Episode 0273

Hello everyone and welcome to English pod. My name is Marco.

My name is Catherine and we're talking about the stars today.

That's right. Today we're going to talk about a very popular subject. Many people believe in the horoscope.

So horoscope is basically a system, a very old system of determining your future and describing your personality. And so it all depends on when you were born and where you were born. So what stars were in the sky when you were born?

That's right. So basically as many of you may know, there are 12 uh there are 12 signs and uh we're going to talk about a couple of them and uh a little bit more about horoscopes and this uh I don't know, I guess it's kind of like a a branch of uh science or

Pseudo science. Yeah, I don't think there's much testing that's going on, but it's definitely something that a lot of people believe in.

So let's take a listen to today's dialogue and we'll be back in a moment to talk more about it.

Hey Lydia, what are you reading?

What are you talking about? Let me see that. What are horoscopes?

It's a prediction of your month based on your zodiac sign. You have a different sign for the month and date you were born in. I was born on April 15th, so I'm an Aries.

When were you born?

January 5th. Let's see. You're a Capricorn. It says that you'll be feeling stress at work, but you could see new exciting developments in your love life.

No, it's not. Your astrology sign can tell you a lot about your personality. See, it says that an Aries is energetic and loves to socialize.

Well, you certainly match those criteria, but they're so broad they could apply to anyone. What does it say about me?

All right, we're back. So a very interesting dialogue between these two girls talking about one of them believing in the horoscope and the other one doesn't. But uh they mentioned a lot of interesting things. So we're going to have two language takeaways today. Let's start with language takeaway part one.

All right, so one of the most common things you'll hear when we talk about the horoscope in English is an outlook. And an outlook is can be positive or negative. So what exactly is an outlook?

Well, if you notice Lydia said, my outlook is very positive. So basically she's talking about her future.

Right, so the way that she sees the future or the way that the horoscope talks about the future is a positive one. So you could say, uh, you know those, you know those eight balls, they're black and they have like a message and you shake it and it gives you a message.

You ask a question, I think something. Yes, a question. And it says outlook positive.

That's right. Outlook negative. So that means in your near future, things will either be positive or negative.

Mhm. So uh I guess you can apply it, for example, to a company. You say that uh a company has a positive outlook.

Or even a person. You know, he's very positive person so he has a positive outlook. He thinks good things are going to happen.

Okay. Very good. So uh talking about horoscopes, obviously we must mention the 12 zodiac signs.

Okay, so each month has its own sign and they're not exactly the months, they're a little bit different, but um each sign is uh kind of an animal or a symbol.

That's right. So for example, a lot of uh August is part of the Leo sign in in English. So that's the lion. So the lion is the animal, the zodiac.

Mhm. So the the zodiac uh sign is one of these signs, like Leo is one of the zodiac signs. And I guess the all 12 signs are considered the zodiac or the horoscope.

Exactly. And you can actually talk about the zodiac in terms of other cultures. There is a Chinese zodiac.

Mhm. So we could say it's the year of the horse.

But that's a little bit different from what we're talking about here with the Western horoscope.

That's right. Okay, very good. So all of this actually comes down to the uh as we say, the pseudoscience or or or the branch uh called astrology.

Astrology. So this is a very hard word for some people to remember because they want to say astronomy. But it's different. Astronomy is the scientific study of the skies, the stars, uh, planets, things like that.

Astrology is different. It's it's what we're talking about here, the horoscope. And uh reading the stars to understand what our personal futures will hold for us.

That's right. So astronomy is uh an exact science, part of I guess uh physics, where you talk about the stars or the composition of the stars and their movements, whereas in astrology, we're talking about zodiacs and horoscopes and uh basically what star was in the sky when you were born, but in a different way. It's not very scientific.

That's right. So astrology is uh is is normally what you would see in the the newspaper when you're trying to find your horoscope, astrology or horoscope.

Mhm. And actually, every time you read the newspaper, uh if you look up your zodiac sign, it makes a prediction about your day or your week or maybe even sometimes the month or year.

That's right. And so a prediction is basically a guess about what will happen for you.

That's right. So many times you see that uh the horoscope will say uh uh finances are in trouble, be careful with how you spend your money. So they're making a prediction that in the future maybe you're going to have money problems, so you have to be careful.

Exactly, or in the dialogue you will have a passionate summer fling. This is a prediction. It has not yet happened. It will happen. Maybe.

That's right. That's right. A prediction. So now talking a little bit more about the zodiac signs that we saw in the dialogue, we mentioned two, Aries and Capricorn.

So a lot of people who believe in in astrology say that uh astrological signs are broken up, they're divided into different kinds of sign. We have water signs, air signs, Earth signs, and fire signs. So one of the famous fire signs is uh Aries, right?

