ADVANCED SPOKEN ENGLISH

This is episode three in our advanced spoken English series.

As you know these lessons are designed to help you take your English to the next level.

The topic of this lesson is social media.

You will hear a conversation; it's about six minutes long.
After the conversation ends we will go through the script of the conversation and I will
teach you useful vocabulary words and expressions, so let's begin.
Let’s talk about social media.
Do you use social media?
I use YouTube.
I use Facebook too but not as much.
I’ve tried Twitter in the past, but I never got the hang of it.
I’m not really big on social media generally, aside from YouTube, which I use a lot, both
for watching videos and for publishing my own like this one.
You just mentioned YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Why are these sites called social media?
Well, the key word is social.
Because these sites are all about people sharing information.
I would say that that’s the defining feature of social media.

And the term social media is used in contrast to traditional media where the viewer or the
listener is only a passive recipient; information is presented to us and we passively consume
it, and if we want to share that, if we see something on television and we want to share
that with somebody, we have to either call them up or tell them in person.

But on a site like Facebook, if you see something interesting, you can immediately engage with
it on the platform itself – you comment on it, like it, share it, and if you share
it, that gets pushed out to all your friends.
Obviously, you can’t do that with your television or a newspaper.
So social media sites are driven by people sharing information.
Why do people use social media?
I think the social element is itself the primary motivation for people.
Because it’s a basic urge for human beings to seek attention from others.
And social media takes advantage of that very well.

When we share something, say even a selfie, these algorithms are designed to push that
out to all of our contacts and generate likes and positive comments.
When that happens, we get a temporary boost of self-esteem.
But then that fades quickly, so you have to post another selfie or share something else.
That keeps us coming back; it’s a form of instant gratification.
I don’t know that that’s a good thing.
But that’s what makes social media so addictive in my opinion.
It sounds like you’re saying social media is a bad thing.
No, not necessarily.

There are advantages.

For one, it allows us to stay in touch with people in our social circle.
We can let people know about the good things that are happening in our lives.
In a world where we’re so strapped for time that we hardly ever get to meet up with friends
or relatives, social media allows us to stay in touch with them.
And it’s not uncommon to run into old friends on Facebook from way back and reconnect with
them.
And then look at what YouTube has accomplished.

For many people, it has completely replaced the television.

And more than that, I think it’s just astounding how much learning material is available free
of charge on the site, and it’s nothing short of revolutionary – you can learn anything
you want on demand, free of cost watching videos.
And of course, I make videos myself, so it helps people like me (I guess the term for
that is creators), it helps independent creators connect with their potential audience.
That would have been almost impossible before the advent of social media.
Do you think social media is good for children?
No, I don’t, and I say that with apologies to my young viewers.
I think there’s a reason why social media sites have a minimum age requirement to have
an account on their site.
Because there are inherent risks involved for children in using platforms where they
can come into contact with strangers.
When we were growing up, our parents used to tell us not to talk to strangers, but that
rule is not easy to enforce when your child can be interacting with random people on an
electronic device.

Beyond that, I think the bigger problem is that children can be exposed to unfiltered
material on social media.
See, if my child was watching television, as the parent I would know that the content
that they’re exposed to is going to be curated to some extent.
But on social media, people can say what they want, post what they want, share what they
want, and children (including teenagers) often lack the judgment to know that something is
inappropriate; that certain types of behavior or language or ways of saying things are not
acceptable in society.

So, I don’t think children ought to be using social media, honestly.

Does social media also have negative effects on society as a whole?
See, I don’t want to be seen as bashing social media here.
But, it certainly has negative effects on society that we cannot ignore.
One is that it’s often a tremendous waste of time.
The fact that social media apps are so easily accessible on mobile devices means that whenever
people are bored, they can just open up Facebook or YouTube and get their dose of instant gratification,
and they don’t have to make the effort to socialize with human beings in real life,
or pick up a book and learn something.

And then like I said before, some of the content that goes viral on social media is just not
of the positive kind; a lot of stuff that I see is offensive and obnoxious, or even
things that are plainly false.
It’s really easy to spread false information, fake news via social media.
And the lack of accountability I think also tends to bring out the worst in people sometimes.
But for all its flaws, I believe the advantages that I mentioned before certainly do outweigh
the disadvantages.
So, the important thing is to view social media as something that can add value to our
lives and to seek out positive experiences while being wary of the negatives.
OK, thank you very much.
Thank you.
OK here we are with the script of the conversation that you just heard now we're going to go
through the script and learn some useful vocabulary but before we do that you will find a link
in the description to this document you can download the document from that link when
you do you will find the complete transcript of the conversation and if you scroll down
you will see a list of all the vocabulary items that we discuss here along with their
meanings there are a total of 30 items alright let's go back to the top and let's start discussing
the vocabulary the first item is over here I said I've tried Twitter in the past but

