The History of Halloween

Happy Halloween from MEA! 🎃


You have celebrated Halloween many times — but have you ever wondered why we have Halloween at all?

Let's lift the veil on this mystery together, step by step, and pick up some band 7–8 vocabulary along the way ^^
 

📌 How to use this post
 

• 🌱 Hạt: read paragraphs A, D and E → do the Hạt exercises at the end of the post.
   
• 🌿 Mầm: read the whole passage and learn the bold phrases in Step 3 (groups a and b) → write a 5–7 sentence paragraph about a festival you like, using at least 3 phrases.
   
• 🌳 Thân: do Step 2 — IELTS-style reading in 15 minutes, then check the answers at the end. Challenge: write the Introduction and Body 1 for one extra practice question.
   
• 🌲 Ngọn: do all four steps → write a Task 2 essay in 40 minutes using at least 5 phrases from Step 3.

Want a challenge? Try the next class up. Post your work in the class group — your teacher will correct each one.
 

Step 1 — Read: The History of Halloween

A.
Every year on 31 October, millions of children around the world dress up in costumes, knock on their neighbours' doors and ask for sweets.

But Halloween did not begin as a party for children. Its roots go back more than 2,000 years.

B.
The story starts with the Celts, a group of people who lived in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France.

For them, 1 November was the beginning of a new year. It marked the end of the harvest and the start of the long, dark winter — a season often associated with death.

The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead became blurred.

During a festival called Samhain (pronounced "SOW-in"), they lit huge bonfires and wore animal skins to ward off wandering spirits.

C.
In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III chose 1 November as a day to honour all saints.

The day became known as All Saints' Day, or All Hallows. The evening before it was called All Hallows' Eve, which was later shortened to "Halloween".

Over time, the Christian holiday and the old Celtic customs slowly merged.

D.
Many Halloween traditions we know today come from this mix.

In Ireland and Scotland, poor people went from house to house, saying prayers in exchange for food — a practice called "souling".

In Ireland, people carved frightening faces into turnips and put candles inside to scare away evil spirits. This is the origin of the jack-o'-lantern.

E.
In the 19th century, millions of Irish people emigrated to the United States to escape a terrible famine.

They brought their Halloween customs with them, and they found that pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve than turnips.

By the mid-20th century, trick-or-treating had become a widespread ritual for American children.

F.
Today, Halloween is celebrated in many countries, and Americans alone spend billions of dollars every year on costumes, sweets and decorations.

Yet behind the spooky masks lies an ancient belief: that once a year, for a single night, the veil between our world and another grows thin.

Step 2 — Reading comprehension (IELTS question types)

Give yourself 15 minutes. Answers are at the end of the post.

1. Matching Headings. Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B, C, D and E. There are two extra headings.

• i. A new name for an old night
• ii. How one country's sweets became famous
• iii. A festival at the edge of winter
• iv. Old practices, new forms
• v. Crossing the ocean
• vi. Why children love costumes

2. TRUE / FALSE / NOT GIVEN

1. Halloween began as a celebration for children.
2. The Celts thought the living and the dead were completely separated on the eve of Samhain.
3. The word "Halloween" is a shortened form of "All Hallows' Eve".
4. "Souling" was practised by wealthy families.
5. Halloween is the most profitable holiday in the United States.

3. Sentence Completion. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

1. During Samhain, the Celts lit huge ______.
2. In Ireland, frightening faces were carved into ______.
3. Irish people left their country to escape a terrible ______.
4. In America, ______ replaced turnips because they were easier to carve.

Step 3 — High-scoring vocabulary (band 7–8)

The bold phrases from the passage, grouped by what you need to do when you write. Most of them appear again in the model essay in Step 4.

a. Talking about origins

• have its roots in / be deeply rooted in — to come from / to be closely tied to
• originate in — to begin in
• an ancient belief — a very old belief
• be associated with — to be linked with
• honour — to show respect for

b. Talking about traditions changing over time

• custom / tradition — a long-established practice
• merge (with) — to combine into one
• blur the line between A and B — to make A and B hard to separate
• emigrate — to leave your country to live abroad (⚠️ emigrate = leave · immigrate = arrive)
• a widespread ritual — a practice found almost everywhere
• in exchange for — in return for

c. Arguing about culture (Writing Task 2)

• cultural exchange — sharing ideas and customs between cultures
• erode local traditions — to weaken local traditions gradually
• commercialised — turned into a way of making money
• lose its cultural significance — to lose its cultural meaning
• revive — to bring back to life
• ward off — to keep something bad away
• a living tradition — a tradition people still practise today

Step 4 — Write: a model Writing Task 2 essay

Question

Some people think that celebrating foreign festivals such as Halloween weakens local culture. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Band 7.5 model answer (Introduction → Body 1 → Body 2 → Conclusion)

INTRODUCTION — paraphrase the question + give your position

In many Asian cities, Halloween has become a widespread ritual, and some people fear that such imported celebrations erode local traditions.

