Every year, specifically on April 1st, Iraqi people celebrate “April Fool’s”. Many days before, they prepare their tricks. Unfortunately, I [always] forget this day, so I am always an easy victim. But this day is a day of fun and laughter in my country. – Niran, Iraq

In Spain, “April Fool’s Day” is celebrated on December 28th. Newspapers make-up stories, so be careful if you are traveling to Spain [during] Christmas vacations, do not forget about it! Don’t believe everything you [hear] or read that day! – Irene, Spain

At a young age [in] school, I was specialized in playing pranks. The day before April 1st, my friends and I wanted to prepare the greatest trick ever made in our school history. We took a dozen eggs and put them under the teacher’s seat. After a few minutes, the teacher came in and you can imagine how it ended! – Robin, Italy

In Thailand, we also have an April Fool’s Day. We play a trick or [make] a fake story for a joke. For example, last year I played a joke with my friend- I told her I [was] getting married, but in fact, I’m single.- Yhada, Thailand

I’ve been tricked once in camp in California. We had some kind of a bet, which I lost. Accordingly, I woke up with my hair dipped in honey. Then, I had a really hard time washing it out. And the worst part was, the camp was on a big lake, so the amount of insects in my hair was just ridiculous! It was fun, though. – Karyna, Ukraine

Shannon teaches TOEFL at NYEA. She started teaching ESL in 2004 in South Korea, and has also taught in Chile and a few different New York schools. In addition to being an ESL teacher, Shannon is an ethnomusicologist. That means she studies music in relation to culture—what music means to people and why it’s important. She teaches classes on music in Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and the US at other schools, and sometimes plays Brazilian and Japanese instruments. Listening to music in English is a great way to learn the language and better understand English-speaking cultures, so listen a lot!