Happy Halloween!

What is Halloween?
Halloween is an annual holiday. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday of All Saints. It is celebrated on the 31st October. It is celebrated on this day because it was the end of the harvest season and the new year for the Celts. Halloween is a religious celebration. It became a dangerous celebration when there was vandalism. So then, the children, started travelling door to door for treat as an alternative to troublemaking.Trick-or-treating, costume parties, apple bobbing and ghost tours are two Halloween typical activities.

• What does the word Halloween mean?

The word itself, "Halloween", actually has its origins in the Catholic Curch. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or All Saints Day), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.

• How do people celebrat it today?

Now, Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

If you want to know more about Halloween... Click here!

Vocabulary

1. Apple bobbing: players try to catch an apple with their teeth. Using hands is not allowed.  

Apple bobbing

2.  Apparition: a transparent, ghostly figure.

3.  Bat: a small flying mammal, with leathery wings. According to legend, vampires are said to be able to turn into bats. 

4.  Broom or broomstick: a type of brush with a long wooden handle, said to be used by witches to fly, according to legend.

5. Corpse: a dead body

6. Creepy: Unsettling, or scary

7. Graveyard: a place where dead people are buried.

8. Howl: a high pitched noise made by dogs and wolves.

9. Nightmare: a scary, bad dream.

10. Wand: a stick used for casting magic spells.

11. Warlock: a male witch

12. Werewolf: a person who turns into wolf whenever there is a full moon.

13. Wicca: an ancient religion, practised by witches.

14. Spooky: mildly scary, though often in a fun way.

You can find more Halloween vocabulary here!

Halloween Food!

• Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins
• Caramel apples
• Caramel corn
• Soul cakes
• etc

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein - Film trailer

Nintendo!

And the Mario phenomenon

This year Nintendo is 125 years old. For the last 30 years Nintendo and its most famous character, Mario, have dominated the video game industry. Here is their story...

Mario the star
Mario is the most famous video game character in the world. He has appeared in more than 200 different video games. He is so popular that a survey found that American children recognized Mario more than Mickey Mouse.

Donkey Kong and the creation of Mario
Mario first appeared in the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, but he was called Jumpman. And he wasn't a plumber, he was a carpenter! It was a fun game where a man with a moustache had to jump over obstacles to save a princess. The game was Nintendo's first big video game success.

Nintendo is 125 years old!
Nintendo was created in 1889 in Japan. For 70 years the company made only one thing: playing cards! In the 1960s, it tested new business ideas - from taxis to toys. Finally in the 1970s, it found success when it started making video games.

The Nintendo revolution
In 1984, the new Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) revolutionized video games. The console had new games like Super Mario Bros., where Mario had to run and jump through a mushroom kingdom. Players could now control how high Mario jumped and how fast he ran. And there were different levels, so they could play the game for longer. It was voted the most important game in video game history.

Game boy and the DS
In the 1990s, Nintendo created a new concept, the Game Boy. Kids everywhere wanted to have one. This portable console was the first to have cartridges, so it could play many games, including mario, Pokemon and Tetris, an addictive puzzle game. Then in the 2000s, a better version of the Game Boy was invented: the DS. It was the first portable console with dual screens.

The Wii
In 2006, the Wii changed the video game experience. For the first time, the whole family could play together and have fun controlling the game with phyisical gestures. Sometimes poeple have accidents and break furniture when playing the game! The most popular Wii games are Wii sports, like table tennis, canoeing, golf and bowling. This summer Mario Kart 8 was a best selling game for Wii U.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran is one of England's top young stars. He has had mega success with his second album, X, this year. In its first week of release, X was number one in 12 countries. Ed writes for other artists too, like Taylor Swift and One Direction. Who will he work with next?

Ed Sheeran

About Birdy

Jasmine van den Bogaerde (Birdy) is an English singer and songwriter. She's made two albums. She lives in Lymington, Hampshire, UK.

Birdy isn't very tall. She's got brown hair and blue eyes. The good thing about her is that she's friendly and talented, although she can also be a bit shy. Her mother is a concert pianist and birdy grew up loving music. She sings and plays the piano.

Her first single was a version of Bon Iver's “Skinny love”. She contributed three songs to the soundtrack for the movie “The fault in our stars”: “Tee shirt”, “Best shot” and “Not About Angels”.

Birdy

About a friend

Elisabeth and I are friends. She lives near me here in Banyoles. She lives in a modern big flat. We go to the same school.

Elisabeth is fourteen years old. She's very tall and she's got long brown hair. The good thing about her is that she's sweet and friendly, although she can also be sensitive sometimes. She's very funny and we've got lots of things in common.

Elisabeth is happiest when she's chatting and joking with friends. She likes going out and meeting new people. There's a big lake here in town and we often go there. She also likes shopping, and sometimes we do that together.

Elisabet and I