While Halloween isn’t a traditional part of Cantonese culture, it has become a fun and festive celebration adopted from Western traditions. In Hong Kong, you’ll find colorful decorations around the city, parties for the younger crowd, and some neighborhoods have even embraced trick-or-treating.
Halloween in Cantonese is 萬聖節 (maan6 sing3 zit3), which translates to ‘All Saints’ Day.’ Although this might seem confusing, as the term technically refers to the Christian holiday, in modern usage it refers to ‘Halloween’ as we know it in the U.S. This interesting blending of terminology is a great example of the unique tapestry of our Canto language and culture. To help your kids enjoy the spooky season while also connecting with their Cantonese roots, here are some fun bilingual Cantonese/English resources you can explore together.
1. Canto Halloween Kids Videos
Learn new words with English subtitles, jyutping, and cute illustrations in these videos.
- Increase your family’s vocab with Twinklebots Cantonese:
- Halloween Costumes
- Learn about the holiday
- Make Halloween crafts with Kaiyan heyMommio:
- Another good video by Kaiyan translating a Halloween Care Bear story
2. Bilingual Halloween Printables
From flashcards to posters to worksheets, check out these printable Cantonese/English resources.
- Sweet Note Learning Flashcards
- Canto/Mando/English Flashcards
- Cantonese Halloween Poster
- Worksheet for common Halloween words
3. Cantonese/English Halloween Book
This book is sold on Amazon for quick delivery and has over 100 bilingual Halloween words to learn. Every page includes the word in English, traditional Chinese, jyutping, and kid-friendly illustrations.
萬聖節快樂!
~ Kristine