Ingles Listening Superstitions

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English Listening / Level 3 Unit 16 – Superstitions

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Introduction In this unit you’re going to practise your listening around the topic of superstitions. You’ll learn some of the things we’re superstitious about in the UK as well as some superstitions from around the world. Let’s go.

Essential Vocabulary Before we start, there are a couple of words that are important in the recording. Let’s check them.

First of all, do you know what we call the thing you use to climb up to a higher place? For example, if you want to get up onto the top of your house, you would take a... put it against the wall and climb up it. It’s a...

a ladder a ladder

The second phrase is obsessive compulsive disorder. This is when a person cannot stop doing something and they have to do it again and again. For example, they must keep washing their hands.

obsessive compulsive disorder obsessive compulsive disorder

Listening Task 1 Listen to the first part of the conversation.

• Which of these things do they talk about?

superstitions about ladders

superstitions about days of the year

superstitions about the weather

superstitions about mirrors

KATIE: OK. Superstitions. Are you superstitious people, do you think?

TOM: Erm...yes...a little bit. Sometimes, I was thin...trying to think of one just then, and I think...I don’t like to walk under ladders...



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KATIE: No, me too.

TOM: ...in the street, and I think...I don’t know if that’s superstitious or just sensible...

AMANDA: (laughter)

TOM: ...because...

KATIE: Well there, yeah, it...it...that’s probably where the superstition came from...

AMANDA: Comes from...

TOM: Yeah.

KATIE: ...isn’t it? It’s dangerous to walk on a ladder...under a ladder.

TOM: Yeah.

KATIE: Do you walk under ladders?

AMANDA: I’ve gone through a phase when I’ve made myself walk under ladders, (laughter) just to prove1 that there’s nothing in the superstition. So erm, I have...I have always been a little bit superstitions and I’ve rebelled against that, because I think it’s, sometimes there’s a part of my brain that’s saying, this is complete...trash, you know, what’re you...what are you doing? You know, not stepping on the cracks2 in the pavement3

TOM: Accidentally booking a flight on Friday the thirteenth...

, or you know, getting to Friday the thirteenth and going, oh no, I can’t do that today, because it’s Friday the thirteenth.

AMANDA: Yeah...

TOM: ...and then realising...

AMANDA: ...and then freaking out. And actually, I’m sort of...trying to move away from that...erm...thing that’s been drummed into me, or...but in...on the other hand, there are things that I do, that’s...that might be termed as superstitious...erm...

KATIE+TOM: Like what? (laughter)

AMANDA: OK...erm...I’ve got erm, a book in my house, erm, which is erm...it’s...it’s err...like sayings, and erm, a little bit of philosophy and Buddhism...and every day, I’ve got into the habit, and there’s...there’s a saying for every day, erm...I’ve kind of...I’ve got into the habit of reading, or turning the page and reading this, to start my day, and have that in my...as my first thought, that...my first external input is, comes from this book...which everything is very beautiful and, beautiful photographs, and it makes, it always sets...

KATIE: That’s nice!



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AMANDA: ...the tone of the day...and when I don’t do it, I feel like I’ve missed something, so I don’t know if it’s a superstition, but it’s more like a habit, that I’ve...

TOM: Yeah. At what point does superstition become...

AMANDA: Yeah...

TOM: ...obsessive4 compulsive5

AMANDA: Yeah. (laughter) I don’t think it’s become obsessive. (laughter)

disorder?

TOM: But, no...no because I was thinking...

AMANDA: So, but yeah.

TOM: ...because when I was younger, I used to do things, certain things seven times...because seven was my lucky number...

KATIE: I used to do things in fours...

AMANDA: Mmm.

TOM: And then you...see a documentary on telly where it’s...showing somebody in the mental hospital and, you know, they’ve basically been washing their hands a hundred and fifty-two times a day...

AMANDA: Yeah.

TOM: ...and their hands are all bleeding...and you know...these things that we incorporate...as superstitions, are...

AMANDA: Yeah.

TOM: ...inherently mad...

AMANDA: Yeah.

TOM: ...basically.

