English Superstitions | Frau Hannah

1. English Superstition - Intro: Hello students. I'm Hannah, your English language instructor. Today's class, we will cover ten English superstitions. Five that mean bad luck, and five that mean good luck with an English culture. In today's lesson, we will also discuss the importance of cultural understanding, as well as define what a superstition is. Then there will be a project after class today. At the end of the lesson today there will be a project to help test and strengthen your understanding. You'll find it and all the details in the project and resource section below. It's in your best interests to review the slides a few times before attempting to projects. Repetition is your best friend when it comes to second language learning. As always, if there are any questions, please post them to the discussion thread. Mark questions. Question shall we are engaging in the content and help us to strengthen our understanding? So don't be afraid to ask as well. I always welcome constructive feedback. Please leave feedback in the discussion thread, marked feedback without further ado. Let's get started with today's lesson. 2. English Superstitions - Cultural Knowledge (Updated): Why is cultural knowledge important? Well, it's not enough to just learn a language. To be proficient in any language, you also need to have cultural understanding since native speakers of a given language were brought up in that culture. To communicate and properly understand native speakers, you need to understand our culture. Why is a certain word or phrase okay, to say in one context but not another. Why won't certain people speak to you? What is considered rude or polite? Without having a cultural understanding, you risk offending or misunderstanding those you communicate with through your second language. Another reason is that a lot of language is shaped by culture. Superstitions and idioms are great examples of language that makes little sense without cultural understanding. As an example for my class and English idioms. If someone responded to you by saying, When Pigs Fly, linguistically speaking, that doesn't make sense as pigs are not animals who fly. However, it is not a literal meaning we are meant to pay attention to, but rather the abstract meaning. We only find this abstract meaning by looking at the culture in which this idiom comes from. 3. English Superstitions - Defined (Updated): Before getting into our superstitions, let's first discuss what a superstition is. The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines a superstition as a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or false conception of causation. This has more of a negative undertone, I believe, superstitions where we tried to make sense of the world with the information we had available to us at the time. Whether they hold any real weight is another topic altogether. 4. English Superstitions - Our 10 Superstitions: With that covered, let's get into the ten superstitions we're discussing today, what they mean and where they come from. We'll first be discussing five English superstitions that mean bad luck. Those of which are opening an umbrella indoors, breaking a mirror, walking under a ladder. The number six, if it appears three times, and the number 13. From there, we will discuss five more English superstitions that mean good luck. Those of which are crossing your fingers. Wishing on a wishbone, knocking on wood, a rabbit foot, a four leaf clover. 5. English Superstitons - The Superstitions: Let's start with opening an umbrella indoors. The history behind the superstition dates back to ancient Egypt. Umbrellas were used as shields from the sun outdoors. Opening an umbrella indoors was considered rude to the Egyptian sun god Re. If Ray was offended, he would seek vengeance on that household. Hence, opening an umbrella indoors was believed to bring bad luck. It is still a superstition observed today in English culture, though I doubt many know the origins. Breaking a mirror. Growing up, I was told that if you broke a mirror, it would bring seven years of bad luck. Now, why is that? Greeks used to believe that these reflections revealed one soul and to break that reflection was considered so disrespectful that the gods would seek vengeance on anyone who was so careless. But they didn't believe this bad luck lasted forever. Hence, seven years. Walking under a ladder. This superstition also comes from Egypt. The shape of a triangle was believed to be a sacred shape by Egyptians. And a leaning ladder made that shape to walk under a ladder was seen as disrespectful and thought to bring bad luck to those who did it. The number six, if it appears three times, number is believed to be representative of the devil. Because of this association, the number regardless of where and when it appears, is believed to be a bad omen that would bring bad luck. Finally, the number 13. In some other cultures, the number is four, but in English culture, the unlucky number is the number 13. Why is that? One theory comes from Christianity. At the Last Supper, Judas was the disciple that betrayed Jesus. He was the 13th to sit at the table. This is another superstition linked to the devil. If the number 13 falls on a Friday, it is considered the most unlucky Friday of the year. In some years, Friday the 13th has appeared more than once. Most apartment buildings that have more than 13 floors will either skip the number 13 altogether or use a letter instead of the number. Let's move on to some more positive superstitions that are believed to bring good luck. This is when I do a lot, but I also am not sure why it's supposed to bring good luck. Let's find out together. Turns out, this one is also a biblical superstition. The symbol of the cross was seen as a very sacred symbol. To cross one's fingers was believed to represent a concentration of good spirits. However, if you cross your fingers behind your back, it does not mean good luck in English culture. That means you are lying or don't actually mean what you're saying. So it's important that if you cross your fingers for good luck, you do it in front of you. Wishing on a wishbone. A wishbone is a chest bone within a chicken or turkey. When I was a kid, my sister and I would do this during Christmas and Thanksgiving when we had turkey for dinner. Ancient Romans believed that chicken bones held good fortune, and so they had the ability to grant wishes. So, how do you make a wish on a wishbone? Each person holds either side of the wishbone, makes a wish, then pulls whoever ends up with the bigger piece of the wishbone, their wish will come true. Knocking on wood. Knocking on wood is a superstition that is believed to bring good luck. I've seen it mostly used when someone says something they hope for, such as passing an upcoming test, after which they knock on wood. One of the theories as to how this superstition came to be comes from the Celtx. They believed the trees were where, they believed the trees were where the spirits and the gods lived. If you knocked on the trees, it would wake them. So you could ask for their protection. Rabbit foot. When someone has a rabbit foot, it is considered a good luck charm. But why is that? Celtic tribes believed rabbit spent a lot of time underground, and so they were able to communicate with the spirits and gods. So by carrying a part of the animal around, it meant good luck would come to you as you had an item that was believed to have once communicated with a god. Nowadays, if you see someone carrying a rabbit foot, it is more than likely as synthetic 14 leaf clover. A four leaf clover is also considered a good luck charm. One of the theories is that Eve from Adam and Eve picked up a four leaf clover in the Garden of Eden as a souvenir. Since this item was something touched by a religious figure, it is considered a good luck charm. I remember searching through the grass at the park with friends looking for one, but three leaf clovers are much more common. Are there any overlaps with your culture superstitions? 6. English Superstitions - Project & Outro (Updated): Great job everyone. This completes today's lesson. As always, if there are any questions, please reply to the discussion thread marked questions. Question shall we are engaging in the content and help us to strengthen our understanding? So don't be afraid to ask as well. I always welcome constructive feedback. Please leave feedback on my comment, marked feedback to continue learning German and English with me. Follow me here on Skillshare. I hope to see you in my other classes. You can check those out on my YouTube and Instagram. All links will be in the description below. It was a pleasure being your teacher today. For today's project, we will continue our work on cultural knowledge in regards to English superstitions. This lesson's project has three exercises and three pages. Usually the projects come with an answer key, but this one has more open-ended questions. So please do post your finished copies.