Mhm. Mhm. Aries.

It's like the God of War in the Greek mythology.

That's right. And uh so it's pronounced Aries. Aries.

A R I E S. Aries. That's right.

And the other one is a Capricorn.

Capricorn. So that's like a goat.

Yeah, it's kind of like a ram.

A ram. Like an earth sign.

That's right. So there are uh 12, these are just two of them and obviously there are a lot more. I guess uh off the top of my head we have Taurus.

Uh or Leo. Um there's also there's also a Scorpio.

Sagittarius.

Sagittarius.

Gemini.

Gemini, which are like twins, twin people. Uh there's Pisces.

Virgo.

And Virgo the Virgin, and I don't know if we're missing anything.

I can't think now. We'll have to have to talk about it at the very end of today's lesson, but we actually have some interesting things to talk about in a minute here. Uh we have to talk about the personality characteristics that are common when you're talking about different zodiac signs.

Mhm. Okay, so before we get to that, let's listen to our dialogue again.

Hey Lydia, what are you reading?

What are you talking about? Let me see that. What are horoscopes?

It's a prediction of your month based on your zodiac sign. You have a different sign for the month and date you were born in. I was born on April 15th, so I'm an Aries.

When were you born?

January 5th. Let's see. You're a Capricorn. It says that you'll be feeling stress at work, but you could see new exciting developments in your love life.

No, it's not. Your astrology sign can tell you a lot about your personality. See, it says that an Aries is energetic and loves to socialize.

Well, you certainly match those criteria, but they're so broad they could apply to anyone. What does it say about me?

All right, we're back. So now let's take a look at these personality traits on language takeaway part two.

All right, so one of the great words that we heard in today's dialogue was exotic. Okay? And this is not necessarily describing a person, but usually things, um or clothes or places. And in this in this instance, it was someplace exotic. So What's an exotic place?

That's right. Um it's basically a place that's very unique and uh I guess it's kind of of not common to go there or to find, for example, many people talk about an exotic getaway going to the jungle because it's so exotic. You have so many strange animals and plants and everything is so unfamiliar.

Right. So in my mind, Tahiti is very exotic. All right? It's full of jungle and there's also beaches and it's very unusual for someone who's from America because it's just so far away.

That's right. Exotic. So uh someone can also be have an exotic personality because maybe they're they're a little bit strange or not strange, but not so common, maybe unique.

Yeah, although exotic is usually kind of a sexy thing when you're talking about people.

That's right. You know, she looks very exotic. That means she doesn't look like everybody else here.

That's right. But another adjective to describe someone's personality is somebody that's very energetic.

All right, so energetic sounds like the word energy. That's because they're they're related. So someone who's energetic has lots of energy. He or she, you know, likes to do a lot of things and wants to always go places and, you know, you know the energetic person at your office, they they always drink coffee.

That's right. And actually, a person that's energetic usually also loves to socialize.

That's right. So loves to means they like to, but they like it a lot, right? But to socialize means to talk to other people or to go to parties or to to meet new people.

So if uh it's a verb to socialize means to talk to people, to meet people, to greet people. You love to to have contact with other people.

So, yeah, you're right. Very, very common for people who are energetic.

Okay. And what about someone that's practical? What is that like?

Someone who's practical does a lot of things. Maybe someone who's practical always uh comes to to their activities prepared. You know, so in my car, I'm very practical. I have extra water and a spare tire. Uh but you can also say, you know, I'm gonna, um I'm I'm a very practical person. I like to do things that I can achieve as opposed to someone who always wants to do things that they can't really achieve.

Okay. So a practical person is usually very realistic and um very down to earth. Maybe someone that's practical, if they're going on a trip, they'll only take what's necessary, not more than they need.

Yeah, exactly. Let me give you a good example. I like to go hiking. And sometimes I see women who have not made very practical decisions about the shoes they wear. So I like to wear hiking boots. These are very practical. Wearing high heels on a mountain is not very practical.

That's right. Okay. Very good. Now, we also mentioned that a Capricorn is serious-minded and conventional in many ways.

Someone who's serious-minded maybe doesn't like to have fun and uh go out and do things that are silly. Someone who's serious-minded, you know, is is usually very practical, I think, and really has a has a goal, wants to achieve that goal, you know, no time to be silly, no time to make jokes.

So it doesn't necessarily mean that the person is boring, but they're they're just very, as you say, practical.

Mhm. That's right. And what about that uh a Capricorn also likes to do things in conventional ways?

All right, so conventional means doing something in a conventional way means that you're doing it in a traditional way. So, um this is a thing we've always done. We've always done it in this way and I'm going to continue to do it in this way.

