Shopping

As we head into the biggest shopping season of the year, the economy's woes loom large. Our dollars don't seem to stretch as far because the prices on everything have gone up. Gas prices, thankfully, are on their way down. I like to hunt for bargains and shop the sales. This year many stores are advertising their layaway plans and instituting ones if they didn't have them before.

We like to go shopping at Marshalls, where lovely clothes and household items can be found for reasonable prices. For example, I love English porcelain, so I always search for pretty teacups and saucers. And then there are tablecloths and towels and kitchen utensils, holiday decorations, and even furniture. I sometimes find fine woolen sweaters made in Ireland or Scotland and stylish blouses for work.

Vocabulary
woes -- problems, troubles
hunt for bargains -- look for cheaper goods
shop the sales -- go to the stores where there are good sales
layaway -- a plan to help shoppers buy things that cost more money than they have. The store holds the item for them until they pay it off.
instituting -- starting, establishing
go shopping -- to go to the stores
reasonable -- inexpensive

Vocabulary exercise
1. My mother _________________ every day to buy fresh food.
2. The meat was not expensive; it was very ________________.
3. The American economy has many ______________.
4. Department stores send sales circulars home to help us ___________________.
5. At our local grocery store, the manager _____________ home delivery for the first time.
6. On Saturdays I go to yard sales to ___________________ . I usually find porcelain at much cheaper prices.
7. Sue didn't have enough money to pay for the coat, so she put it on ________________ and will finish paying for it at the end of the month.

Grammar point:

Idioms with go
go shopping, go skiing, go hiking
go home

Idioms with go to
go to church

My Family and Halloween

We don't celebrate Halloween because we are Orthodox Christians. My house is not decorated for Halloween, but I do give out candy to children who are trick or treating. I allow my son to dress up but never in any costumes that represent evil and then only because I understand that the celebration for most Americans is benign. For us, the struggle against evil is real and palpable, and decorations and costumes that consist of devils, witches, and other such representatives of evil are offensive. Our priests admonish us to refrain from participating in Halloween events.

In our Faith, saints, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus Christ are represented on icons, before which we pray to those depicted thereon, as to Heavenly intercessors. The images of Halloween and what they represent are an antithesis to these icons.

Halloween is not the only holiday that causes problems for our ESL students. What might some others be?

What about Halloween?

I want to respond to some of your comments. First of all, Halloween is just one holiday that can pose a problem, so some of my comments can be generalized to include other holidays.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Find out about your students' religious and cultural beliefs.
2. Research them.
3. Speak to parents if feasible.
4. Explain the holiday. In the case of Halloween, explain the history of the holiday and the current practice. What do the symbols of Halloween (pumpkins, witches, devils, scarecrows, etc.) represent? What does "trick or treat" mean? Why do people wear costumes? Ask the students if these symbols mean anything in their cultures? Are there any analogous holidays in their culture?
5. If you are decorating your room for Halloween, use pumpkins, harvest horns of plenty, benign-looking scarcrows, which most students will recognize as familiar from farms, autumn leaves, apples, and cornstalks. These will likely not have a negative meaning in anyone's culture.
6. Avoid using devils, witches, skeletons, and other evil creatures. These represent evil and are offensive to many Christians, not just immigrant ones.
7. Think of positive activities, for example, bobbing for apples and dipping apples in caramel.

What to Do about Halloween

I hope to address some of your questions and comments about celebrating Halloween with your ESL class. Here are a few suggestions:
1. If you are a pull-out teacher, you can probably avoid celebrating it with your ESL students altogether.
2. If you are a push-in teacher, the celebration may also be out of your hands.
3. If you have a self-contained class, then you have to face the issue full on.
4. In any of the three cases, you should explain the holiday. There are some questions that you might want to answer: What are the origins of the holiday? How is it celebrated today? Who celebrates it? What do the various symbols associated with the holiday mean (pumpkins, witches, goblins, skeletons, scarecrows, the devil, and so on)? What does "trick or treat" mean? Why do people dress up in costumes? What are some popular Halloween treats?

Halloween Celebrations and ESL Students

Reading your blogs brought to mind a common occurrence in adult ESL classes and some immigrant communities -- new immigrants upset over the celebration of Halloween.

The ancient celebration of Halloween originates in the British Isles. You can read about it here -- http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/TLresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/halloween.html
Many Christians from other countries, especially countries in Eastern Europe, find the images associated with Halloween to be anti-Christian, for example, witches, wizards, devils, skeletons, and goblins. They do not decorate their homes here, and they do not want their children to take part in Halloween celebrations. As a result, they may even keep their young children home from school on Halloween. if they send them, they may not allow them to wear costumes, especially
those with evil connotations.

As ESL teachers, we may explain the history of the holiday, but we should not get involved in trying to convince parents to allow their children to celebrate the holiday. It is important to respect the beliefs of our students and their parents and to avoid judging them.

Place:
Eastern Europe consists of many nations east of Germany and Austria, including Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and so on.

Vocabulary
occurrence-- (noun) happening (occur-- verb)
Halloween-- (noun) a holiday celebrated in the USA on October 31 (All Hallow's Eve is the full name, which means the evening before All Saints' Day, a Christian holiday celebrated on November 1st.)
decorate-- (verb) to make beautiful (decoration--noun)
originate--(verb) come from (origin-- noun meaning source; original --adjective meaning first)
connotation--(noun) meaning (connote -- verb)
respect-- (noun) honor

1. Cocoa _______________ in South America.
2. The attack on the World Trade Center on 9-11-01 was a terrible ____________.
3. On ______________ children dress in costumes and go "trick or treating."
4. The children _____________ their father.
5. At Christmas people _______________ their homes with Christmas trees and garland.
6. The word "power" has several _______________.

Grammar Point: To negate a verb in the present tense, you have to use the helping verb "do" and "not."
They do not celebrate Halloween.
Can you write three negative sentences using do?