Learn English meaning of ‘fairies’

Intro

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• archetype
• creature
• Big Foot
• stereotype

• mythology
• dress up
• fairy wings
• natural world

• magic wand
• tooth fairy

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Do you believe in fairies? Many people love these small mythological beings, and most cultures have some type of mythology about fairies. In the US, children love to dress up as fairies. They wear fake fairy wings and carry magic wands. They like to pretend that they can do magical things when they are fairies. However, in other cultures, adults might believe in fairies, too.

For many people, fairies are a symbol of the natural world. They might live in trees or near lakes. They probably help to take care of these natural places. There are so many stories about fairies that people now call mythological stories fairy tales. In these stories, the fairies might be kind and helpful, or they might be mean and scary.

Andy and Brian have heard many different stories about fairies. Listen to today’s English lesson to learn about their experiences.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Andy_H

Brian

Andy_H:  I just got back from Cincinnati, Ohio, where I was visiting my nieces and my nephews. They’re all under five years old. My little niece Anastasia loves fairies. She would dress up in the fairy wings, and she had a magic wand and was just running all over the house and saying, “I’m a magical fairy.”

Brian:  It’s funny because here there is a very particular archetype of fairy. When I was traveling in Ireland, though, I met individuals who… that was actually part of their culture. And that was part of their mythology and was an actual creature... like believable, much like we have people who believe in ghosts here these days…

Andy_H:  Or Big Foot.

Brian:  Or Big Foot, yeah. And so, it’s really interesting to see the stereotype fairy and then also hear people talking about when things go missing… It must have been the fairies… and it’s just a thing that is talked about.

Andy_H:  Well, hey, we’ve got fairies here in America. Tooth fairies. I mean, come on, who didn’t believe in the tooth fairy until the age of seven.

Brian:  Well, there’re just so many mysteries to the natural world that I think that that’s what makes mythology so interesting, and it’s that mystery that makes it exciting and the magic.

 

Grammar Point

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Lesson MP3

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