Halloween – ハロウィーンとは何ですか？

今日はハロウィンの話です。

Vocabulary – 語彙

Horror

Supernatural

Ghosts

Skeletons

Monsters

Spooky

Spirits

Trick or treat

Turnips/ Swedes

Pumpkins

Costumes

Video

Example Sentences -例文

Halloween is on the 31^st of October every year.

It celebrates horror, the supernatural, ghosts, monsters, skeletons and just generally spooky stuff

People get dressed up in scary costumes and have parties as well as watching horror movies at this time of year.

People decorate their houses with spooky things and often carve a face into a pumpkin. They put a candle inside so the face lights up and looks scarier. This is usually placed near the front door.

The children also get dressed up and walk around the neighbourhood, knocking on doors and saying “trick or treat” to whoever answers. The children are then given candy, as everyone gives them a treat.

When we look at where this Halloween celebration comes from, it is unclear. It looks like it may have started in pagan Ireland. They believed that winter started on the 1^st of November, so the last day of summer was the 31^st of October

It was also believed that on this date, the physical world and the spirit world where very close and often crossed over, so sometimes spirits would cross into our world.

The spirits would knock on people’s doors, asking for food and then some people realised if they dressed up like a spirit on this day, they could knock on doors and try to get free food. 

People would carve Swedes to look like faces so they could place these at their front doors, and from a distance it might look a spirit, which would hopefully scare away any other spirits (or people dressed up as sprits).

Over the years, along with the introduction of Christianity to Ireland, this celebration has kind of changed and ended up into what it is today.

Today it is quite commercial and we don’t really think about the spirit world any ore and it more seen as just a time to enjoy spooky things, dressing up and eat candy and having fun.

Questions -質問

1. Do you dress up at Halloween?
2. Have you ever went trick or treating
3. Do you like horror movies?
4. Have you ever seen a ghost?
5. Do you like eating candy?

Example Answers – 回答例

1. Sometimes, I have dressed up in the past. I like to wear a scary mask.
2. I have went trick or treating when I was young,  it was so much fun.
3. No, they scare me and I have to close my eyes
4. No, I have not. I would scream if I seen one!
5. Yes, I love candy, chocolate is my favourite.

Return to: Intermediate English