HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY (ESL)

level: Beginner/Intermediate (A2/B1)

Halloween is celebrated on October 31st and is one of the most popular holidays in North America. This exercise practices the essential vocabulary associated with this spooky holiday.

READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

1. Halloween is ✓

(feasted/celebrated) on the last day of October. Many of its current traditions actually stem from (pagan/prehistoric) times.✓

2. One of the main Halloween traditions involves wearing (costumes/outfits).✓

3. Another popular tradition is called "trick-or-treating". This is when children who are dressed (out/up) in scary or funny costumes go around the neighborhood asking for candy.✓

4. Children come to someone's house, (sound/ring) the doorbell (or knock), and when someone answers the door, the children are supposed to say "Trick or treat!", which means they want candy :)✓

5. Halloween is not only for children. Many (adults/elders) celebrate this holiday as well, usually by going to parties.✓

6. Another popular tradition involves (carving/craving) a pumpkin (cutting out what's inside and making a face out of it).✓

7. After a pumpkin is ✓

(carved/craved), people usually place a candle in the middle to make the "face" (shine/glow). This pumpkin face with a candle inside is called a "jack-o-lantern".✓

8. In some parts of the English-speaking world, people light (bonfires/campfires), which are large controlled outdoor fires.✓

9. Many people (decorate/renovate) their front yards, back yards, and windows will all kinds of "scary" images like witches, ghosts, goblins, etc. ✓

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Halloween Conversation Questions 1. Do people celebrate Halloween in your country? How is it celebrated?
2. What is your favorite Halloween costume you have ever worn or seen?
3. Do you prefer scary movies or something lighthearted at Halloween? Why?
4. What are some similar festivals in your culture that involve the themes of death or spirits?
5. Do you think Halloween has become too commercialised? Why or why not?
6. What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you?

Did you know? The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows’ Evening — the night before All Saints’ Day (November 1st). Its roots go back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time when the boundary between the living and the dead was thought to be especially thin.

The tradition of trick-or-treating became widespread in North America in the 1930s and 1940s. The jack-o’-lantern tradition originated in Ireland, where people carved faces into turnips — pumpkins only became the vessel of choice after Irish immigrants arrived in North America and found pumpkins much easier to carve.