Halloween

Seen on the streets of Warsaw, Poland. Centuries after it originated in Scotland and Ireland, Halloween has now become trendy in continental Europe. Do you know what children in English-speaking countries say when they go from door to door, asking for sweets?

This month on Spotlight Audio: Beautiful Hawaii. Using numbers in English. Opera in British pubs. Talking about Halloween. Hunting season. Telephoning at work. And much more.

This month in our exercise booklet, Spotlight plus: two-word verbs, scary things, personal relationships... and much, much more. Practice makes perfect! Practise with plus!

"Halloween has overtaken Valentine's Day, so that today only Christmas and Easter are bigger," Carolyn Bradley, Tesco's marketing director, told The Times. "It's even on a par with our combined sales of Mother's Day and Father's Day," she added.

The Celtic festival of Samhain was held on the day — 31 October — when spirits were believed to return to earth. Samhain also marked the beginning of winter and everything about it was dark, for that was the color of winter and the underworld. Samhain is now Halloween.