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Trick or Treat!
Trick or Treat!

Learn Halloween vocabulary

Date: Oct 29 2010

Themes: Holidays

Grammar: First Conditional

Intro

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This Sunday is Halloween and there are really two separate Halloweens in the U.S. There’s the Halloween for adults, which is basically an excuse to party while wearing a crazy costume. For kids, Halloween is one of the most exciting days of the year. Not only do they get to dress up as their favorite superhero or fairy princess, but it’s also the only day they get to go door-to-door and demand that strangers give them candy. But as Dale explains, trick-or-treating can be fun for grown-ups, too. Listen to him talk with Mason about one of his favorite holidays.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Mason

Mason

Dale

Dale

Mason:  How old were you when you stopped trick-or-treating?

Dale:  35.

Mason:  Is that with your kid, though?

Dale:  It basically is with my kid. But still, I love to trick or treat. I actually dressed up with him, and I was at the door holding my pumpkin too.

Mason:  They give you, the adult, candy?

Dale:  Of course they do! I’m trick-or-treating too! Let’s go back. The word “trick or treat.” You always get a treat. Is there a trick?

Mason:  No, you do the trick. Like it’s a threat. If they do not give you candy, you will do terrible things to them and/or their property.

Dale:  Oh! I didn’t know what that meant. It’s so weird, because I always…I mean, for so long, I’ve always said “trick or treat,” but what if they choose the trick? Now I get it.

Mason:  Yes. You are threatening them. So, I don’t know, maybe we should re-brand trick-or-treating. It should be like “Candy, please.”

Dale:  Candy, please.

Mason:  Let’s teach manners this holiday season.

Dale:  I enjoy dressing up, I enjoy doing this. I think there was that maybe 15 to 18 years age when I was too old to dress up. But as soon as 20, 21 came along, boom.

Mason:  College dorms. I trick-or-treated at the dorms, man. You better believe it.

Dale:  Trick-or-treating, yeah.

 

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Discussion

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When kids go trick-or-treating, they get dressed up in costumes and knock on strangers’ doors. When someone answers, they shout “trick or treat!” Then the stranger gives them candy, which they keep in a Halloween bag, or sometimes a plastic pumpkin.

Dale loves trick-or-treating. He has a young son who he goes trick-or-treating with, but it sounds like he would enjoy trick-or-treating whether or not he had a kid.

But even though he loves Halloween, Dale didn’t know what the phrase “trick or treat” meant. He thought it meant that the stranger at the door could choose to give either a trick or a treat. Mason explains that “trick or treat” is actually a threat. It means, “Give me a treat or I’ll play a trick on you.” Luckily, it’s usually an empty threat.

Have you ever gone trick-or-treating? Do people celebrate Halloween in your country?

 

Comments

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zarin.setare

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i ve never gone trick or treating but i saw in American movies also i saw in one cartoon carving in pumpkins silly and scary faces and today i found out.its for Holloween,too.in our country we havent this holiday

05:50 PM Nov 03 2012 |

MAHUYA ACHARJA

Bangladesh

I have never gone trick or treating.people do celebrate halloween in our country.

12:22 PM May 13 2011 |

Marcelolic

Marcelolic

Brazil

Yes and it's pretty cool this party :) It's usually celebrated in the "witch" day (in Brazil is in 31th october) but there hasn't cands just threats hehe and people basially wear "dark clothes" as monsters characters,witches :)

10:33 AM Jan 04 2011 |

kukuka

kukuka

Ukraine

No, I never went treat or treating as we 're not used to celebrating Halloween here, but my daughter who attends an english speaking school here in Ukraine, I know that she had a holiday at schoollast Friday. So, probably some people do celebrate it.

01:11 PM Nov 02 2010 |

rosendo

rosendo

Mexico

in this moment at 19:50 , there are a ton of childrenasking for candies, they are wearing costume and also there are a bunch of people in the cementeries , they'll stay there until tomorrow.

saludos.

01:54 AM Nov 02 2010 |

serena7

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

@ masiran: yea, you are right. years ago people in Iran used to have a similar custom and I think it was on the last wednesday night of each year. but it has been forgotton since revolution like many other customs. so sory for that 

01:14 PM Nov 01 2010 |

jinxiangyu35

China

i always think  halloween is a very fun festival  though in my country we do not have this festival.

