Life & English

“Trick or Treating” is a Halloween custom for children and adults in many countries. It usually occurs on the evening of October 31. Children in costumes travel from house-to-house, asking for treats with the phrase "Trick or treat". The "treat" is usually some form of candy, although, in some cultures, money is used instead. Some homeowners signal that they are willing to hand out treats by putting up Halloween decorations outside their doors. The "trick" is a usually idle threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.

“Trick or Treating” at the White House, Oct-2017 (Source: NY Times)

“Trick or Treating” has been a Halloween tradition since the late 1920s in Canada and United States. In Britain and Ireland the tradition of going house-to-house collecting food at Halloween goes back at least as far as the 16th century, as had the tradition of people wearing costumes at Halloween. In more recent years, the practice has spread to almost any house within a neighbourhood being visited by children, including senior residences and condominiums. People decorate their homes for Halloween, when homes would like to participate in handing out candy, a porch light is usually left on to signify that a home is handing out candy.

“Trick or Treating” usually happens between 5:30pm and 9:30pm on October 31, although some municipalities choose other dates. Homeowners wishing to participate in it sometimes decorate their private entrances with artificial spider webs, plastic skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. Some rather reluctant homeowners would simply leave the candy in bowls on their porches for the children to take freely.

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Halloween is an annual holiday, celebrated each year on October 31, that has roots in age-old European traditions. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints; soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

A pumpkin lantern

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, attending Halloween costume parties, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films…

In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration. Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes.

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Because you

are my friend

we have shared

the secrets in our lives

and grown strong.

Because you are my friend,

we hae sealed a bond

that time cannot remove

and smiled a secret smile that

the world shall never understand.

Because having such a friend

is more precious than gold…

I have riches in untold measure

and a heart outside my own

to call home

- The poem of Sunny Mann -

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Potluck is an event where the attendees bring their dishes to a meal, each guest contributes a different dish of food, often homemade, to be shared.

The idea of potluck, communal meal, originated in the 1930s. Traditionally, potlucks were a simple combination of dishes brought together by event attendees without a general theme. However, recent times have seen the growth of themed dinners for parties or special occasions.

Potluck dinners are often organized by community groups. The usual rule is that each dish be large enough to be shared among a good portion, but not necessarily all, of the participated guests. In some cases each participant agrees ahead of time to bring a single course, and the result is a multi-course meal. Guests may bring in any form of food, ranging from the main course to desserts. In the United States, potlucks are associated with crockpot dishes, casseroles, often called hot dishes in the upper Midwest, dessert bars, and salads.

Foods in a potluck dinner

Sometimes, more informal get-togethers with distributed food preparation may also be called “luck of the pot” or “potluck”.

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(ICTPress) - Với việc áp dụng công nghệ nhận dạng giọng nói thông minh cùng tính năng Golive, dịch vụ đào tạo tiếng Anh trực tuyến của VNPT (VNPT MyEnglish) sẽ cải thiện nhanh chóng điểm yếu nhất của người Việt khi học tiếng Anh - kỹ năng phát âm và giao tiếp.

Điểm chung của đại đa số người Việt Nam khi học tiếng Anh là giỏi ngữ pháp, đọc hiểu tốt song lại khó khăn trong khi giao tiếp thực tế với người nước ngoài. Sau 12 năm học tiếng anh ở phổ thông và 5 năm đại học, rất nhiều sinh viên ra trường vẫn lúng túng khi cần sử dụng tiếng Anh giao tiếp trong công việc.

Nguyên nhân là do trong quá trình học tiếng Anh tại trường, người Việt ít được tiếp cận với âm chuẩn (do chính người dạy đã phát âm sai) và không có nhiều cơ hội cọ xát thực tế với người bản địa. Đặc biệt là những học sinh ở vùng sâu vùng xa thì cơ hội này lại càng ít. Vì vậy, phát âm tiếng Anh thường không chính xác, dẫn tới khó nghe hiểu khi người bản địa nói và ngược lại - nói nhưng họ không hiểu được.

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Mexican dances are a rich and attractive part of traditional Mexican culture. The famous traditional Mexican dances are Hat Dance, Agricultural Dance, Dance of the Deer… Mexican Hat Dance tells the story of love and courtship. This dance is the most famous traditional Mexican dance. It can be performed by a couple or a group of couples. In Mexican Agricultural Dance, dancers wear large masks that represent animals. Dancers are marking the rhythm with their whips and imitating the crackling of the fire as it burns the tree. The Deer Dance is another traditional Mexican dance. It is performed by the group of dancers who play the roles of the hunters and deer…

Mexican hat dance in the United States

Mexican folk dance tradition is a blending of elements from its Indigenous, African and European heritage. Folk dance of Mexico (ballet folklórico) covers a wide range of Mexican dance forms. Before the arrival of the Spanish, indigenous dance developed with strong ties to the religious practices. After the Conquest, the Spanish initially worked to eradicate indigenous dances. However, they were unable to eradicate the more popular forms, especially in the rural and more inaccessible regions of New Spain. Instead, evangelizers worked to adapt dances to Christianity, giving them new meanings. For this reason, most of these dances have suffered at least some modification since the pre Hispanic era. Folk dance, despite modernization and other social efforts, has survived. Most of the traditional dances performed today took on their forms during the colonial period.

