Upcoming Holiday: Halloween 🎃
Although not quite as popular as in many English-speaking countries, Halloween has certainly caught on in our core countries of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
Since October 31st is coming up real soon, let’s take a look at what questions we can ask our students as well as what vocabulary words (bolded below) we can introduce in a seasonal conversation.
What’s Halloween in East Asia Like?
Like other newer holidays that came from the West, Halloween was first adopted by commercial centers and other business interests.
As a result, you may not find individual people turning their homes into haunted houses, but stores and shopping centers will be decorated with spooky things like jack-o-lanterns, ghosts and tombstones.
- What kind of Halloween decorations have you seen recently?
- Do you like Halloween decorations and the atmosphere they create?
- Would you like to decorate your home for Halloween?
- Have you tried Halloween-themed products like coffee and baked goods?
- Are there any Halloween sales events in your area?
Trick-or-treating also isn’t as common in East Asia when compared to elsewhere. However, you will find places like department stores hosting events where candy is given to children.
- Do any places give out candy to children for Halloween near you?
- On what occasions do people give each other candy (or other treats) in your country? Do you participate?
Although it's less common, more traditional trick-or-treating does happen, however. A Japanese student of ours once told us about the time a group of children came to her house all dressed up. She felt bad for having no candy to give them, so she gave them the next best thing she had: little yogurt drinks.
- If trick-or-treaters showed up at your home and you didn’t have candy, what would you give them instead?
- Do kids trick-or-treat in your town or city? If so, when did they start doing it?
And just like in English-speaking countries, children in East Asia love putting on Halloween costumes. They usually wear them to their elementary school or English cram school.
- What kind of costumes are popular with kids in your country?
- If kids don’t trick-or-treat where you live, where do they wear their costumes?
- Have you ever worn a costume, either for Halloween or another occasion?
Halloween for Adults
Halloween isn’t just for kids — some adults in East Asia also join in the festivities. Many (less traditional) companies will invite employees to wear costumes to work.
- Do you know of any companies that allow their employees to wear Halloween costumes to work? Do you think your company would do this?
- Would you like to wear a Halloween costume to work? Why or why not?
While Halloween celebrations are less common among the older crowd, lots of young people in our core countries go to Halloween parties.
- Is Halloween celebrated with special events where you live?
- Have you ever been to a Halloween party? If not, would you like to go to one?
- Have you ever dressed up for Halloween? If not, is there anyone/anything you would like to dress up as?
By far the biggest Halloween gathering in East Asia happens in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, where hundreds of thousands of adults show up to party. See this video to get a taste:
In fact, the crowds got so rowdy that district officials now partially ban drinking on the day.
As you may have guessed, Halloween celebrations in Japan feature a lot of people who cosplay as their favorite anime and video game characters.
- Do you have a favorite character from an anime or video game?
- Have you ever cosplayed? Why or why not?
- How common is cosplaying in your country?
- Some people are professional cosplayers who get paid to dress up. What do you think about that?
- Which fictional characters do you think might make the most popular costumes this year?
In fact, the strong cosplay culture is probably one reason Halloween caught on in Japan in the first place. (See: “A Short History of Halloween in Japan.”)
- What factors do you think allowed Halloween to become popular in your country?
- Is Halloween an important holiday in your country?
- In Japan, Halloween has surpassed many traditional holidays in popularity, which makes some Japanese people unhappy. What do you think about this?
More General Questions
Finally, don’t forget that you can take this opportunity to ask lots of more general questions on spooky topics.
- What holidays in your country are related to the dead?
- Are there any popular ghost stories in your country?
- Do you like horror movies?
- Are there any haunted houses in your country?
- Do you like being frightened? Why? Why not?
- Do you believe in ghosts? What about aliens?
Check out these Halloween-related Daily News lessons for more inspiration! And if you have students who are kids (or adults who take part in Halloween festivities), encourage them to wear their costume to your next lesson together!
