Turkish Superstitions

I think it's important for my students to be able to speak and understand English, but to also know about American culture.  So, I have tried to explain to them tidbits of culture throughout lessons.  This week, I described Halloween and the traditions that surround it.  Most of them had heard of it and knew the basics.  Some of the bars here will have Halloween themed nights and people will dress up, but nobody trick or treats or anything extravagant. I read them a ghost story and we talked about some of the superstitions (big word!) in the United States and in Turkey.  A lot of them were similar, like the black cat crossing your path, but Turkey definitely has a few of their own and Turkish people are VERY superstitious.

So, in honor of Halloween, here are some Turkish superstitions!

It's bad luck to walk under a stair case

It's bad luck for women to cut their nails at night

If you make a clucking sound with your tongue (like a chicken sound), your parents will die!!

You must step with your right leg first when you go outside

When you are eating a bowl of rice, the remaining number of pieces of rice on your plate when you done indicates how many children you will have!

They had never heard of saying "break a leg!" before going on stage or that stepping on a crack would break your mother's back, so it was interesting to compare the two countries' superstitions. 

Happy Halloween! I hope you all are having fun celebrating!  I can't wait to see pictures of everyone's costumes!