How Do Brits Celebrate Valentine's Day? | Easy English 107

It's actually my first time

I'll be properly celebrating Valentine's Day.

I believe in the idea,

I just don't like the way  it's presented, necessarily.

Why should just one day of the year

be the day that you celebrate romance?

I have, you know, done things  on Valentine's Day before,

but I just... I do find it a bit cheesy, actually.

It's a bit of a cop-out, really.

Yeah, I kind of like the idea, still.

It's a nice... it's a nice  way to kind of, you know,

take pause and celebrate something  that you probably should celebrate.

I often get flowers where,  he's popped out for milk

and he comes back with milk and flowers.

Yeah.

Hello, welcome to Easy English.

So in a few days time, it will be Valentine's Day.

Now unfortunately, I'm in Brighton,

which recently placed 9th in the

least romantic places in the UK.

Nevertheless,

I want to know what the people of Brighton

do for Valentine's Day, if they do anything at all

and what romance really means to them.

Before we start, please do not  forget to like and subscribe.

Here we go!

What are your thoughts on Valentine's Day?

Well, we don't actually celebrate Valentine's Day,

because we just don't agree with  the commerciality behind it.

Why should just one day of the year

be the day that you celebrate romance?

It should be throughout the year.

And little things that you do for  your partner on a regular basis

show that you... your love and affection for them

and not just overblown things  like flowers and chocolates.

What are your thoughts, in  general, on Valentine's Day?

Let's start with that.

Do you wanna go first?

Yeah, I shall go first.

Yeah. - Are you doing  anything for Valentine's Day?

I'm not. - No? - No. - Okay.

And, what your thoughts  generally on Valentine's Day?

My thoughts generally, erm...

it's a bit of a cop-out, really.

It's a bit of like er...

it's a bit of like a erm...

moneymaking scheme. - Right,  yeah. I've heard this.

Why do you say that, though?

Er... because like, I love  my girlfriend every day.

I don't like, it's not like I  need to buy her present like,

one day a year. - Yeah. - Like,  and just feed companies money

by buying them presents.

And so then, in terms of  like, gestures of romance.

How... what... how do you do it? Do you...

I'm not... I'm not good on  flowers, I have to be honest. - No!

He's not, actually. Never.

I think I've done it once or twice in 48 years.

Really!? But you said this  like it's a negative thing?

Oh, I'd love flowers.

I'll remember that.

What are your thoughts on Valentine's Day?

Erm... well, I'm afraid I'm a bit of  an old cynic with Valentine's Day.

And I just... I do see it  as a commercial opportunity,

to just like, get people to spend lots of money,

which is erm... not really necessary,

because I guess, every day  should be a gesture of love.

And er... but saying that, I have, you know,

done things on Valentine's Day before.

But I just... I do find it a bit cheesy, actually.

So... and a bit disingenuous  if I'm perfectly honest,

just to kind of, you know, go all out on one day.

So yeah, I've got nothing personally against it.

It's fine and you know,  whatever generates love is...

can only be a good thing.

But I think, generally speaking, you know,

let's make it an everyday kind of thing.

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Now back to the episode.

I guess for me, I've never...

never really celebrated Valentine's Day.

Mostly 'cos for a while there  wasn't anyone to celebrate with,

'til I found you.

And, we haven't really done a huge amount since,

many 'cos it feels a bit, overly Americanised.

And, you know... - Forced. - Yeah.

But, yeah, I kind of like the idea still.

It's a nice... it's a nice  way to kind of, you know,

take pause and celebrate something  that you probably should celebrate.

Yeah. And how about you?  What do you feel about it?

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it feels  a bit disingenuous at times,

but I erm... you know, I'm...

especially after a couple of  years of being locked inside

and not being able to do anything,  is a good excuse to just,

go out and have dinner and celebrate like that.

I'm not into all of the...  all of the sort of, big...

card things, but I try to... I try  to space that out throughout the...

I hope that I do a good enough job of, sort of,

expressing my affection generally,

that I don't need to do it all one... one day.

So, I would say, I'm not a  huge fan of one day of the year

being dedicated to expressing love.

I believe love should be  expressed every day of the year.

When was the last time each of you

did something nice for the other one?

Oh Gosh!

Well, it was a couple of weeks ago,

that you went to the local shop for er...

milk and bread and came back  with milk and bread and flowers.

And that was just a spontaneous;  ''I've brought these for you''.

And they weren't just your  normal garage style tiny bunch.

Yeah, yeah. - They were a  really nice bunch of flowers.