11:49 PM Oct 31 2010 |

Nicte ha

Nicte ha

Mexico

In México,  ppl believe that dead can return from the hereafter world to this one, just to visit for one day their relatives and then they go again till the next year.

This celebration comes from pre-hispanic origins.

Pp believe dead can stay here just one nignt and smell the fragances of the fruit and food that their relatives bring to them.

PPl believe spitirt of children can return on november 1st and adults come on november 2nd.

Since October 31th families prepare ways full of a special orange flower called cempazuchitl, coz it is supposed dead spirit children will walk on this.

On november 2nd the families join during the afternoon to pray together. Outside, on the streets, the children do skulls with "chilacayotes" (green vegetable) and knock door by door asking for fruit instead their prayers.

On november 2nd, in the afternoon, the bells sounds announcing that the deads are leaving. So complete families go to the cementeries to set oblations on the graves, they carry candles and "copal" (aromatic plant resin) steam too.

Finally on november 3rd, the families interchange their food and spend time in armony.

Nowdays there are also archeological expositions, shows and theater.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSFBV8jfEgo&feature=related

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcRxbw-Ajao

10:21 PM Oct 31 2010 |

Aye_Paya

Aye_Paya

Argentina

i've never done trick or treating!!maybe some day!!hehhe,..i would like..i think that is funny!!

02:42 PM Oct 31 2010 |

masiran

masiran

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

i've never gone trick or treating no i  wish we had such a good festival in our country i like it so much it will be great for kids and adults alike! but when my parents talking about past and their childhood shows that we had something abit similar to this in our history but now after revelution every thing has changed …

12:49 PM Oct 31 2010 |

c106317

c106317

Taiwan

Trick or treat,trick or treat.

Give me something good to eat.

If you don't ,then I will,

Pull down your UNDERWEAR!!!

humm…I sang this song to celebrate Halloween 18 years ago(in USA).

It was really fun!!    :)

12:11 PM Oct 31 2010 |

eshakhan

eshakhan

Pakistan

in my country there is no concept of halloween

 

11:09 AM Oct 31 2010 |

dragonwarrior

China

Today is halloween.Is it the day that memorizes the forbears in America? You know , in china there is a festival just a little bit like Halloween .That is called “july half-month” . It is the day we do the religious ceremony to memorize forefathers without TREAT OR TRICK .

07:47 AM Oct 31 2010 |

phamtran

phamtran

Viet Nam

In our country, halloween is popular but no everywhere, it only appears in the big cities. Especially in universities where it has many students. I feel halloween interesting!

04:21 AM Oct 31 2010 |

happysmilesunny

China

Oh, NoNo, But now in South China, Guangzhou, more and more young man celebrate the Halloween Party, I have been attend the halloween Party on Friday night, and it's was great! I think it will become more and more poluplar in guangzhou, and I hope I can attend the party again! Cut the pumnkin, and listen the ghost story and dancing together, great night!

12:51 AM Oct 31 2010 |

mobhomeir

mobhomeir

Philippines

whew! as if I am starting my elementary years again..I love it…Smile

12:12 AM Oct 31 2010 |

mobhomeir

mobhomeir

Philippines

Though we do not practice Halloween occasion, I like the additional information about it..thanks a lot

12:06 AM Oct 31 2010 |

Ryo

Ryo

Saudi Arabia

 

 happy   halloween to all

 fisth i  love  snickers 

it my favorit

l like thoes too  

 

http://www.thechocolatereview.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/mars-milk-chocolate-mms.jpg 

 i really love Chocolate

but  there  is alot also   which  i try them  and they are so tasty but i could not fidn  there name 

08:50 PM Oct 30 2010 |

1 person likes this

Abai

Abai

Kazakhstan

 It isn't considered as a festival in my country but some young generation celebrate it. 

Have I ever gone trick-or-treating? -> My answer is NO. and i don't want to try it. May be it's fun but it looks weird in Kazakhstan. Sometimes it was frightening coz some people dress up so scary that you may really frightened. I think it's festival not to kids!!!

05:11 PM Oct 30 2010 |

thecrazybuffalo

Viet Nam

let join theHalloween day =)

Best wishes to u :*

 

03:10 PM Oct 30 2010 |

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