can come down the chimney, leave the Christmas presents, and usually, families will leave some cookies for Santa.
Some families will even do Christmas decorating, where we use Christmas-themed cookie cutters. You can frost those cookies and use sprinkles, and make them very festive for Santa. We’ll leave him a glass of milk to enjoy.
And maybe that’s why Santa’s so fat. He’s eating Christmas cookies and drinking milk in every American home. Now, I’m going to share my family’s personal Christmas Eve tradition.
So usually we’re going to also have a nice dinner together for Christmas Eve, and then we will go to church.
And the church where I grew up, it was common that we would hold these candles with a little plastic cup, and we would light them, and that way the wax from the candle wouldn’t burn our hands, and we would sing some Christmas carols all together at the church.
And after that, we would do a communion, so you would go up to the front with your family, and you would eat the little cracker and drink a little juice because my family’s not Catholic.
It was just a little cracker and a little bit of juice we would use for the communion. And then we would go back, maybe sing another Christmas carol, and then we would leave.
And what my family liked to do after that is we would drive around the city looking at all the different Christmas lights on the houses, and so this is another detail we need to look at between the U.S. and Colombia: Christmas lights.
8:50 – Christmas Lights in the U.S. vs. Colombia
Christmas lights are very important to both cultures, but it is done a little bit differently.
As in the U.S., homes are often a bit bigger and separated from each other, and most homes have a yard, a piece of land around it. It’s common that each house is decorated with lights all over the house, maybe some little Christmas-themed objects in the yard. Some homes might even see it as a competition, like who can decorate their house the best for Christmas. So it can be really fun to drive around and see who had the best Christmas lights that year.
Here in Colombia, most people will decorate their homes a lot, inside and outside, just like in the U.S. But these homes don’t always have such a big yard, so it’s more like some lights on the buildings, and it’s still very beautiful. What’s different, and I’m sure there are cities like this in the U.S., but Colombia does it to next level. You can go to a lot of the main parks within a city or a town, and they’re going to decorate that park so festive with so many Christmas lights, so many Christmas-themed objects lit up. And you just walk around the whole city, just looking at it lit up with amazing Christmas lights.
Some cities do this a little bit in the U.S., but I haven’t seen one like they do it here in Colombia. Here in Medellín, where I live, there are several parks with amazing Christmas lights, and really, I think everyone should try to experience Christmas here in Colombia at least once in their life.
It’s such a joyful time.
10:46 – Christmas Day in Colombia
So now let’s look at Christmas Day. Going back to Colombia, Christmas Eve, right?
You partied all night, maybe some people didn’t even sleep. At some point, they’re going to need to sleep, right? So maybe on Christmas Day, there’s some people they just keep drinking all through the 25th and don’t sleep at all, or maybe some people stayed up late till like 3–7 a.m., then they go to sleep, and then they’ll wake back up.
And depending on whatever your lifestyle is, maybe you’re just hungover and no more drinking for you, or maybe you will start drinking again to celebrate Christmas. But one thing that’s quite common here in Colombia to deal with a hangover; a lot of people like to have soup the next day. And so a lot of families will make sancocho over a fire, and this is what they’ll eat on Christmas Day. And of course, every family is going to have they’re unique traditions, and maybe alcohol is not involved at all.
11:59 – Christmas Day in the United States
In the U.S., on Christmas Day, especially if you have kids, you’re going to wake up super early, because they want to see what Santa brought for them.
And so the kids come running into the living room, and they’re looking under the tree. The family all gets around the Christmas tree. Mom and dad, or brother and sister, hand out the presents to the people that they belong to.
And in my family, we like to take turns. So Mom opens a present. Dad opens a present. I open a present. Brother opens a present. Sister opens a present. Nephew opens a present. And we go like this until all the presents are opened. And then, we do the stockings, right? Because in American culture, the stockings are also very important.
So we go over to the fireplace, take down the stockings, and then everyone at the same time just takes out the little gifts that were inside the stocking. And these could be things like jewelry, perfume, candy, but just little gifts.
And we finish opening the presents. So we need to throw away all the wrapping paper. And then it’s quite common to just enjoy your presents for a little bit. And then later on Christmas Day, people will go over to their other relatives' house, like grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., or at least my family does this.
And we usually go more around nighttime, but some people might do it more around lunch. But we go for dinner, and we eat things like ham, turkey, maybe macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, lots of delicious desserts, like pecan pie. My family loves banana pudding, all kinds of great treats to eat at our Christmas feast.
As my family got very big, we started to draw names and then just buy one gift for a family member. That way, we didn’t have to buy like 20–40 presents for everyone because that can get very expensive. And then, what my family often did before we would open those presents, because my family is Christian, we would read the Christmas story in the Bible.
There was one year that, this is when I was really little, we dressed up as Mary, Joseph, little animals, the wise men, the shepherds, and we reenacted the story of Jesus being born, which was really cute.
14:50 – Merry Christmas to Everyone
And yeah, Christmas is just such a fun time.