I never got the hang of it to get the hang of something means to learn how to do something
or to get used to something so I'm saying here that I tried Twitter but I never got
used to it I never got comfortable with it so I never got the hang of it and then I'm
not really big on social media generally not big on he's an idiom and it means that you're
not very interested in something like if I say I'm not big on classical music that means
I'm not really interested in classical music so I'm saying here that I'm not greatly interested
I'm not really into social media OK and then there was a question here why are these sites
called social media

YouTube and Facebook and so on and I said well the key word is social
the keyword means the important word in a phrase or in a term so in the term social
media I'm saying the important word is social and that's because these sites are all about
people sharing information the phrase all about it's a common expression and it's used
to indicate the focus or the most important aspect of something so social media sites
are all about people sharing information meaning that that is the focus of these websites I
would say that that's the defining feature of social media defining feature means the
most important feature that feature which gives something its definition so the defining
feature of social media is people sharing information and the term social media is used
in contrast to that is in opposition to traditional media where the listener or the viewer is
only a passive recipient the word recipient means a person who receives and passive is
the opposite of active so a passive recipient is a person who sits there and receives information
without doing anything actively and if you think about it that's how it is when we watch
television we sit there we get all that information but we don't actively engage with it and if
you see something on TV and you want to share that with somebody you have to either call
them up or tell them in person the phrase in person means being physically present face-to-face
okay not via email or not through some other indirect method now on a site like Facebook
however if you see something interesting you can immediately like it share it and so on
and then that will get pushed out to all of your friends all your friends will see it
but you can't do that with a TV or with a newspaper so social media sites are driven
by people sharing information driven by means operated by you can think about it as showing
the source of power to make something happen now if I say electric cars are driven by electricity
that means the source of electric cars is electricity so the source of power for social
media is when people share things the next question was why do people use social media
and I said it's the social element itself because it's a basic urge for human beings
to seek attention from others an urge is a strong desire especially a desire that you
cannot control so to seek attention seek attention means to act in a way that makes other people
notice us to do that is a basic urge that we all share as human beings and social media
takes advantage of that urge that we have because when we share something that might
get lots of likes and positive comments when that happens we get a temporary boost of self-esteem
self-esteem means self-respect or self-confidence so lots of people are liking or sharing your
selfie you feel good about it that's a temporary boost of self-esteem but that doesn't last
it fades quickly so you have to keep sharing things that keeps us coming back and that's
a form of instant gratification this is a popular expression that you will see in many
contexts instant gratification means immediate satisfaction but it's the kind of satisfaction
that you get from say eating something sweet or playing video games because that satisfaction
does not last it goes away quickly which is why it's not satisfying for a long period
of time so instant means immediate and gratification means satisfaction instant gratification is
immediate satisfaction okay the next item is not necessarily so the interviewer said
it sounds like you're saying social media is a bad thing I said no not necessarily meaning
that's not what I'm saying this is just a fancy expression that you can use if you take
not necessarily because there are advantages for one for one is an expression that is used
to introduce one reason for example it's like this is just one reason and I'm talking here
about an advantage the advantages it allows us to stay in touch with people in our social
circle in a world where we're so strapped for time strapped for means short of something
or not having enough of something if I say I'm strapped for cash that means I don't have
enough cash or as in this example I said we're strapped for time meaning we don't have enough
time we're so strapped for time that we hardly ever hardly ever means almost never very rarely
we hardly ever get to meet up with friends or relatives social media allows us to stay
in touch with them and it's not uncommon to run into old friends on Facebook run into
means to meet somebody unexpectedly so I'm saying that it's common to meet old friends
on Facebook from like your high school and that's what this expression means from way
back from way back means from a long time ago it's not uncommon to run into old friends
on Facebook from way back and reconnect with them and then I talked about how YouTube has
accomplished a great deal for education I said I think it's just astounding how much
learning material is available free of charge astounding means very surprising and it's
often used with victory or success somebody could have had an astounding victory or astounding
success and that's what I'm talking about here with reference to YouTube I think it's
astounding how much learning material is available free of charge and it's nothing short of revolutionary