KATIE: But I think...they’re so...erm, you know about them, from such a young age...that you almost...erm...are affected by them without really thinking about it. Like you know, if I broke a mirror...I would immediately think...

TOM: Oh no.

KATIE: ...ahh, seven years bad luck!

AMANDA: Yeah.

TOM: Yeah.



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KATIE: Even though really I don’t...maybe I don’t believe in it deep down, I might...there’d be a little voice, going...

AMANDA: Yes, yeah, I like the sort of more humorous side of it, like when you...here in Spain, I don’t know if they say this in the UK as well, when you have a toast with various glasses, you have to look at everybody in the eye...

KATIE: Yes, no...same.

AMANDA: ...or else it’s seven years bad sex.

KATIE: Oh I didn’t know that bit! (laughter) I knew you were supposed to look at people...

(laughter)

AMANDA: And I think that’s quite a fun one that I would definitely keep up. (laughter)

TOM: Yeah there’s another one with the...

Listening Task 1 - Answers

Which of these things did they talk about?

Superstitions about ladders? Yes.

Superstitions about days of the year? Yes.

Superstitions about the weather? No.

Superstitions about mirrors? Yes.

Essential Vocabulary Before we listen to the next part there are two things you need to know.

A magpie is a black and white bird that is common in England.

a magpie a magpie

Next, when you have a cigarette and you want to smoke it, you need to light it. You can use a lighter, or a match. You light a cigarette with a match.

Now on to the listening.



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Listening Task 2 As you listen, try and answer this question.

• How many cigarette superstitions do you hear, and how many animal superstitions do you hear?

TOM: Yeah there’s another one with the...I used to smoke, and...with smoking, where you can’t light three cigarettes with the same match.

KATIE: Why? Is it bad luck?

TOM: Because, yeah, it’s...that’s bad luck. And they say that that came from in the...in the First World War, in the trenches, when soldiers used a match. The first match, would alert6 the..the soldier on the opposite team, the second one would allow them to aim7

KATIE: I think, I think there probably is a reason...like the walking under ladders, you know, maybe there’s a reason for a lot of them.

and the third one would be when they would shoot the gun and kill you. So the three...having a match alight for three cigarettes, was enough time...for somebody to aim their gun at you and kill the last person, on the...that was finally, lighting their...their cigarette, so there was a reason...for that superstition.

AMANDA: There’s...there’s an interesting one with cigarettes as well, when I was living in Galicia, which is...life is really centred around the sea, the coast, fishing and...it was really bad luck to light a cigarette from a candle.

KATIE: I’ve heard that before, yeah.

AMANDA: Yeah, and they said because it was bad luck for the sea...anyone who was at sea. For a mariner, for a sea...for a fisherman, for...it was almost you were putting their life at risk by doing that, and I don’t know where that comes from, but...

TOM: Well superstitions as a...as a...you know as a thing, comes from erm, us trying to control our environment I think, you know...anthropologically and...

KATIE: But it’s funny how, from country to country there are some very similar things.

AMANDA: Mmm.

TOM: What...what were they in Thailand? I can’t think of any particular ones...but like...touching people’s heads, you can’t touch people’s heads.



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KATIE: But that’s not bad luck...

TOM: Does that count as a superstition?

KATIE: No. That’s just a...

TOM: Disrespect.

AMANDA: Disrespect.

KATIE: That’s a sort of religious as...well, a Buddhist aspect. But I mean, for example if you talk about black cats...almost every country has something about black cats...

AMANDA: Yeah.

KATIE: And in England it’s if a black cat walks across your path, it’s good luck, but in lots of countries it’s the opposite.

AMANDA: Here it’s bad luck.

KATIE: Oh really?

AMANDA: Yeah here in Spain it’s bad luck.

TOM: What about magpies?

KATIE: Yeah.

TOM: I have to say...If I see a magpie, it’s crazy, it drives me mad, but I always say, hello Mr Magpie.

AMANDA: (laughter)

KATIE: Yes, I do.

TOM: And then there’s that little rhyme, one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy.

KATIE: Yeah.

TOM: And...yeah I always hate it if it’s like, four...for me or something, or if it’s one for sorrow, so if it’s...if I see one magpie, I always have to say hello Mr Magpie to cancel...

