Holiday and vacation. Most of us feel excited and thrilled when we hear these two words. But the problem is that many ESL students mix them up. Words “vacation” and “holiday” have similar meaning but they still are different.  So, what’s the difference between these two words? In today’s lesson we will answer this question!

First, let’s take a look at the word “holiday”. This word is used when we talk about important days that are celebrated by many people. A holiday is celebrated by the whole culture or country. This includes religious and national holidays. Here are some examples of religious holidays: Ramadan (celebrated by Muslims), Christmas (celebrated by Christians) and Rosh Hashanah (celebrated by Jewish people).

 As for national holidays, they may include historical dates. For example, July 4^th or Independence Day in The US; May 9^th in Russia or October 1^st in China. Some holidays celebrate the life of famous or important people. Memorial Day in the USA or Benito Juarez’s birthday in Mexico are perfect examples of such holidays.

Usually most people have days off during holidays but it also depends how important the holiday is.

Now it’s time to talk about the word Vacation. This word refers to someone’s personal time off from school or work. For example, you can take a week off from your work and go to Brazil for vacation. Yes, vacation also involves travelling somewhere. It can be a different country, city, town or even mountains or a beach.

BUT here’s a very important thing: the rules above are working only when it comes to American English. British people use the word “holiday” in both cases.

For example, they can say “I’m going on holiday to Canada next week” and “Next Tuesday is a holiday. We are off”

So, here is the difference between Holiday and Vacation. Happy Holidays, everyone!