Right, Yeah. I was gonna say,  it wasn't like, a late night...

No, no, no. - Petrol station  purchase? - No, no, no. - No.

Okay and then, the other way around?

When was the last time you remember...

Bakewell tart, I think it was, yeah.

Becaus... because of... I've  got... I've got coeliac disease,

so I have to be very careful with what I eat.

So I have to have a special diet.

So, that's affected both of us.

But Susan goes out of her way  to find recipes on the internet,

that she can then make, so that...

I can't have a ''Mr Kipling's'' Bakewell tart,

but she can make her own, which are gluten free

and that's for me, that's...  that's er... an expression of...

of love and affection,  doing something nice for me.

Because he absolutely loves them.

I love Bakewell tarts.

It's actually my first time

I'll be properly celebrating  Valentine's Day, this year.

So er.. yeah. - And are you going to do something?

I found out... Yeah, I'm gonna do something.

I found out recently that  I've got to ask her still,

even though she is my girlfriend.

I'm expecting a... a baby in April but er...

Oh really? Oh congrats!

But er... yeah, I'm gonna ask.

I have asked her out, I've given her some flowers,

but er... I don't know exactly  what I want to do, right now.

But I'm very spontaneous. - Okay.

I'm pretty sure it just be like, the night before

and just like, get a few things.

But actually, she's right here.

So maybe I shouldn't... - Don't say too much.

when was the last time you did  something nice for each other?

Something small or big, doesn't matter.

Christ! - Well...

Probably your birthday, we... we do something.

We go out don't we? - Yeah.

We have a meal or something  like that, don't we?. - Yeah.

We just do nice things every day. - Okay.

And is... there's no...

Maybe, do you surprise each other or... - No.

Do you plan it with each other?  - Oh, I surprise, more than you.

Yes, yes. - He's not very good on surprises.

No, I'm not very good on surprises.

I have to ask my daughter  to drop hints, if I need it.

And then I get them.

When is the last time that you did something

or you had something done for  you, like a romantic gesture?

Actually, two days ago. Erm... it was my...

well, it was my husband's birthday last week.

But, we couldn't celebrate  at the time because of work

and unwell and etc.

So we went for... I got my  mum to look after our kids

and we went for a big walk on The (South) Downs.

And there's a local vineyard close by

and I called the guy whilst we were walking

and asked if we could stop by  and buy a bottle of champagne,

which is made on our like, doorstep. - Wow!

Which... and he did.

And we went and sat on the top of the hill

and drank champagne and watch the sunset.

I'm trying to figure out; are  you going to do something this...

In like 10 days time? - Oh, I don't know, really.

We haven't thought about it.

Like, we haven't even thought about tomorrow yet,

but I guess we could like, I think for us,

we end up... like last year, we  did end up going out for a meal,

but it wasn't on Valentine's  Day, itself. - Oh, okay.

Just 'cos it... it gets so busy to book.

You know, all the restaurants  are totally full like,

a month in advance.

So, I think we're a bit of  those last-minute people.

So, we might just, you know,  maybe a couple of days afterwards

or before even, just end up doing something.

Whether it's, coming down and  having chips on the beach or...

or finding a nice restaurant to go out for a meal.

How do you do romantic gestures,  then, if not on one day?

I think romantic maybe, is a... is  a sort of, umbrella phrase, really.

Because, I think random acts of kindness,

can be seen as romantic gestures.

You know, they don't have to  necessarily be linked to love,

in the regular way that we think of it.

It can be empathy, kindness, things like that.

I'll give you one example; The  other day I was at the bus stop

and there was a mum and a dad and a little girl

and the little girl was going  home to her dad for the weekend.

And the mum... the mum said;

''Oh, I must get you a pair of gloves soon''.

But she was... she was not going to  see her little girl for the weekend

because she was spending the  weekend with her father. - Right.

So, I quickly dashed into the pharmacy

and bought a pair of little gloves.

And then I quickly ran back to the bus stop

and before the bus arrived. - Did you really?

I gave her the gloves, because I just thought;

well, I like having warm hands.

So, I don't know when the mum

was going to get round to getting the gloves,

but I just thought; well, at least  she'll have gloves for the weekend.

Aw! - So things like that.

I mean, I just... - That's lovely.

I just think maybe, Valentine's Day  has just become a hyped-up thing,

where it's focussed on one day of the year

and I don't think that's necessarily a good thing.

Thanks for watching this week's episode.

Let us know in the comments below

your plans for Valentine's Day,

if you have any plans at all

and what romance really means to you.

And we'll see you next week, bye!