Instead of studying grammar, today’s English as a Second Language students studied ghosts and gremlins.  Everyone carved a pumpkin and then did a circle-the-word puzzle, in which Halloween-related words were embedded within a chart of seemingly random letters and could be found going up and down, sideways or on the diagonal.  I wasn’t sure that all the students would want to take part in carving, but everyone did and all seemed delighted with their results.  They dutifully completed the puzzle, though I’m pretty confident that my advanced beginners left without knowing the meaning of most of the words, e.g., crypt, cauldron, and mummy.  I was relieved, however, that they did not ask me for definitions, as I’m not at all clear on the distinction between goblins and ghouls.  Seeing adults from Korea, Japan, China, Mexico and Iran so engaged and getting such pleasure from an activity that I normally don’t pay much attention to was rewarding for me too.  And they added their own cultural twists to the experience. Nearly everyone took home pumpkin seeds to roast, one reason being that, according to a Chinese student, “they were good for diabetes.”