Practice Your Listening Skills – St. Patrick’s Day Listening Activity

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world on March 17th. In my country of the United States, this holiday is especially popular. Tradition is that you must wear green or someone can pinch you. Many people celebrate this day by drinking green beer, wearing green, and going to parades that celebrate Irish culture.

Most people, however, don’t know the history of St.Patrick. So, I’ve created a St. Patrick’s Day English listening activity to help you learn! As you’ll hear in the video below, St. Patrick had very little to do with the color green or beer drinking, but he did have a lot to do with Ireland.

Watch this video and see if you can answer the comprehension questions below. This video would work best with an advanced ESL learner, because the speaker talks very quickly.

Listening Questions

1. Where was St. Patrick born?
2. What was St. Patrick’s actual name?
3. What religion did St. Patrick follow?
4. What did the voice in his sleep tell St. Patrick to do?
5. How long did St. Patrick stay in the monastery?
6. What three types of institutions did St. Patrick establish in Ireland?
7. What did St. Patrick’s former master do when he heard that St. Patrick was coming back to visit?
8. Fill in the blanks: “His pride could not _________ the thought of being vanquished by his ________ _________.”
9. What animals did legend say that St. Patrick drove out of Ireland?
10. What was the original color associated with St. Patrick?
11. What color is St. Patrick associated with today?
12. What date did St. Patrick die?

Listening Answers

1. England
2. Maewyn Succat
3. Christianity
4. Leave his master and get on a ship
5. 12 years
6. Monasteries, schools, and churches
7. He set his mansion (house) on fire and threw himself in it.
8. Endure, former, slave
9. Snakes
10. Blue
11. Green
12. March 17th, 461