Beneath the Lexicon with Anna

Beneath the Lexicon with Anna Make your learning an adventure!
✨ ko-fi.com/annaslexicon Hi! I’m Anna, a native English speaker and ESL teacher.

Words are more than letters and sounds, they carry history, myths, and epic tales. 🏺
Explore English with me through idioms, timeless stories, and meaningful vocabulary. Discover the secrets behind English words through myths, tales, and history, while improving your grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation! Book a lesson with me at 👉 ko-fi.com/annaslexicon

11/21/2025

Hear the "real" stories at Beneath the Lexicon with Anna.

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🧜‍♀️An Immortal SoulIn Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the mermaid doesn’t only want the prince’s love or ...
11/21/2025

🧜‍♀️An Immortal Soul

In Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, the mermaid doesn’t only want the prince’s love or even a life on land.

What she desires most is an eternal soul.

In the original story, mermaids live for 300 years, but when they die, they become seafoam. Humans, however, have shorter lives, but they have something mermaids don’t.

Humans have souls that continue to live on after death.

After saving a prince from drowning, the little mermaid becomes fascinated with the human world. She wants to feel human feelings, experience life fully, and most of all, gain an immortal soul. Her desire is so strong that she gives up her voice in exchange for legs, knowing each step will feel like walking on knives.
💙
She endures pain, silence, and heartbreak, but in the end, the prince marries someone else. She is given the chance to kill him to save herself, but she refuses, not being able to hurt him because of her love for him. But as she accepts the fact that she will die she feels herself lifted up, away from the sea.

🌬️Instead of becoming seafoam, the little mermaid is transformed into a spirit of the air, one of the “daughters of the air.” Though she did not gain a soul through the prince's love, she is told she can earn a soul through good deeds over 300 years.

Her story doesn't end in tragedy, but in hope.
The belief that love, sacrifice, and kindness can lead to eternal life.

🍂 Branches like fingers is a metaphor for bare autumn trees stretching Example: The branches like fingers reached towa...
11/21/2025

🍂 Branches like fingers is a metaphor for bare autumn trees stretching

Example: The branches like fingers reached toward the gray autumn sky.

What do you notice about the trees this fall? Share below!

📖 Are you an English language learner who loves timeless tales, folklore, myths, and legends?Do you want to improve your...
11/20/2025

📖 Are you an English language learner who loves timeless tales, folklore, myths, and legends?

Do you want to improve your English through these stories and discover why English is the way it is today?

🎁 Comment “book” below and I’ll send you a FREE PDF of Unit 1 and 2 from my new English learning textbook!

This unit covers:

Reading, writing, and speaking skills

A deeper dive into vocabulary and grammar

Origins and roots of modern English

👇 Comment “book” now to get your copy!

🌍✨ Learn English Through Stories. Starting Dec 15! ✨🌍📚 2 × 90 min online classes/week📖 Full Beneath the Lexicon textbook...
11/20/2025

🌍✨ Learn English Through Stories. Starting Dec 15! ✨🌍

📚 2 × 90 min online classes/week
📖 Full Beneath the Lexicon textbook included
🗓 Saturdays & Sundays (Afternoon & Evening PST)
💰 Only $80/month

🎉 Improve your speaking, reading, and vocabulary through myths, legends, and fairy tales!

http://ko-fi.com/annaslexicon/tiers

📩 Send a message to reserve your spot – limited spot available!

🐕‍🦺🌫 A Story I Was Told About Black ShuckI once met a fisherman from Essex who said he had seen Black Shuck, the spectra...
11/20/2025

🐕‍🦺🌫 A Story I Was Told About Black Shuck

I once met a fisherman from Essex who said he had seen Black Shuck, the spectral hound of the coast. He told me it happened on a foggy night while he was walking the marsh path with a fading lantern. He explained that everything had been silent until he heard heavy footsteps behind him.

When he turned, he saw a massive black dog standing in the mist, its eyes glowing red. The creature hadn’t growled or chased him, but had walked beside him as though it meant to guide him home.

He told me the dog stayed with him until they reached the crossroads near the old churchyard. Then, it simply faded into the fog and disappeared. Only moments later, a fierce storm suddenly hit the coast.

He wondered what would have happened if the hound hadn't led him home...if he had been caught in the storm.

And who or what?...is Black Shuck?

Black Shuck is a legendary spectral hound from East Anglian folklore, especially in Essex, Norfolk, and Suffolk. Some stories describe him as a harbinger of doom, while others say he appears to protect lone travelers in the mist. Whether omen or guardian, his glowing eyes and silent footsteps have haunted local tales for centuries.

🌿 The Story of Stone SoupOn a cold winter evening, a tired traveler arrived in a small village. He was hungry, but the v...
11/18/2025

🌿 The Story of Stone Soup

On a cold winter evening, a tired traveler arrived in a small village. He was hungry, but the villagers were unsure about helping a stranger. They told him they had nothing to share.

The traveler simply smiled and asked for a pot of water. When it began to boil, he placed a smooth stone inside and stirred it gently. Curious children gathered around him.

“What are you making?” they asked.

“Stone soup,” he answered. “It becomes wonderful when people add just one small thing.”
So, one villager brought a carrot. Another added potatoes. Someone else brought herbs. Soon the pot was filled with a warm, fragrant soup. Everyone ate together, and the village felt different, more connected.

The stone never flavored the soup. The people did.
The story teaches something powerful. Sharing does not take away from us. It multiplies what we have.

🌟 The idiom “a little goes a long way” fits this story beautifully. One small action can make a big difference.

Would you try a bowl of stone soup? What “small ingredient” would you add to it?

