Every country has a national anthem – a song to represent the country. In the USA, this song is “The Star Spangled Banner.” Go to any sporting event in America, and you’ll hear this song before the action begins. This isn’t the only patriotic song in the States, however. Another very popular song is “America the Beautiful.” In fact, a lot of Americans would like to see this song become the national anthem. Just take a look at this petition that has been going around online. Katherine Lee Bates originally wrote this as a poem titled “Pikes Peak,” and her words were combined with music written by Samuel Ward in 1910. Here is a video of the song that includes the lyrics:
Many people would argue that the most beautiful aspect of the USA is the country’s national park system. Gabriele wrote a nice post about America’s national parks last year, so click here to see that if you missed it.
Recently, the NPS (National Park Service) named its annual pass after the famous song discussed above. For more information about this park pass, click here.
A short video about the annual park pass.
Over the next few months, I’m going to introduce some of the national parks through short articles, photo galleries, and videos. Before we get to that, though, why don’t you practice your English by answering some of these discussion questions?
Discussion Questions
Does your country have national parks?
Have you ever been to a national park? Where did you go?
Do you think it’s important to have national parks? Why/why not?
Which national parks do you know in the USA?
Which would you most like to visit?
Vocabulary
national anthem – a patriotic hymn or other song adopted by a nation for use on public or state occasions
patriotic – of, like, suitable for, or characteristic of a patriot
petition – a written document signed by a large number of people demanding some form of action from a government or other authority
Sasha is an English teacher, writer, photographer, and videographer from the great state of Michigan. Upon graduating from Michigan State University, he moved to China and spent 5+ years living, working, studying, and traveling there. He also studied Indonesian Language & Culture in Bali for a year. He and his wife run the travel blog Grateful Gypsies, and they're currently trying the digital nomad lifestyle across Latin America.
