October Bulletin: New Halloween English Lessons, the Review Lab, and So Much More!

20 hours ago

5 min read

Two glowing carved jack-o'-lanterns with spooky faces sit side by side in the dark, ready for Halloween night.

Happy October, everyone! Fall is here in the United States, and that means pumpkins, costumes, candy, and a lot of spooky fun. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year, so I decided to go big with the site this month. Really big!

In fact, this is one of the biggest updates the site has ever had. Here is a quick look at everything that's new:

4 new Listening Labs with spooky and Halloween movie clips
5 new Reading Labs, from an easy cat story to advanced ghost stories
2 new Games Lab games to practice Halloween vocabulary
The brand-new Review Lab, where you can review vocabulary from the Listening and Reading Labs together
Redesigned quizzes in the Labs, with bug fixes and better mobile use
A Halloween makeover for the site's home page

That's 11 new lessons and games, 1 brand-new lab, and a big upgrade to the quizzes. And this is only the start! More holiday updates are coming soon. Let's take a look at everything.

A Halloween Makeover for the Home Page

To celebrate the season, I gave the home page a Halloween makeover. Go take a look! It's a fun way to start your lesson and get into the spooky mood.

And this won't be the last time. Every time a big holiday comes around, you can expect the same treatment: a new look for the home page and new lessons to match. More on that at the end of this post.

4 New Listening Labs

The Listening Lab uses short clips from popular movies and shows. Every lesson has vocabulary, a quiz, and conversation practice questions to help you understand real English. This month, the clips are all about Halloween and spooky stories. Some of them are a little scary, so choose the one that fits you best!

Woman standing in the doorway to a bedroom with a slightly shocked look on her face. She's wearing a wool coat and a red scarf. She has shoulder-length, wavy, dirty-blonde hair.

Elizabeth Finds Charlie

Level: A2 (Beginner) | From: Hide and Seek (2005) | Length: 2:13

Elizabeth wants to say sorry to Emily. But Emily has a different idea: she wants to play hide and seek. This is a great first spooky lesson if you are a beginner.

Woman leaning against a wood-paneled wall next to a wooden door. She's looking to the right. She has blonde, braided hair in an updo. She has fair skin. She is wearing a white lace wedding dress. The room is very dark and atmospheric. She looks scared.

Head Start

Level: B1 (Intermediate) | From: Ready or Not (2019) | Length: 1:38

Grace just married Alex. After the wedding, the family plays a game of hide and seek, and everyone is looking for Grace. The problem? If they find her, they will kill her. Talk about scary! You will also learn a fun American habit: saying "one-thousand" between numbers when we count.

A young girl and a teenage boy peer around the corner of a room. There's a table to the left of the image with candles and halloween decorations. The girl is wearing a witches hat.

Dani Meets Allison

Level: B1 (Intermediate) | From: Hocus Pocus (1993) | Length: 2:37

This is the perfect Halloween lesson! Max takes Dani trick-or-treating, and they stop at Allison's house during a Halloween party. It's a fun, funny clip with lots of useful Halloween vocabulary.

A woman stands in the doorway between the bathroom and hallway. She is looking to her left while holding a towel in her arms. She has dark hair that is up in a bun. She has light brown skin. She is wearing an oversized T-shirt.

I Waited For You

Level: B2 (Upper Intermediate) | From: Barbarian (2022) | Length: 1:00

Tess arrives at her rental house late at night and finds a stranger named Keith inside. The rental agency booked them both for the same night! It's raining hard, so they decide to stay together until morning. But is that a good idea? This one is a spooky challenge for stronger listeners.

5 New Reading Labs

The Reading Lab has stories that I wrote myself, and each one comes with vocabulary, a quiz, and conversation questions. There is a story for almost every level this month, from A2 to C1.

My Cat Meows Too Much

Level: A2 (Beginner) | Length: Short

My cat is always meowing! A short, easy story for beginners.

Halloween With My Friends

Level: A2 (Beginner) | Length: Medium

I like to wear scary costumes, eat candy, and watch movies on Halloween. Find out how I celebrate with my friends.

What is Halloween?

Level: B1 (Intermediate) | Length: Long

Halloween is celebrated in the United States every year on October 31st. This is a great story to read if you want to understand the holiday better.

The Figure at the Foot of My Bed

Level: B2 (Upper Intermediate) | Length: Medium

Could you sleep knowing that you're being watched? A creepy story for the lights-on reader.

Stormy Night Ghost Stories

Level: C1 (Advanced) | Length: Long

When lightning strikes and the power goes out, the natural thing to do is share ghost stories. This is the biggest challenge of the month for advanced readers.

2 New Games Lab Games

Want to learn Halloween words in a fun way? Try the two new Halloween games in the Games Lab. Both are made for beginners.

Six rectangles are lined up in two columns. The top left rectangle and the bottom right rectangle are both orange with a navy blue line connecting them. The other rectangles are green. Across the bottom is a navy blue banner with the words "matching pairs" written in white.

Image Match: Halloween Nouns

Match the pictures to their words. This is a special Halloween edition of Image Match, made to celebrate the holiday.

There are 10 navy blue tiles randomly scattered across the top of the image with white letters inside them. Below it is a white arrow pointing down. Across the bottom are 10 more navy blue tiles with white letters in them. These tiles across the bottom are lined up and organized to spell out "unscramble". Everything sits upon a dark green background.

Unscramble: Halloween Nouns

Can you unscramble the names of different Halloween nouns? Move the letters into the right order and see how many you can get.

New: The Review Lab!

This is the update I'm most excited about. The brand-new Review Lab is here, and it helps you remember what you learn.

Before, vocabulary practice was inside each separate lesson. Now, you can practice and review the vocabulary from both the Listening Labs and the Reading Labs together, all in one place. So you can finish a few Halloween lessons and then review all the new words at the same time. Reviewing again and again is one of the best ways to remember new words for a long time.

The Review Lab has three modes:

Definition Match: match each vocabulary word with its definition.
Conversation Questions: answer questions that use the vocabulary. This mode is perfect for practicing with a friend or a tutor.
Mixed Review: a mix of both modes. Only the definition matching counts for your final score.

It's easy to start:

Choose your lab type (Listening or Reading or both) and your level.
Choose the lessons where you learned the new words.
Pick a review mode.
Start answering the questions!

Ready to try it? Visit the Review Lab and test your memory.

Better Quizzes in All the Labs

The quizzes inside the Labs got a big upgrade, too. I almost completely redesigned them. Here is what changed:

A new design: the quizzes are almost completely redesigned.
Bug fixes: I fixed a lot of bugs to make the quizzes work the way they should.
Better on mobile: the quizzes now work much better on phones, so you can practice anywhere.
And more small improvements to make the whole experience smoother.

Try a quiz after any Listening Lab or Reading Lab lesson and tell me what you think!

What's Next: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's

Halloween is only the beginning! The holiday season in the United States is almost here, and I have big plans.

Thanksgiving (the fourth Thursday of November)
Christmas (December 25th)
New Year's (January 1st)

I plan to update the lessons for all three holidays, just like I did for Halloween. That means new content to help you learn the vocabulary and traditions of each celebration. The home page will also change for each holiday, so you can expect the same festive treatment all season long.

There is a lot more coming, and I can't wait to share it with you.

Thank you for learning with me. Which new lesson or game will you try first? Let me know in the lesson discussion! And remember: if you want to practice with me one-on-one, you can always book a lesson.

Happy Halloween, and happy learning!