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Lesson URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1MZBLAaFCU&list=PLmwr9polMHwuqZt7Mc2jtJMEaBtenxd8d

Advanced Spoken English Class #2 – Luck, superstition

Transcript
Hello, and welcome back. This is episode number two in our advanced spoken English series. These
lessons are designed to help you improve your listening and take your speaking skills to the next level by
teaching you advanced vocabulary and conversation phrases. Our topic for this lesson is luck and
superstition. You will listen to a conversation on this topic for about 10 minutes. You will see lots of
useful vocabulary underlined throughout the video. After the conversation ends, I will teach you the
most useful and important vocabulary from the lesson. So, let’s begin.

We’re going to talk about luck now. Do you believe in luck?

Well, that’s a tricky question. Because it depends on how you define luck. I mean, we can’t deny that
improbable events do happen to people in the world. From time to time, we do hear people say things
like “I got lucky” in response to something that happened.

What sorts of occurrences make people say that?

For example, when someone miraculously survives a car accident that should have been fatal, you might
hear that person say, “I could have died in that accident. I got lucky there!” Or, if a student takes an
exam, and they think they’re sure to fail, you might see them moping around for a while thinking about
it. But then they get their result and find out that they passed! They might say they got lucky.

So, is luck about managing to avoid something negative?

Well, that’s one side of it. The other side of that coin is obviously when something positive happens,
when someone makes a gain. Like if somebody wins the lottery, or let’s say a person starts up a small
business, and then that takes off all of a sudden and makes that person rich beyond their wildest
dreams, even if that entrepreneur him- or herself believes that all that success was a result of their own
hard work, other people looking on from the outside might say that luck must have been involved.
Because how can somebody get so rich so quickly? It must have been luck! The opposite of this is
obviously when something negative happens in the place of a positive result that was expected. Then
that person would consider themselves unlucky.

How would you define luck?

I think there are two ways to define it. One is to say that sometimes certain events happen in people´s
lives that don’t conform to our expectations. These can be the getting rich overnight variety, or they can
be the “Phew! I dodged a bullet there” kind of experience. But in either case, we’re saying that
something happened for which we don’t have an immediate explanation. And the thing that we can’t
explain we call luck. And we just leave it at that. That’s one way to define it. The other way to define it is
when an event happens that seems improbable, to say that something supernatural must have had a
hand in bringing that about. And people who believe this typically also tend to believe that they can
influence the normal course of events by doing certain things that bring them luck.
What sorts of things do they do?

A simple example is lucky charms that people carry around. You know, coins, stones, or other little
trinkets that they believe either attract good luck to them or ward off bad luck. Another example is I’m
sure you’ve seen those laughing Buddha statues that people keep in their homes. I get that some people
might keep them for decorative reasons, but there’s also the belief that if you put them in strategic
locations around your home, they will attract wealth into your home. These are some examples.

Do you have any lucky charms?

No, not really. I find them to be a little superstitious for my taste. Not that I’m being judgmental of
people that believe in them; maybe they work, maybe they don’t, I don’t know. It’s just that I personally
have a different theory as to how luck works. You know, there’s a saying that luck is what happens when
preparation meets opportunity. I always thought that saying had a nice ring to it. Because the idea that
it expresses is that when opportunities come your way, and maybe that’s something you can’t control.
Because fortune comes knocking on your door when it does. But when opportunities do come to you,
you need to have put in the work, ahead of time, to be in a position where you can make the most of
those opportunities. Otherwise, they will simply pass you by. I find this to be a much more productive
attitude in taking on life’s challenges than counting on something we can’t control like luck.

Is it always true that preparation makes us more lucky?

I’m not saying that- you know what, I think the comparative form of lucky is luckier and not more lucky.
But in any case, I’m not saying that preparation makes us luckier; just that it’s no use having all the
opportunities in the world if you’re not willing to do your part because it’s on you to do what it takes to
take advantage of your opportunities. And besides, if you buy a lottery ticket or you play a game of pure
chance like you play a slot machine, I’m not sure that there’s any amount of preparation that can do you
any good. You know, and since we’re talking about preparation, it’s quite common for a lot of successful
people like businessmen or sportspeople, who we know, must have gotten to where they are by virtue
of their own hard work and dedication; it’s quite common to hear them attribute their success in good
part to luck by saying that they happened to be in the right place at the right time to have the
opportunities that they did.

You mentioned sportspeople. Do you think luck is important in sport?