🔥 The Legend of Māui and the Fire Goddess Mahuika 🔥In one of the great stories of Aotearoa and Polynesia, the trickster ...
11/17/2025

🔥 The Legend of Māui and the Fire Goddess Mahuika 🔥

In one of the great stories of Aotearoa and Polynesia, the trickster demigod Māui set out to discover the true origins of fire. He visited Mahuika, the powerful Goddess of Flame, who offered him sparks from her own body. Each time she gave him one of her burning fingernails, Māui left her cave, quietly extinguished it, and returned again, pretending he needed more.

Mahuika gave him every fingernail and even her fiery toenails before she realized Māui’s plan. Furious, she chased him through the forest. The two transformed into different creatures as they fled and fought, each trying to outwit the other. Their struggle scorched the trees, and from this story came ancient knowledge about which native woods hold the spark of flame most easily.

This legend is more than just a story of the origin of fire. It is a lesson that reminds us of fire’s double nature, life giving and destructive at the same time, and the respect this powerful element deserves.



*image credit-Maui and Mahuika, 1956, Wellington, by E Mervyn Taylor. Purchased 2004. Te Papa (2004-0029-1)

The Legend Behind the Name “Nablus”(Fable from a follower)🇵🇸There is a city in Palestine called Nablus. Many, many years...
11/17/2025

The Legend Behind the Name “Nablus”
(Fable from a follower)

🇵🇸There is a city in Palestine called Nablus. Many, many years ago, the people of this city(before it was called Nablus) lived in fear of a terrifying creature — a giant snake that slithered through the hills, stealing their animals and frightening anyone who dared to wander outside the city. No one was fast enough to chase her, and no trap could catch her.

One day, desperate for safety, the townspeople gathered together to plan a way to defeat the snake. After a long discussion, they came up with a clever idea. If they couldn’t outrun the snake, perhaps they could outsmart her.

They prepared food mixed with clay and mortar -- heavy, drying materials that would make the snake terribly thirsty after eating. As expected, the hungry snake swallowed the meal without hesitation. Soon after, she became overwhelmingly thirsty and rushed to the nearest water source. But the moment she drank, the wet clay hardened inside her body. Her movements slowed, and she could no longer escape.

The people seized their chance, captured the weakened snake, and finally killed the creature that had tormented them for so long. After this they hung the snake’s massive body over the city gate, its mouth wide open, and its huge canine-like fangs visible to anyone who passed below.

In Arabic, large fangs or canine teeth are called “ناب” (nab). The snake herself was known as “لييس” (Les). When travelers would ask how to find the city, people would say...

“Look for Les’s nab — ناب ليس.”
“Les’s teeth.”

Over time, the people started to call the city what we know it as today...

Nablus — نابلس

🐍“The city of Les’s teeth.”
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😊 If you enjoyed this, Like and Follow, and share a story from your country that you think more people should hear! And make sure to check back to see it Beneath the Lexicon with Anna!

✨ Vasilisa the Beautiful ✨Once upon a time in a Russian village, lived Vasilisa, a kind, gentle girl mistreated by her c...
11/14/2025

✨ Vasilisa the Beautiful ✨

Once upon a time in a Russian village, lived Vasilisa, a kind, gentle girl mistreated by her cruel stepmother and jealous stepsisters. Before her mother died, she gave Vasilisa a magical doll that would help her in times of need.

Trying to get rid of her, the stepmother sent Vasilisa into the dark forest to fetch fire from Baba Yaga, the fearsome witch whose house stood on chicken legs. Terrified but brave, Vasilisa followed the path with only the doll for guidance.

Baba Yaga agreed to give her fire, but only if she completed a series of impossible tasks. With the doll’s help, Vasilisa succeeded in everything the witch demanded. Impressed by her courage and kindness, Baba Yaga granted her the magical fire.

When Vasilisa returned home, the fire slowly burned away her wicked stepfamily into ashes during the night, freeing her from their cruelty. In time, her goodness and beauty caught the eye of a prince, and she became a beloved queen.

🌟 A story of inner strength, quiet courage, and trusting the little magic we carry inside.

🤔What are some myths, folktales or fables from your country or culture that you think more people should hear about? Com...
11/13/2025

🤔What are some myths, folktales or fables from your country or culture that you think more people should hear about?

Comment them below 👇

(Illustration of a Vasilisa, with Baba Yaga's chicken house in the background...)

🩵 The Boy and the Blue Belt (A Norwegian Folktale)Once upon a time, a poor boy found a blue belt lying where two roads m...
11/13/2025

🩵 The Boy and the Blue Belt (A Norwegian Folktale)

Once upon a time, a poor boy found a blue belt lying where two roads met. When he tied it around his waist, great strength flowed through him. With his mother, he wandered into the wild and came upon a troll’s red house...but the troll and his mother planned his death again and again. Sent to fight lions and fetch enchanted apples, the boy survived each trial through courage and the magic of the belt.

In the trolls’ castle, he freed a captive — the Princess of Arabia — and for a time, they lived in peace. But longing to return home, she sailed away, and the boy was left to face his greatest betrayal: his mother’s treachery. She stole the blue belt, blinded him, and cast him into the sea.

Yet the lions he had once tamed found him, led him to a healing spring, and restored his sight. He returned, reclaimed the belt, and defeated both troll and traitor.

In time, he journeyed to Arabia, where he found the princess once more, hidden behind secret doors, waiting for the one who had truly saved her.

💙 A story of strength, betrayal, and reunion. A place where courage wins back not only sight, but love.

*illustration of the boy with the princess of Arabia, by Kay Nielson (1914)

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