While I accept that this risk is real, I largely disagree, because the history of Halloween itself shows that cultures tend to merge rather than replace each other.

BODY 1 — the concern (concession)

Admittedly, foreign festivals can sometimes push local ones aside.

Halloween in particular is heavily commercialised: shops promote costumes and decorations months in advance, while traditional celebrations receive far less attention.

For example, in some Vietnamese cities, shopping malls hold large Halloween events, yet few teenagers can explain the meaning behind the Kitchen Gods' Day or the Hung Kings' Festival.

If young people only know Halloween as a party, it can lose its cultural significance, and so can the local festivals they ignore.

BODY 2 — why I still disagree

However, history suggests that festivals are rarely fixed.

Halloween has its roots in Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival, which later merged with a Christian holy day; when Irish families emigrated to America, they swapped turnips for pumpkins.

At every stage, the old customs survived by changing, not by staying closed.

In the same way, cultural exchange can make young Vietnamese more curious about their own festivals: a child who learns why jack-o'-lanterns ward off spirits may then ask why we light lanterns at Mid-Autumn.

Schools and families can turn this curiosity into a lesson by comparing the two festivals side by side, which helps children value both.

CONCLUSION — restate your position

In conclusion, although commercial pressure can weaken local festivals, celebrating Halloween does not automatically do so.

A culture that is deeply rooted in its own history can welcome foreign festivals and still keep its traditions living.

(≈ 275 words)

Practice exercise at class

1. Keep the four-paragraph structure: Introduction → Body 1 (concession) → Body 2 (main view) → Conclusion.
2. Choose one question from the extra practice list below.
3. Use at least 5 phrases from Step 3 — you don't need all of them. Use each phrase only once.
4. Time yourself: 40 minutes, handwritten or typed.
5. Post your essay in the class group — your teacher will correct each one.

Hạt and Mầm classes: write a 5–7 sentence paragraph about a festival you like (Tết, Mid-Autumn or Halloween), using at least 3 words from groups a and b.

Writing Task 2 — extra practice

1. Some people believe that festivals have lost their true meaning and have become too commercialised. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

2. Globalisation has led to many countries celebrating the same festivals. Is this a positive or negative development?

3. Some people think the government should spend money to revive traditional festivals, while others think this money should be used for other purposes. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

4. Why do young people often prefer foreign festivals to traditional ones? What can be done to change this?

Hạt class exercises

1. Match the words

1. children · 2. night · 3. winter · 4. costume · 5. sweets · 6. pumpkin · 7. candle · 8. food
a. candy · b. a big orange vegetable · c. the time when it is dark · d. young people · e. it gives light when it burns · f. the coldest season · g. what we eat · h. special clothes for a party

2. True (T) or False (F)?

1. Halloween is on 31 October.
2. Halloween started as a party for children.
3. People in Ireland first carved faces into pumpkins.
4. Irish people took Halloween to America.
5. Today, only America celebrates Halloween.

3. Fill in the gaps: costumes · sweets · pumpkin · candle · night · winter

1. Children wear ______ on Halloween.
2. They knock on doors and ask for ______.
3. Halloween is on the ______ of 31 October.
4. In America, people carve a ______.
5. They put a ______ inside it.
6. After summer and autumn comes ______.

⭐ Challenge: write 3–5 sentences about your favourite festival (Tết, Mid-Autumn or Halloween).

Happy Halloween! 🎃

Answers — Step 2

1. Matching Headings: B-iii · C-i · D-iv · E-v
2. T/F/NG: 1 FALSE · 2 FALSE (the boundary was only blurred) · 3 TRUE · 4 FALSE (poor people) · 5 NOT GIVEN
3. Sentence Completion: 1 bonfires · 2 turnips · 3 famine · 4 pumpkins

Answers — Hạt class

1. Matching: 1-d · 2-c · 3-f · 4-h · 5-a · 6-b · 7-e · 8-g
2. True/False: 1 T · 2 F · 3 F (they carved turnips) · 4 T · 5 F
3. Fill in the gaps: 1 costumes · 2 sweets · 3 night · 4 pumpkin · 5 candle · 6 winter