Halloween Facts

Halloween falls on the 31st October of every year and is a time when people dress in scary costumes, go trick or treating and play traditional Halloween games, such as apple bobbing.

Halloween involves a variety of traditions from different cultures and religions and there are many interpretations of these.

The word Halloween is a modern interpretation of its original name, All Hallow's Eve. The first day of November was traditionally celebrated by the Catholic Church as All Hallow's Day when they took time to pay their respects to the saints.

The date of Halloween, 31st October, marked the end of the Celtic year and was believed to be the day when the spirits of those who died in the previous year would come back and possess a body of the living to allow themselves into the afterlife. However, the people who were living were not keen on being possessed and would dress up in scary costumes to try and frighten away spirits.

How did the tradition of trick or treating come about?

Trick or treating nowadays involves dressing up in costumes and knocking on neighbours doors for treats. If treats are not given then tricks are played on the neighbour. Trick or treating is thought to have come from a traditional European custom called 'souling'. It is believed that Christians used to go from door to door in villages to ask for soul cakes and for every cake you gave them they would say a prayer for one of your dead relatives.

What is apple bobbing and where does it come from?

The Romans used to celebrate Pomona, their goddess of fruit, in October and the symbol for Pomona was an apple. It is believed that this is where the Halloween tradition of apple bobbing comes from. Apple bobbing is a game traditionally played on Halloween. A number of apples are placed in a large bowl of water. Players have to try to catch one of the apples using only their teeth. The hands must remain behind the back at all times.

Where does the name Jack O'Lantern originate from?

Carving a face in a pumpkin and placing a candle inside is to represent the Irish folklore about a man called Jack. It is thought that Jack was a notorious trickster and once even managed to trap Satan up a tree. When Jack died, he was refused from heaven because of his bad behaviour and as revenge; Satan refused Jack entry into hell, but gave him a single ember to guide him through the darkness. The ember was said to be placed inside a turnip to make it last longer. Over time the turnip has changed to a pumpkin.

Monster Mash

To celebrate Halloween, why not to listen to this song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and watch this amazing video clip...

Let's have an eye on the lyrics:

I was working in the lab late one night When my eyes beheld an eerie sight For my monster from his slab began to rise And suddenly to my surprise He did the mash He did the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash He did the mash It caught on in a flash He did the mash He did the monster mash From my laboratory in the castle east To the master bedroom where the vampires feast The ghouls all came from their humble abodes To get a jolt from my electrodes They did the mash They did the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash They did the mash It caught on in a flash They did the mash They did the monster mash The zombies were having fun The party had just begun The guests included Wolf Man Dracula and his son The scene was rockin', all were digging the sounds Igor on chains, backed by his baying hounds The coffin-bangers were about to arrive With their vocal group, "The Crypt-Kicker Five"

They played the mash They played the monster mash The monster mash It was a graveyard smash They played the mash It caught on in a flash They played the mash They played the monster mash  Out from his coffin, Drac's voice did ring Seems he was troubled by just one thing He opened the lid and shook his fist And said, "Whatever happened to my Transylvania twist?" It's now the mash It's now the monster mash The monster mash And it's a graveyard smash It's now the mash It's caught on in a flash It's now the mash It's now the monster mash Now everything's cool, Drac's a part of the band And my monster mash is the hit of the land For you, the living, this mash was meant too When you get to my door, tell them Boris sent you Then you can mash Then you can monster mash The monster mash And do my graveyard smash Then you can mash You'll catch on in a flash Then you can mash Then you can monster mash

Halloween Fun

Let's have some fun for this Halloween.

First, you can create your how scary story clicking here.

Secondly, send a free Halloween eGreeting card to a mate, a friend and family... 

To end with, help Frida, a modern witch, to fly with her new hybrid broom powered with pumpkin juice playing Haunted Hybrid game!

Can & Can't

Learn how to use can and can't with these funny pumpkins:

Can is an auxiliary verb that we use to:

• Talk about possibility and ability.
• Make requests.
• Ask for or give permission.

The structure of can:

• subject + can + main verb

The main verb is always the infinitive without "to".

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	I	can	read	a book.
-	He	can't /cannot	read	a book.
?	Can	you	read	a book?

• Can is invariable. There is only one form of can.
• The main verb is the infinitive without "to".

Activities:

• From The Yellow Pencil, a page with listenings, rules and exercises.
• English Exercises offers you three different activities: 1, 2 & 3.
• Some exercises from Better English:   1, 2 & 3.

Tongue Twisters by 1rst ESO-A

Let's listen to the students of group A of the first year of ESO saying some tongue twisters:

Adjective Degrees

Adjectives are words that describe or modify a person or the meaning of thing in the sentence. 

We use degrees of comparison to compare one person or one thing with another. Degrees of comparison can be classified as positive, comparative and superlative.

1. Adjective Degrees

When we talk about only one person or one thing, we use the positive degree of comparison.

• John is tall.

We use the comparative degree of comparison to show the difference between two people, things or groups.

• John is taller than Mary.

We use the superlative degree of comparison to compare three or more people, things or groups, to show which of them has "the most" of some quality. 

• John is the tallest.

We normally use "than" with comparative adjectives and "the" with superlative adjectives.

2. Comparative and superlative forms

Rule1: Add -er or -est to one syllabic words.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
Small	Smaller	Smallest
Short	Shorter	Shortest

Rule 2: When an adjective ends in -y, drop the -y and change it to -i and add -er or -est.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
Busy	Busier	Busiest
Crazy	Crazier	Craziest

Rule 3: When an adjective ends in -e, remove the -e and add -er or -est in its place.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
Cute	Cuter	Cutest
Nice	Nicer	Nicest

Rule 4: For adjectives ending in -ful, -less, and -ing use more or most before the word. For two syllabic adjective also use more and most.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
Beautiful	More beautiful	Most Beautiful
Pleasant	More pleasant	Most pleasant

Rule 5: There are some adjective which are known as irregular adjectives as they don’t follow any rules.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
Good	Better	Best
Little	Less	Least
Bad	Worse	Worst
Much	More	Most
Old	Older	Oldest

Tongue Twisters by 1rst ESO-B

Let's listen to the students of group B of the first year of ESO saying some tongue twisters:

Another Tongue Twister

Let's practise another classic tongue twister:

Tongue Twisters

Some Tongue Twisters to learn and have fun!

Tongue Twister

Let's practise our first tongue twister:

The Union Jack

This image shows you the evolution of the British flag.

The Union Flag, popularly known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom. It is the British flag. It is called the Union Flag because it symbolises the administrative union of the countries of the United Kingdom. It is made up up of the individual flags of three of the Kingdom's countries all united under one Sovereign - the countries of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (since 1921 only Northern Ireland has been part of the United Kingdom). As Wales was not a Kingdom but a Principality it could not be included on the flag.

Welcome to the United Kingdom

Views from the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom

The four countries of the United Kingdom with their flags.