Okay.

So the opposite is unconventional. That means doing things in new ways, doing things uh with your imagination. And so something that's very conventional is something that, you know, has been established and we're just going to continue doing it that way.

So for example, someone that gets married in a church is the conventional way, but someone that gets married while skydiving is very unconventional.

That's right. Unconventional. Absolutely.

Okay. Very good. So a lot of great vocab here. Why don't we listen to our dialogue one last time and we'll be back to talk with you a little more.

Hey Lydia, what are you reading?

What are you talking about? Let me see that. What are horoscopes?

It's a prediction of your month based on your zodiac sign. You have a different sign for the month and date you were born in. I was born on April 15th, so I'm an Aries.

When were you born?

January 5th. Let's see. You're a Capricorn. It says that you'll be feeling stress at work, but you could see new exciting developments in your love life.

No, it's not. Your astrology sign can tell you a lot about your personality. See, it says that an Aries is energetic and loves to socialize.

Well, you certainly match those criteria, but they're so broad they could apply to anyone. What does it say about me?

All right, so talk about the horoscopes. Which sign are you?

Um, I'm a Leo, which is actually, I don't believe in the horoscope, but I have to say, every time someone tells me about Leos, Leo the Lion, right? Uh, I agree with most of their descriptions of my personality. So, uh outspoken.

Mhm. Loves to socialize.

Okay. Very opinionated, which means I have an opinion and I don't like to listen to other people. Loves to argue, very loud. So uh these are all qualities that I think I have and some of them are bad, some of them are good, but you know, it's the way it is.

So, um, but you don't really believe in in the what magazines or newspapers say about your your your outlook.

Nah, I don't yeah, the predictions are usually just basic guesses. Uh but what about you? What's what's your sign?

Uh I am a Taurus. So I was born in May.

A bull.

A bull, yes. So I'm very stubborn and uh very strong.

Ah, I don't really know what all the characteristics about uh the Taurus are.

Opinionated?

Opinionated. I know there's stubborn. Yeah.

Loves to argue. Doesn't like to be corrected.

All right. So it's actually very interesting, I think uh in many ways sometimes the glove does fit and uh someone's zodiac sign describes them very well, but again, maybe like the dialogue says that they're very broad descriptions that basically any person can relate to.

Absolutely. I think that that's that's one of the tricks to horoscopes or to to predicting someone's future. You tell them enough very vague things that maybe some of them will fit and some of them won't.

Uh but I'm very curious to hear about you guys. What are uh what are your signs? Uh we usually say, what's what's your sign? That means what's your zodiac sign?

That's right. That's actually also a very common uh date question. People say, oh, what's your sign?

Right. So let us know. We're not trying to pick you up, we're just curious. Uh you'll find a lot of the words for the zodiac in today's lesson on our website englishpod.com.

All right, we'll see you guys there. Bye. Bye.

The English Pod audio review.

Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.

Future predictions based on a person's birth.

Horoscope.

Forecast. The way a person thinks about things.

Outlook.

Short romantic relationship, a romantic encounter.

Fling.

The first sign of the zodiac.

Aries.

The 10th sign of the zodiac.

Capricorn.

12 imaginary areas in the sky.

Zodiac.

The study of how the position of the stars affect our being.

Astrology.

The first sign of the zodiac.

Aries.

12 imaginary areas in the sky.

Zodiac.

The study of how the position of the stars affect our being.

Astrology.

Forecast. The way a person thinks about things.

Outlook.

Short romantic relationship, a romantic encounter.

Fling.

The 10th sign of the zodiac.

Capricorn.

Future predictions based on a person's birth.

Horoscope.

Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.

Outlook.

Even though the economy is not very strong right now, the country's outlook is still very positive.

Outlook.

She is fun to be around because she has a positive outlook on life.

Outlook.

The long-term outlook for this company is not very bright.

It's hard to make an accurate prediction of how the World Cup will end.

I made a prediction that it would rain today, and sure enough, it's raining.

The economist made an accurate prediction about the economy.

She keeps on complaining about her non-existent love life.

It's so hard to find a good hairdresser in this city. They're practically non-existent.

Some people believe ghosts are non-existent, but I saw one last night.

Anna is pretty, tall, and skinny. She matches all the criteria to be a fashion model.

What are the criteria for selecting potential presidential candidates?

He gave me a list of criteria for the assignment.

I don't like to do things in conventional ways. I like to do things my own way.

Until I began to write mystery stories, I had a pretty conventional job at an accounting firm.

If the conventional method doesn't work, maybe it's time we started brainstorming new ways to solve the problem.