nothing short of means almost equal so I'm saying that what YouTube has done for education
is almost equal to a revolution in the field of education you can learn almost anything
you want just watching videos on YouTube and then I said that I watch videos myself so
it helps independent creators like me connect with their potential audience that would have
been almost impossible before the advent of social media the word advent means the time
when something begins it's commonly used with technology before the advent of the internet
or before the advent of cell phones so I'm saying here that before social media came
into existence independent creators would have found it difficult to connect with their
potential audience the next question was do you think social media is good for children
and my answer was no I don't think so and one of the reasons is that there are inherent
risks involved for children in using platforms where they can come into contact with strangers
come into contact with means strangers can contact children children can contact strangers
and that's unsafe another problem perhaps the bigger problem is that children can be
exposed to unfiltered material on social media if your child was watching TV you would know
that some I would be controlling you know what kinds of TV shows or movies were shown
on a channel and that's what the word to curate means to curate means to select something
carefully okay for publication for example music or movies or TV shows a person who curates
content is called a curator by the way a person who manages a museum is also called a curator
now on social media nobody curates the content people can say or post whatever they want
and children often lack the judgment to know that something is inappropriate the word judgment
and I should point out that this spelling j-u-d-g-m-e-n-t is American with an E that's
British spelling that's used in the United Kingdom so anyway children often lack the
judgment to know that something is inappropriate here the word judgment refers to the ability
to make good decisions so I'm saying that when children watch or hear things on social
media they don't have the judgment they don't have the world experience to be able to tell
that certain behaviors or certain types of language are not appropriate that they're
not acceptable in society so that's why I say children often lack the judgment and that's
why I don't think children ought to be using social media the next question was what about
society as a whole and not just children the social media have negative effects on society
and I said I don't want to be seen as bashing social media here to bash means to criticize
harshly so I'm saying I'm not trying to criticize social media harshly and say only bad things
about it but there are negative effects and we cannot ignore them the fact that we all
have cell phones that we have YouTube and Facebook on those cell phones means that people
can just open up one of these social media apps and get their dose of instant gratification
do you remember what instant gratification means it means immediate satisfaction to get
their dose of means to get something that you need as if you're just medicine so people
can just open up a social media app and browse and get some instant gratification and then
move on so because of that they don't have to socialize and that word you will see over
here to socialize means to spend time with other people in a fun way now hanging out
with friends or going and meeting your relatives people don't have to do that nowadays because
of social media apps they don't have to pick up a book and learn something and also there's
another disadvantage to social media a lot of the stuff that goes viral is not positive
some of it is offensive some of it is just obnoxious this word is pronounced obnoxious
and it means very unpleasant we often talk about obnoxious content or an obnoxious person
or a person's obnoxious behavior in all of these uses it means unpleasant so there's
a lot of stuff that's obnoxious or even plainly false plainly false means just simply false
fake news it's really easy to spread fake news on social media and there's a lack of
accountability accountability means responsibility for one's actions or behavior so if I'm accountable
to my boss that means I have to answer to my boss I have to explain my actions to my
boss if I do something wrong my boss might ask me to explain why I did that and he or
she would be accountable to his or her boss but on social media there's there's no accountability
and that lack of accountability tends to bring out the worst in people sometimes that means
to make people show their worst qualities okay it brings out the worst from inside of
people but for all its flaws the word flaw means a fault or a weakness or a disadvantage
so what this means is for all its flaws is a fixed expression and it means even though
something has disadvantages even though social media has flaws the advantages certainly outweigh
the disadvantages so we have to view social media as something that can add value to our
life something that can good things to our lives but we should also be wearing of the
negatives wary of means being careful or cautious in order to avoid danger so we have to be
wary of the negatives but we can always enjoy the positives that social media has to offer
alright that's the end of this lesson remember to go and download this document and I want
to encourage you to go and listen to this conversation once again rewind the video the
video go to the beginning and as you listen a lot of these words that you just heard will
jump out at you and that's a really good way to reinforce vocabulary repetition is the
best way to learn vocabulary alright I hope you enjoyed this lesson I will see you in
another lesson soon and as always happy learning
PART2