KATIE: The bad luck.

TOM: ...the bad luck, that comes from...seeing one.

AMANDA: Yeah.



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How many cigarette superstitions were there? Two. Lighting three cigarettes from the same match, and lighting a cigarette from a candle.

How many animal superstitions were there? Two. Black cats and magpies.

Listening Task 3 The conversation continues.

• This time as you listen, try to hear if these things are lucky or unlucky.

spilling salt

finding a four leaved clover

a money spider on your hand

the number four in China

KATIE: Yeah. I always, if I spill8

AMANDA: Ahh.

salt...I always throw a little bit over my left shoulder...

KATIE: Can’t help it.

TOM: I’ve never done that.

AMANDA: That’s for the devil isn’t?

KATIE: Yeah. Because it’s bad luck to spill salt, so you have to throw it over...

AMANDA: And it’ll be in the devil’s eye.

KATIE: Yeah.

TOM: See, I’ve read these things and they’ve been incorporated into stories...

KATIE: Yeah.

AMANDA: ...or...yeah, it’s subliminal9, because I don’t even know where I know this stuff, so, it’s definitely come from some kind of story as a child or...



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KATIE: Things like erm finding a four leafed clover10

AMANDA: Yeah.

.

TOM: Oh yeah. I found one once.

KATIE: Did you?

TOM: Yeah I couldn’t believe it...I looked for about...

KATIE: And were you lucky afterwards?

TOM: ...five years, when I was a child, I was looking and looking and one day I actually found one, I couldn’t believe it and then I didn’t look any more...

AMANDA: What about the eyelash11

KATIE: Mmm.

as well? They say that if you have an eyelash then you should take...like if your eyelash comes out and then you find it, you should blow it and make a wish.

TOM: I didn’t know that one.

AMANDA: And there are the little spiders. You get a little spider that comes across your hand...

TOM: Money spiders. Money spiders, yeah.

KATIE: Yeah.

TOM: Yeah, you never kill a money spider, or you’ll never, have money.

AMANDA: When I was working with erm, regattas and boats and sailing...sailors are really, really superstitious...

TOM: The most superstitious, definitely.

KATIE: Yeah.

AMANDA: ...and the French...have this very funny...erm...their what’s the word? Erm...they won’t have anything to do with a rabbit on board, the boat. They have this thing about rabbits, and erm, there was one of the stories, with one of the teams that was in the race, the around the world race...where the...one of the wives of the...the crew had put Easter bunny, chocolate bunnies...in the sacks of food as a surprise for the sailors, and of course you can imagine after two weeks of sailing on the boat, some chocolate, was just like the most...ah yeah, fantastic, chocolate. And there was a French guy on board and I think the guy that was in charge of the food, like brought out these...

KATIE: Chocolate rabbits.



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AMANDA: ...chocolate rabbits, chocolate bunnies out of the sack...and the French guy, just immediately got the whole lot and just chucked them overboard. (laughter)

KATIE: No way!

TOM: What?!

AMANDA: Yeah. (laughter) And all of the guys were like, what have you done?! That was our chocolate stash for the trip.

KATIE: Good grief!

TOM: That’s a bit extreme.

AMANDA: Completely, completely...off the...

TOM: I know sailors are...there was another one and I’ve been trying to think of it, and I can’t remember it exactly, but there was one...country...erm, that...they won’t let, a national, a woman from the other country on their boat, and it was something like Estonia or Latvia, I can’t remember it, unfortunately...

AMANDA: Yes. I’ve read this too.

TOM: ...but we’ll look it up. But, they won’t let...somebody else from the other nationality on their boat, through superstition.

KATIE: Mmm.

TOM: You know, they can’t...they won’t sail a boat, with...with somebody from this country, I wish I could remember. But you know, they’re very powerful, basically they’re incredibly...

AMANDA: Yeah.

TOM: ...powerful, and you know, they govern...economies sometimes, I think. And what about the one with the buildings as well, where they won’t build a thirteenth floor, on skyscrapers...

AMANDA: Yeah.

