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Myths

Todd talks about myths children in America believe in.
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Todd

OK. Growing up in America, in the United States, as a young child, we have three special people, mythical people, we believe in and we really like because they give us gifts or money. The first special person is the tooth fairy, and the tooth fairy gives you money for your teeth, so it works like this: when you're very young you lose all your teeth, usually one by one, so every time you lose a tooth you put your tooth under your pillow and when you wake up the next day, magically there is money under your pillow, usually it's a silver dollar, and so you're always very excited to get the money and it's kind of cool because, you know you're happy to lose teeth, maybe the only time you're happy to lose teeth you're entire life. The other special character we believe in is the Easter Bunny and the Easter Bunny hides Easter eggs on Easter Sunday. The Easter Bunny is a rabbit. Bunny means rabbit, and on Easter Sunday, a Christian holiday in March and April we go outside with a basket and we look for eggs the Easter bunny hid in the garden or backyard or something like that and there are two types of eggs: there are real eggs, hard-boiled eggs that are painted on the outside and often the children decorate those themselves and there are plastic eggs and plastic eggs are hallow on the inside and you can open them, and when you open them, there is candy or money, so those are the ones the kids really want to get. Actually, it's funny, sometimes kids won't even pick up the real eggs because they just want the eggs with money or candy in them.

And then, actually, I'm sorry we have one more person of course, and that is Santa, and everybody knows about Santa around the world, and Santa comes down your chimney on Christmas Eve Night, Dec 24th, and he puts gifts in your stocking. A stocking is a big sock, a big red sock for Christmas, and you hang it on your fireplace and then Santa puts toys and gifts inside for the good little children around the world, so the story goes, that Santa works all year to make toys and gifts for children but only for the good children, so you have to be good. If you're a bad child then you don't get any gifts but it usually doesn't work that way, so you come down the next day, and you go to your stocking and you're very happy because Santa had come. One other thing about Santa is usually as children we leave cookies and milk by the fireplace for Santa to eat as like a thank-you gift, and it's interesting because when you go down the next morning, of course the cookies and the milk is always gone and so I think you can guess who actually ate the cookie and drank the milk, but yeah, it's kind of nice, so those are our three special people that we believe in as children in the United States

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

mythical people

We have three special people, mythical people, we believe in and we really like because they give us gifts or money.

'Mythical people' are characters that belong in myths and legends. These people do not and have not existed.

Notice the following:

  1. A lot of the local stories are about mythical people.
  2. Many of the knights of the round table were mythical people.

lose teeth

When you're very young you lose all your teeth.

When you 'lose teeth' it means that a tooth falls out naturally, either because it is rotten or an adult tooth is ready to come through (if you are a child).

Notice the following:

  1. Do not eat so many sweets or you will lose your teeth. 
  2. I make sure that I brush my teeth twice a day as I don't want to lose my teeth when I get older.

hollow

Plastic eggs are hollow on the inside.

When something is 'hollow' is is not solid and has an empty space in the center.

Notice the following:

  1. The tree is totally hollow.
  2. I want to hollow out the piece of wood so that I can make a bowl.

fireplace

You hang it on your fireplace.

A 'fireplace' is the place inside a house where it is safe to have a fire.  Usually a fireplace is made of rocks and connected to a chimney.

Notice the following:

  1. At Christmas we hang stockings around the fireplace.
  2. I love having an open fireplace as it makes the room very cosy.

go down the next morning

When you go down the next morning, of course the cookies and the milk is always gone.

When you 'go down the next morning' refers to the time when you wake up and go downstairs at the start of the day.

Notice the following:

  1. I did not want to go down the next morning, as I was embarrassed about the mess I had left the night before.
  2. I could not wait to go down the next morning and see all of the presents.

Vocabulary Quiz

mythical • lose teeth • hollow
fireplace • go down
  1. This statue isn't very heavy because it is .
  2. We only use the during the winter.
  3. I can hear the phone ringing, but I'm too lazy to and get it.
  4. She was always scared to when she was a child.
  5. Some people believe that vampires are creatures, while others think that they are real.
Answer the following questions about the interview.

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