Note: ESL News is taking a break until 12 January. We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays wherever you are.
If you want to develop your listening skills, try these tasks as you listen to the text. The answers are at the bottom of this page. Thanks to Natasha Groves for preparing the tasks.
If you want to listen and read, just scroll down to the text.
The vocabulary list is now first, so that you can check the meanings of the words before you listen.
Vocabulary
be entitled to – to have the official right to have or do something
festive season – the period of time around Christmas
commentator – someone who knows a lot about a particular topic or who discusses it in the media
Try these activities while listening
1. Listening for main ideas
First, just listen to the text, taking notes if you wish. What information can you catch during this first listening?
2. Now listen again and answer the following questions:
- What is special about today?
- When do the school holidays finish?
- How much paid annual leave do most New Zealanders get?
- What closes for two weeks over this period?
- When is Wellington’s Anniversary Day?
- When is Auckland’s Anniversary Day?
- What businesses are busy over the Christmas and New Year period?
- What did one investor and business adviser write?
- Why did some people disagree with him?
- Why might it be better for people to take holidays at different times during the year?
News story
Today is the longest day. That means that today has the most daylight hours in the year. Summer has arrived, and schools are already on holiday until around the end of January. Soon many people will be on holiday for Christmas and New Year.
New Zealanders are entitled to four weeks of paid annual leave a year. Many people take a long break over Christmas and New Year because it’s also summer, so they combine the festive season with their annual holiday. This is in contrast to the Northern Hemisphere, where people may only take a week for Christmas and New Year and then a summer holiday in August. Also, many New Zealand businesses and public institutions close for two weeks over this period, and so their employees have to take leave then. Another reason for a long break is that Wellington has its Anniversary Day holiday on the closest Monday to 22 January, so in 2026 that is 19 January. Some companies in Wellington don’t reopen until the day after Anniversary Day. Auckland’s Anniversary Day is the Monday closest to 29 January, so next year it’s on 26 January.
However, shops and restaurants are open every day except Christmas Day (25 December). This is a busy time for shops, as there are Boxing Day and then New Year sales, when people go shopping for special deals and prices. Cafés and restaurants are also busy when people are on holiday and go out with family and friends for meals.
Recently there has been some discussion in the media about New Zealand’s summer break. An investor and business adviser wrote in Wellington’s newspaper, The Post, that the Christmas break has become too long, because some people do not do much work before and after their holiday. He said that means that there is low productivity in December and January. Some people disagreed with him, saying that people are very tired at the end of the year and need a holiday. They said it’s important to relax and spend time with family. Others said that not everyone takes that much time off, and many businesses are busy through summer. However, some commentators suggested that it might be better for people to take holidays at different times during the year, rather than in one long period. Having regular time off may be better for mental health as well as productivity.
ESL News is taking a break until 12 January. We wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and happy holidays wherever you are.
Answers – you don’t have to write a complete sentence as long as you have the key idea in your answer.
a. What is special about today?
It is the longest day, with the most daylight hours in the year
b. When do the school holidays finish?
Around the end of January
c. How much paid annual leave do most New Zealanders get?
Four weeks
d. What closes for two weeks over this period?
Many New Zealand businesses and public institutions
e. When is Wellington’s Anniversary Day in 2026?
Monday 19 January
f. When is Auckland’s Anniversary Day in 2026?
Monday 26 January
g. What businesses are busy over the Christmas and New Year period?
Shops, cafés, and restaurants
h. What did one investor and business adviser write?
The Christmas break has become too long, because some people do not do much work before and after their holiday so there is low productivity in December and January.
i. Why did some people disagree with him?
People are very tired at the end of the year and need a holiday; it’s important to relax and spend time with family; not everyone takes that much time off, and many businesses are busy through summer
j. Why might it be better for people to take holidays at different times during the year?
Having regular time off may be better for mental health and productivity.