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.
okay that is the end of the conversation let's now go on and learn some useful vocabulary
from the conversation okay here we are after you've finished watching the lesson you can
go and download this document from the link in the description along with the vocabulary
that you see here the document will also contain the complete transcript of the conversation
that you heard okay number one is from time to time this expression means occasionally
here's the sentence from the conversation from time to time we do hear people say things
like I got lucky that is occasionally we hear people say these kinds of things number two
is improbable this word means not likely to happen that is the likelihood or the probability
of an event happening are very low so we don't expect it to happen we can't deny that improbable
events do happen to people in the world and as we can't deny that some events happen in
people's lives that are unexpected okay number three is miraculous miraculous means very
surprising like a miracle a miracle is basically an act of God the sentence is when someone
miraculously survives a car accident that should have been fatal fatal means that that
person could have died in the accident so their escape to us seems miraculous that is
as if God had intervened to save that person from dying in the accident number four is
mope around this is an idiom and it means to waste time doing nothing due to being depressed
or unhappy in the conversation we saw the sentence in the context of a student who thought
that he or she was going to fail an exam you might see the moping around for a while thinking
about it that is because they fear that they're going to fail the exam that student is seen
moping around that is they appear depressed lacking energy not being interested in anything
okay let's move on to number five number five is take off now in this use take off is not
related to airplanes it means to suddenly become very successful someone starts up a
small business and then that takes off that is that business becomes very successful and
makes that person rich beyond their wildest dreams beyond their wildest dreams is number
six and it means to succeed in an unexpected way that is we're saying that that small business
in an unexpected way becomes successful that as it takes off and makes that person rich
in a way that even that person may not have imagined or dreamt that's why it makes that
person rich beyond their wildest dreams okay number seven is dodged a bullet dodged a bullet
means to narrowly escape a dangerous situation think of this idiom like what you might see
in an action movie where a bad guy shoots a gun at a hero but then the hero moves away
you know just in time to avoid getting hit with that bullet the example or the sentence
from the conversation is these these meaning lucky events right these can be the getting
rich overnight variety that's one kind of lucky event or they can be the few I dodged
a bullet there kind of experience that is the kind of experience where someone manages
to narrowly avoid some negative results okay number eight is to have a hand in this means
to be involved in creating something when an event happens that seems improbable to
say that something supernatural must have had a hand in bringing that about to bring
something about means to cause something so we're saying here that one way of defining
luck is to say that something supernatural must have been involved in that's what we
mean by had a hand I should make this bold as well so to say that something supernatural
must have had a hand in bringing that about must have been involved in causing that to
happen okay number nine is judgmental and you see that there are two spellings here
of judgmental one with an E between the G and the M and one without that E this is the
American spelling this is the one with the E is the British spelling the word judgmental
means criticizing people unnecessarily or too quickly not that I'm being judgmental
of people that believe in Lucky Charms I'm saying I'm only expressing my own preference
I'm not being critical I'm not criticizing people who believe in them okay number ten
is make the most of to make the most of something means to use something as much as possible
when opportunities do come to you you need to have put in the work ahead of time and
ahead of time means in advance so you need to put in the work in advance to be in a position
where you can make the most of those opportunities where you can use the opportunities that come
to you as much as possible okay number eleven is count on to count on means to depend on
or 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 that is I don't want to rely on
something like luck which I can't control instead I want to rely on my own effort and
my own hard work number twelve is by virtue of by virtue of means as a result of businessman
or sports people who we know must have gotten to where they are that is we know that most
of these people are in the place that they are are as successful as they are by virtue
of their own hard work and dedication that is as a result of their own hard work and
dedication rather than luck okay number thirteen is pretty much pretty much means almost entirely
and pretty much any sport whether it's an individual or team sport and I went on to
say that it's the better prepared side that usually comes out victorious so what I'm saying
is in almost any sport it's the better prepared side that wins okay number fourteen is as
a matter of course as a matter of course means as part of a routine or normal procedure the
question in the conversation was why sports people tend to be superstitious and the answer
is most likely because they must have done something once as a matter of course just
as part of their routine without really thinking about it prior to a game and then subsequently
had a good performance all right on to our last three items number 16 is frame of my
this means mood or mindset if an athlete gets into the habit of doing a particular ritual
before every match or game and that can help them to get in the right frame of mind that
is that can help them to get in the right mood or mindset to go out there and perform
to the best of their ability number 17 is capricious capricious capricious means changing
one's mind often and unexpectedly a person who is capricious is unpredictable the goddess
of luck can be capricious that is the goddess of luck is unpredictable
we cannot say when she will knock on our door when she will grace us with her blessing so my idea
there was
we shouldn't rely on luck instead we should focus on our own hard work the word the expression
capitalized on means to use a situation for your benefit and that that here means effort
and hard work and preparedness that is what allows us to capitalize on the opportunities
that life brings us it's by way of being prepared that we are able to use our opportunities
to improve our lot in life okay that brings us to the end of this lesson I suggest that
you now go back and re-listen to that conversation because now you will notice all of this vocabulary
that you've now learned when it comes up in the conversation your ears will perk up and
notice them and you'll also see that there are more words and phrases that are underlined
that I have I have not covered here beyond these 18 items and so I invite you to go and
if there's anything any words or phrases that you come across in the conversation that you
don't understand go and google them go look them up in a dictionary that will really help
you to maximize the amount of learning that you get from this lesson alright if you like
this video give it a thumbs up by hitting the like button also remember to subscribe
to this channel if you haven't done so already as always happy learning I will see you in
the next advanced spoken English soon
English
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