Hello there!

In this space, you’ll get a taste of casual, natural English usage: 

idioms, general slang, internet slang, acronyms and abbreviations!

How much will you know? Understand?

Vocab guide at the end!

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Halloween! A very fun holiday and one of the most festive, for the sheer amount of parties, events, and decorations you’ll see everywhere.

One thing I particularly love about the season is making jack-o'-lanters. Though, the best part about pumpkin carving is actually the roasting of the pumpkin seeds!

It’s a fun tradition to roast the seeds from the pumpkin(s) being carved. Roasting the seeds are quite easy, and completely customizable to taste, since you can pretty much use any seasoning you want! 

Just rinse them off in a bowl or strainer, lay them out to dry (don’t group them up!). Once dry , drizzle some olive oil, then whatever seasoning mix you’ve decided on, lay them out on a pan, then pop’em in the oven for about 20 minutes and voila! Delicious snack! A super basic version is using sea salt as the flavoring. But, a good look online and you’ll find a crazy amount of variations.

Not to mention, as there is a bit of work that goes into carving a pumpkin, it’s so satisfying to snack on the seeds as you put the finishing touches on your Jack-o'-lantern, or as you marvel at your creation. And just like roasting the seeds, there’s a bunch of ways to create jack-o'-lanters. Some people carve and paint, some people just paint; it’s really just about having fun with it and doing what you want to do; no rules!

Some people really make pumpkin carving into an art; there are some truly impressive creations to be found if you want to look for them!

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Collocation:

Sheer amount of…… = a way to emphasizes a large amount of something.

Conjunction:

Not to mention….. = a way to mention another point.

Noun:

Marvel = suprise, admiration, wonder.

Slang:

Pop’em in the oven = place in the oven, put in the oven.

Voila! = expresses satisfaction, brings attention to the appearance of something as if it was done by magic.

** a word borrowed from the French language