Mexican couple dance

Mexicans dance when they are happy and celebrating, when they are sad and mourning, when they are hopeful and in love or broken hearted. No matter what is happening, there is always music and dance to express feelings. Mexican dance steps are not difficult to learn but would need little patience. Mexican dances are a cultural treasure of Mexican people. In the United States, traditional dances of Mexican-Americans contribute an interesting section to the culture of the United States.

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Online exhibions are becoming a new development trend for many museums. The Chicago History Museum is one of these museums.

Founded in 1856 and incorporated in 1857 by an act of the state legislature, the Chicago Historical Society, the first name of Chicago History Museum, and its collection grew and opened its first building at the corner of Dearborn and Ontario Streets. This Museum is the oldest Cultural Institute in Chicago. It is one of the most famous museums in Midwestern United States. That building and most of the collection, however, burned during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. After three years and a second fire that destroyed most of the remaining collection, the Society renewed its operations. Occupying temporary buildings on the same site until 1896, the organization built a massive stone edifice designed by Henry Ives Cobb, which housed the Gilpin Library and exhibition spaces.

A worshop introducing the museum

In February 2006, the Chicago Historical Society announced its new name: The Chicago History Museum. Later that year, the Museum celebrated a grand reopening, unveiling a dramatic new lobby and redesigned exhibition spaces. Signature exhibitions such as Chicago: Crossroads of America and Sensing Chicago debuted, while an old favorite, Imagining Chicago: The Dioramas, was restored and updated.

Thousands of school groups from Chicago and the surrounding area visit annually. The Research Center serves thousands each year, from schoolchildren working on History Fair projects to PhD students writing dissertations to filmmakers researching documentaries.

Now the Museum has many online exhibitions. Some of them are “A wheel with a view”,”Lincoln at 200”, “Chicago: Law and Disorder”, “The Dramas of Haymarket”, “Ride around Chicago”, “Touring Chicago’s Culinary History”… The Museum continues to share the stories of the city and its people through programs, publications, film, exhibitions, online exhibition and other digital media.

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Coffee has a rich cultural history.

Coffee’s genesis, like most foods, is a story tangled within centuries-old folklore. A legend tells of a goat herder named Kaldi who is said to have discovered coffee beans on Ethiopian plateau hundreds of years ago. Before a modern version of coffee appeared, its cherry-like fruit was used in a variety of preparations.Travelers and traders carried seeds to new lands, and coffee trees were planted across the globe.

Coffee has a rich cultural history

By the 15th century, coffee was being cultivated and traded in Arabia, and its beans – stripped from its pulp exterior – were roasted and brewed. Public coffee houses, called “Qahveh khaneh”, sprang up across the east as places where people could exchange information over a cup of the much-loved potion. Traveling to Europe coffee quickly became the morning beverage of choice over beer and wine, and by the mid-1600s, there were over 300 coffee houses in London – often frequented by famous artists, writers, and intellects.

Seminar “National Coffee Day Tasting” at Warren-Newport Public Library in US

Coffee was brought to the New World by the British in the mid-17th century. Coffee houses were popular. Although getting a late start on the coffee wagon, the US has since revolutionized the coffee scene, from the introduction of Starbucks to the modern resurgence in coffee rituals and expertise. Coffee is as much a part of American culture as are blue jeans and rock-n-roll.

Today, the coffee revolution continues to grown. Coffees offer us a way to look at our relationship to the larger world.

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In the United States of America, Native Americans (or American Indian) are people descended from the pre-Columbian indigenous population of North America. They are members of of the over 500 distinct Native American tribes or bands with treaty rights.

Statues in the Museum of Native Americans

Since the end of the 15th century, the migration of Europeans to the Americas has lead to centuries of population, cultural, and agricultural transfer and adjustment between Old and New World societies, a process known as the Columbian exchange. Most Native American groups had historically preserved their histories by oral traditions and artwork, which has resulted in the first written sources on the conflict being authored by Europeans.

The picture in the Museum of Native Americans

Contemporary Native Americans have a unique relationship with the United States. Migration to urban areas continued to grow with 70% of Native Americans living in urban areas in 2012, up from 45% in 1970 and 8% in 1940. Urban areas with significant Native American populations include Minneapolis, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Tucson, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston, New York City, Los Angeles, and Rapid City.

Now, Native Americans have founded independent newspapers and online media, recently including First Nations Experience, the first Native American television channel; established Native American studies programs, tribal schools and universities, museums and language programs…

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We saw “trading post” in Calico Ghost Town, CA and in Fort Sheridan, IL. What was trading post?

It began with the capture of Ceuta, a terminus of the trans-Saharan trade route, by the Portuguese in 1415. They went on to establish further enclaves as they explored the coasts of Africa, Arabia, India and South East Asia in search of the source of the lucrative spice trade. The annexation of trading posts along ancient trade routes took place in the 16th and 17th century by European powers like the Dutchand English.

Trading posts were also very common in the early settlements of Canada and the United States for the trade of such things as fur. They were also used in many camps across the United States as places to buy snacks, items and souvenirs. Goods were traded for beaver pelts amongst the Europeans and the Native Americans.

A trading post in Calico Ghost Town, CA, US

In the United States in the early 19th century, trading posts used by Native Americans were licensed by the federal government and called "factories". A trading post was a place or establishment where the trading of goods took place; the term is generally used, in modern parlance, in reference to such establishments in historic Northern America, although the practice long predates that continent's colonization by Europeans. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route.

Trading posts were also places for people to meet and exchange the news of the world or simply the news from their home country, many of the world's trading posts were located in places which were popular destinations for emigration, in a time when not even newspapers existed.

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