The whole month of December, we’re enjoying so many different types of traditions. There are some I didn’t even mention. There’s so many ideas out there, but I love Christmas. I love any holiday. I think anytime we are celebrating something and getting together with our friends and family, it’s just a wonderful season and tradition.
And really, that’s the message of Christmas. It’s about giving, it’s about unity with your friends and family, and it’s about joy and happiness and just having fun together. So guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. And Merry Christmas to everyone.
🎄Christmas Traditions Study Guide
The following words and expressions were used in this episode. These are common when talking about holidays, traditions, family, food, and celebrations. They’ll help you improve your speaking and writing as you move toward B2+ English fluency.
👉 Listen to the episode again and underline the words you hear. Try creating your own example sentences to build long-term memory and more confident usage.
🎅Christmas Vocabulary from the Episode
Christmas traditions – Customs and activities people repeat every year to celebrate Christmas
Celebration – A special event or activity to mark an important time or holiday
Fireworks – Explosions of light and sound often used during celebrations
Decorations – Objects used to make homes, streets, or places look festive
Christmas-themed – Designed with symbols, colors, or ideas related to Christmas
Christmastime – The period around Christmas when people prepare and celebrate
El Día de las Velitas (Little Candle Day) – A Colombian holiday celebrated in early December using candles
Holiday – A special day when people celebrate a tradition or event
Candle – A small stick of wax with a flame, often used in religious or symbolic traditions
Catholic roots – Traditions that come from the Catholic religion
Family gathering – When family members come together to spend time and celebrate
To make a wish – To hope for something special during a tradition
Christmas treats – Special sweet foods eaten during Christmas
Buñuelos – Fried cheese bread balls traditionally eaten at Christmas in Colombia
Natilla – A sweet custard dessert traditionally eaten at Christmas in Colombia
Traditional Christmas foods – Foods commonly eaten during Christmas every year
To exchange gifts – To give and receive presents with others
Work Christmas parties – Christmas celebrations organized by a workplace
Gingerbread houses – Small houses made of cookies and candy, often built during Christmas
Christmas carols – Traditional songs sung during the Christmas season
To go door to door – To visit many houses one by one, often while singing carols
Christmas Eve – The night before Christmas, on December 24th
Feast – A large, special meal shared during a celebration
Rice with raisins – A traditional holiday side dish made with rice and dried grapes
To party until the morning – To celebrate all night without sleeping
Vallenato – A traditional music style from Colombia, often played during Christmas celebrations
Santa Claus – A traditional Christmas character who brings gifts to children
Chimney – A structure on a house that Santa is believed to enter through
Christmas presents – Gifts given at Christmas
Christmas cookies – Sweet baked treats made and eaten during Christmas
Cookie cutters – Tools used to cut cookie dough into shapes
To frost (cookies) – To cover cookies with icing
Sprinkles – Small, colorful decorations used on desserts
Glass of milk – A traditional drink left for Santa
Go to bed early – To sleep earlier than usual, especially on Christmas Eve
Church service – A religious gathering at a church
Communion – A Christian religious ceremony involving bread and drink
Christmas lights – Decorative lights used on houses during Christmas
Yard – The piece of land around a house, often decorated at Christmas
To drive around – To go by car to look at Christmas lights and decorations
Lit up – Bright with lights, especially at night during Christmas
Joyful – Full of happiness and positive feelings, common during the Christmas season
Hungover (adjective) – Feeling sick or very tired after drinking too much alcohol
Hangover (noun) – The bad physical feeling after drinking alcohol
Soup – A liquid food often eaten to recover after a long night of celebrating
Sancocho – A traditional Colombian soup often eaten on Christmas Day
To recover – To feel better after being tired, sick, or hungover
To stay up late – To not go to sleep until very late at night
Stockings – Large socks hung at Christmas and filled with small gifts
Fireplace – A place in a house where a fire burns, often where stockings are hung
Wrapping paper – Decorative paper used to cover Christmas gifts
To hand out (presents) – To give gifts to people one by one
To take turns – To do something one at a time, in order
Relatives – Family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins
To draw names – To randomly choose names so each person buys one gift
Christmas story – The story of the birth of Jesus
To reenact – To act out a story or event
Wise men – Biblical figures who visited baby Jesus
Shepherds – People who care for sheep; important figures in the Christmas story
Season – A period of time marked by a special feeling or activity
Giving – The act of sharing or offering something to others, especially at Christmas
Unity – The feeling of being connected and together with others
Happiness – A feeling of joy, contentment, and positivity
Merry Christmas – A common phrase used to wish others happiness during Christmas
✍️ Practice Prompts for Speaking & Writing
Use these reflection questions to practice fluency, build holiday vocabulary, and connect personally with the topic.
Speaking/Writing Prompts:
How do you celebrate Christmas (or another holiday) in your country?
Which tradition from this episode did you find the most interesting? Why?
What foods are traditional during holidays in your culture?
Have you ever celebrated Christmas or another holiday in a different country?
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