10 Basic Facts about Halloween (B1)
- People celebrate Halloween on October 31
- It's 2000 years old pagan Celtic festival, originally called Samhain
- For ancient Celts, who lived in area of Ireland and northern France, it was the end of summer and the beginning of winter
- They believed that on the night of October 31 the ghosts of the dead return to earth and cause troubles. To scare off the evil spirits, they wore scary costumes and made bonfires
- When western Christian church conquered pagan Celtic lands, Samhain became All Saints Day and eventually Halloween
- Massive migration of Irish people to the USA in the 19ht century caused big popularity of Halloween in the USA
Nowadays the original purpose is nearly forgotten and Halloween is mostly about having spooky fun. The top 3 popular Halloween activities are 1. carving pumpkins, 2. trick or treating, 3. wearing costumes
A pumpkin with carved scary face and a light inside is called Jack-o'-Lantern
Chidren wearing scary costumes go from house to house in a neighbourhood saying "trick or treat". The meaning is: give us a treat (=sweets) or we will play a trick on you (=you will be in troubles)
Top 5 Halloween costumes for kids are 1. Spiderman, 2. Princess, 3. Batman, 4. Superhero, 5. Witch and for adults 1. Witch, 2. Vampire, 3. Ghost, 4. Black cat, 5. Pirate
Vocabulary to learn
scare off [skeə əv]- zaplašit
evil [ˈiːvəl] - zlý
conquer [ˈkɒŋkə] - dobýt
saint [seɪnt] - svatý
massive [ˈmæsɪv] - obrovský
migration [maɪˈgreɪʃən] - migrace
popularity [ˌpɒpjʊˈlærɪtɪ] - oblíbenost
carve [kɑːv] - vyřezat
pumpkin [ˈpʌmpkɪn] - dýně
witch [wɪtʃ] - čarodějnice
vampire [ˈvæmpaɪə] - upír
ghost [gəʊst] - duch
trick-or-treating - halloweenské koledování
neighbourhood [ˈneɪbəˌhʊd] - sousedství
lantern [ˈlæntən] - lucerna
pagan [ˈpeɪgən] - pohanský
spooky [ˈspuːkɪ] - strašidelný
Celt [kelt or selt] Kelt
bonfire [ˈbɒnˌfaɪə] - vatra
Learn & practice the words HERE
For those of you who know more about Halloween - here is a quiz
Extra Halloween activities
Text source: www.history.com and www.rent.com
Images source: Pixabay