English Lesson (Listening): "Competitiveness" B2 (Version 1)

Vocabulary
A. push: motivate, encourage [French: motiver / pousser] My parents always push me to finish my homework before dinner.

B. build up: develop, strengthen, improve gradually [French: développer / renforcer] She built up her confidence by speaking English a little every day.

C. hit the books (idiom): study hard [French: se mettre sérieusement au travail] I can’t go out tonight because I need to hit the books for my history test.

D. bring about: cause, produce, lead to [French: provoquer / entrainer] The new rule brought about many changes in the school.

E. speed things up: accelerate, make faster [French: accélérer / faire avancer plus vite] Let’s use a checklist to speed things up in the kitchen.

F. downsides: disadvantages [French: inconvénients / aspects négatifs] One of the downsides of living in the city is the noise.

G. come out on top (idiom): win, succeed, be the best [French: l’emporter / sortir gagnant] After many problems, the small shop finally came out on top.

H. anxiety: worry, nervousness [French: anxiété / angoisse]

I. failure: defeat, lack of success [French: échec]

J. get in the way of: hinder, block, interfere with [Fench: empêcher / faire obstacle à] His busy schedule often gets in the way of family time.

K. hold back: keep back, withhold, not share [French: retenir / ne pas divulguer] She held back her ideas at first, but later shared them and became more successful.

L. get ahead: progress, succeed, advance [French: réussir / avancer / progresser] He works hard because he wants to get ahead in life.

M. measure oneself against others: compare oneself to others, judge oneself by others [French: se comparer aux autres] It’s not healthy to always measure yourself against others online.

N. eat away: damage gradually, consume [French: ronger / miner] Doubt can slowly eat away at your happiness. / Many meetings eat away your time.

O. goes hand in hand with: be closely linked to, accompany [French: aller de pair avec] Regular exercise goes hand in hand with a healthy lifestyle

Guide Questions
1. What does the speaker say about competitiveness?
2. What are the positive aspects of competitiveness? Talk about the examples.
3. What are the negative aspects of competitiveness? Talk about the examples.
4. What does the speaker say at the end?

TRANSCRIPT

Competitiveness has both benefits and drawbacks in work and daily life. On the positive side, it can push people to build up their skills and aim higher. For example, friendly competition in a classroom can encourage students on to hit the books and manage their time better. In the workplace, competition between teams may bring about fresh ideas, speed things up when solving problems, and lead to better results overall. However, competitiveness also has its downsides. When the focus is only on coming out on top, people may struggle with stress, anxiety, or fear of failure. At work, intense competition can get in the way of cooperation, as employees may hold back information to get ahead. In personal life, constantly measuring oneself against others, such as comparing salaries or social media success, can eat away at self-confidence and damage relationships. For this reason, competitiveness works best when it goes hand in hand with cooperation and respect. (156 words)