KATIE: But that’s all numbers isn’t it? And again, numbers depends on what country because...

AMANDA: And China, what’s the...

KATIE: Four in China.

AMANDA: Four that’s right yeah.

TOM: What four is bad luck?

KATIE: Four’s bad luck...because the word for four sounds...almost identical for the word for death.



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AMANDA: Ahh.

KATIE: So, they have the same attitude to four...

AMANDA: And eight is lucky...is that right, in China?

KATIE: I don’t know...I don’t know, I think eight or nine, I’m not sure.

AMANDA: OK. Yeah.

KATIE: But you know, all of these things, we...

TOM: Yeah, I think six has become...

KATIE: Well, if you pick your lottery numbers, people often pick them with their lucky numbers or...

AMANDA: Yeah, yeah.

TOM: No we’re very superstitious I think. Humans are very, very superstitious...


So were these things lucky or unlucky?

spilling salt - unlucky.

finding a four leaved clover - lucky.

a money spider on your hand - lucky.

the number four in China - unlucky.

Summary Well done, some of that was a bit difficult, but you will have really helped your listening skills there.



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Extra Materials

Listening

If you want to practise your listening skills even more, here are some extra questions for you. The answers are at the end of this document. If you get any wrong, you can look at the transcript to check why.

Answer true or false

Listening 1

Amanda walks under ladders now.

Amanda looks at a page of the same book every morning.

Thomas thinks superstitions are crazy.

Listening 2

Lighting cigarettes with a match was bad luck because there weren’t many matches.

In Andalucía it’s bad luck to light a cigarette from a candle.

To see one magpie is bad luck.

Listening 3

French sailors don’t like chocolate.

The number four sounds the same as the word death in Chinese.

Vocabulary – Getting the meaning from context

When you listen to natural speech, there are lots of spoken expressions you can learn. Here we’ve taken some of the most interesting ones from the conversations. Complete the following exercises, which will help you learn and remember these words and expressions.

Look at the words or phrases in bold and try and guess what they mean. Choose the best answer a), b) or c).

1 ...sometimes there’s a part of my brain that’s saying, this is complete...trash,

a) information



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b) rubbish

c) lies

2 ...and then freaking out.

a) getting scared and panicked

b) being calm and quiet

c) getting angry

3. ...that...erm...thing that’s been drummed into me,

a) shouted so you don’t forget it

b) explained

c) repeated many times so you don’t forget it

4. ...when you have a toast with various glasses,

a) lifting drinks to each other

b) eating bread

c) a song

5. ...and the French guy, just immediately got the whole lot and just chucked them overboard.

a) informal - threw

b) informal - ate

c) very formal threw

6. That was our chocolate stash for the trip.

a) a large amount of something



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b) a tiny amount of something

c) an amount of something that was hidden for later



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Extra Materials - Answers

Listening

Listening 1 Amanda walks under ladders now. True. She tries to make herself because she knows superstition is stupid. Amanda looks at a page of the same book every morning. True. She doesn’t know if this is a superstition or a habit. Thomas thinks superstitions are crazy. True. He says they are mad. Listening 2 Lighting cigarettes with a match was bad luck because there weren’t many matches. False. It was because it could help the other side see you and shoot you. In Andalucía it’s bad luck to light a cigarette from a candle. False. This is bad luck in Galicia. To see one magpie is bad luck. True. Listening 3 French sailors don’t like chocolate. False. They didn’t like the chocolate because it was the shape of rabbits which they think are unlucky on boats. The number four sounds the same as the word death in Chinese. True.

Vocabulary

1.b 2. a 3. c 4. a 5. a 6. c



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Vocabulary Glossary 1 prove (verb) - demostrar

2 cracks (noun) - grietas

3 pavement (noun) – pavimento, acera

4 obsessive (adjective) - obsesivo

5 compulsive (noun - in this context) - compulsivo

6 alert (verb) - alertar

7 aim (verb) - apuntar

8 spill (verb) - derramar

9 subliminal (adjective) - subliminal

10 clover (noun) - trébol

11 eyelash (noun) - pestaña

Ingles Listening Superstitions

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Transcript of Ingles Listening Superstitions