No, I don’t believe so. In fact, sports are an area where we see most clearly the importance of
preparation as opposed to luck. In pretty much any sport, whether it’s an individual or team sport, the
outcome of the contest is almost always determined by which side is the better prepared. The better
prepared player or team is the one that comes out victorious. I don’t think luck has very much to do with
it. I mean sure, it’s true some people just happen to be born gifted athletes, so maybe there’s some
element of chance involved there, but I don’t think luck has any role to play in the competitive aspect of
sport. You know, although I have heard that plenty of successful athletes are apparently highly
superstitious.

Why? What do they do?

I’ve heard that many of them have like a particular piece of clothing, like a lucky pair of shorts or socks
that they wear to every single game or match that they play. Some athletes apparently perform certain
rituals or have to eat a certain piece of food or listen to a particular song before they step out onto the
playing field every single time. And they don’t believe that they can go out and perform to the best of
their ability unless they do that thing.

Why do you think they believe that?

Well, most likely because they must have done something once as a matter of course prior to a game
and then subsequently had a good performance. So, they come to associate their success with the thing
that they did. Like if I’m an athlete and I don’t particularly listen to music as part of my preparation for a
game, but one time I just happen to listen to a certain song in the locker room, and then for whatever
reason I go out and hit it out of the park, I’m going to think that listening to the song had to have
something to do with my performance because that’s the thing that stands out. That’s the only thing I
did differently from what I usually do. So, from now on I’m going to make sure to always listen to that
lucky song before every game. And so, over time, that evolves into a ritual that the athlete just can’t do
without.

So, these are just superstitions?

Well, they are superstitions, but I wouldn’t say that they’re just superstitions. Because I do think they
can certainly serve a useful function. If an athlete gets into the habit of doing a particular ritual before
every match or game, then that can help them to get in the right frame of mind. It can help calm their
nerves by reminding them that they’re on familiar territory; there’s nothing to fear; they’ve done this
before. Even if it doesn’t do anything to contribute directly to what happens on the field, it can give
them a boost of confidence. So, it’s not useless.

OK. What can you say in conclusion?

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the goddess of luck can be capricious and that we are better
served relying on what we can control instead, and that is our own effort and application. And that is
what allows us to capitalize on the opportunities that life brings us.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.
Vocabulary

1. from time to time

 occasionally
 “From time to time, we do hear people say things like ‘I got lucky’...”

2. improbable
 not likely to happen
 “We can’t deny that improbable events do happen to people in the world.”

3. miraculous
 very surprising; like a miracle
 “When someone miraculously survives a car accident that should have been fatal…”

4. mope around
 to waste time doing nothing due to being depressed or unhappy
 “You might see them moping around for a while thinking about it.”

5. take off
 to suddenly become very successful
 “Someone starts up a small business, and then that takes off and makes that person rich
beyond their wildest dreams.”

6. beyond wildest dreams

 succeed in an unexpected way
 “Someone starts up a small business, and then that takes off and makes that person rich
beyond their wildest dreams.”

7. dodge a bullet
 narrowly escape a dangerous situation
 “These can be the getting rich overnight variety, or they can be the ‘Phew! I dodged a
bullet there’ kind of experience.”

8. have a hand in
 be involved in creating sth
 “…when an event happens that seems improbable, to say that something supernatural
must have had a hand in bringing that about.”

9. judgmental (US) / judgemental (UK)

 criticizing people unnecessarily or too quickly
 “…not that I’m being judgmental of people that believe in them [lucky charms].”
10. make the most of
 use sth as much as possible
 “When opportunities do come to you, you need to have put in the work, ahead of time,
to be in a position where you can make the most of those opportunities.”

11. count on
 to depend on; to rely on
 “I find this to be a much more productive attitude in taking on life’s challenges than
counting on something we can’t control like luck.”

12. by virtue of
 as a result of
 “…businessmen or sportspeople, who we know, must have gotten to where they are by
virtue of their own hard work and dedication…”

13. pretty much

 almost entirely
 “In pretty much any sport, whether it’s an individual or team sport…”

14. as a matter of course

 as part of a routine or normal procedure
 “Most likely because they must have done something once as a matter of course prior to
a game and then subsequently had a good performance.”

15. subsequent
 happening after sth else
 “Most likely because they must have done something once as a matter of course prior to
a game and then subsequently had a good performance.”

16. frame of mind

 mood or mindset
 “If an athlete gets into the habit of doing a particular ritual before every match or game,
then that can help them to get in the right frame of mind.”

17. capricious
 changing one’s mind often and unexpectedly; unpredictable
 “…the goddess of luck can be capricious”

18. capitalize on
 use a situation for your benefit
 “And that is what allows us to capitalize on the opportunities that life brings us.”