Was Christmas better in the past?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Beth.

And I'm Neil. Now, it's Christmas time in the UK at the moment. And like with celebrations around the world, lots of people have many happy memories about Christmas. Beth, do you have any happy Christmas memories?

I have a lot. Um, my cousins and I used to always put on a Christmas performance for the family. That was always fun. What about you?

Christmas was magical. I lived in Canada when I was a kid and it was always snowing, so it just felt perfect.

Amazing. Well, at this time of year, we might look back at the Christmases from the past, from our childhood, and feel like they were happier or more magical than Christmas feels today.

Yes, thinking about the past can make us feel happy and sad at the same time. It's a strange feeling we call nostalgia. And we're going to be talking about nostalgia today as well as Christmas memories and traditions.

And as usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and phrases. You can practise these with the quiz and the worksheet on our website. Go to

First, Beth, I have a question for you. In the UK, the most popular Christmas meal is a roast turkey.

Ooh yes, and all the roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts.

That's right, yes. But which of these has become a popular food to eat at Christmas time in Japan? a) turkey ramen b) fried chicken c) takeaway pizza

I think the answer is fried chicken.

Well, we'll find out at the end of the programme. Now, at Christmas people often create family traditions that they repeat every year. Common traditions in the UK including putting out a snack for Father Christmas, that's Santa Claus, who delivers presents for children.

Well, here is host of BBC Radio 4's All in the Mind, Claudia Hammond, talking to psychology professor Daryl O'Connor about his Christmas traditions.

Hello Daryl, I wonder whether you think nostalgia for Christmas past influences your Christmas present plans? Daryl O’Connor Well, indeed it does, Claudia. So, actually, I look back on my childhood Christmases with lots and lots of nostalgia. So, when I was a child, every single Christmas morning we would have to queue up on the stairs, and my father would go in the front room of the house, just to double check, just in case Santa Claus was still there, and then we had to wait. And then of course, I have repeated that exact same thing for my children.

They line up on the stairs as well? How sweet. Dying for their presents!

When Claudia asks Daryl whether nostalgia influences his present-day Christmases, Daryl responds, indeed it does. This is a common conversational way to say yes, or agree with someone, we say indeed, followed by do in the present tense.

On Christmas morning, Daryl asks his children to queue up on the stairs so he can check for Santa Claus, just like Daryl’s father did when he was small. And Claudia likes this tradition, imagining the children waiting on the stairs, dying for their presents. We use the phrase dying for informally when someone really wants something.

Now, when we remember Christmas from the past and feel nostalgia, we often remember things in a very positive way. But was the past definitely better? Are we remembering correctly?

This is what Claudia Hammond asked Catherine Loveday, who's a professor of cognitive neuroscience, on BBC Radio 4 programme, All in the Mind.

How accurate are nostalgic memories? Are they accurate?

Well, they're often going to be rose-tinted and made more positive of course, and that's what we do with our past generally, but it doesn't really matter. I mean, in our work we've just shown that the function of memory is not about accuracy. It doesn't matter if some of the details are wrong, it doesn't matter how we frame it. In fact, it's actually better for us in a way to reframe our memories and to slightly adjust them to suit who we are now.

Catherine says that our memories are often rose-tinted. If a memory is rose- tinted, we only see the positive things about it, and don't remember any of the bad parts.

But, according to Catherine, it doesn't always matter. She says the function of memory is not accuracy. Function means the purpose of something.

In fact, Catherine says that how we frame a memory doesn’t matter. Frame can be used as a verb to mean how we think of or describe something, like a memory.

So, our memories aren't that accurate, and it isn't that important, unless of course, we need to remember factual details about something important.

So, our nostalgia about Christmas memories might not be based on what things were actually like in the past, but we shouldn't worry too much! And I think it's time I revealed the answer to my quiz question, Beth. I asked what has become a traditional food to eat in Japan at Christmas time?

And I said fried chicken, was I right?

You were absolutely correct.

Let’s recap the vocabulary we've learnt, starting with nostalgia, a feeling of happiness and also some sadness when you think about a thing that happened in the past.

The phrase indeed followed by the present simple form of do can be used informally instead of answering yes. For example, Beth, do you enjoy eating Brussels sprouts at Christmas?

Indeed, I do! Dying for something is an informal phrasal verb we use to say that we really want something.

Rose-tinted means seeing only the positive parts of something, and not the bad parts.

Function means the purpose of something.

And frame can be used as a verb to mean how we think of or describe something.

Once again, our six minutes are up. Test what you've learnt in the episode with the quiz and worksheet on our website.

To all our listeners who are celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas! And we hope you all have a good end to the year. See you soon.

Bye.