A19 – Hobbies and Leisure
Vlastnosti
| predmet | Anglický jazyk |
| typ | maturitná téma |
| okruh | anglický jazyk |
| číslo | 19 |
| stav | vypracované |
Talk about leisure activities in general, your own free time, the after-school activities at your school, and men's and women's hobbies.
1. Osnova témy
- What a hobby is and why people have hobbies.
- Active and passive ways of spending free time.
- Kinds of hobbies — collecting, sport, music, art, handicrafts, pets.
- Leisure activities in summer and in winter.
- Your own free time and your own hobbies.
- After-school and extracurricular activities at your school.
- Men's, women's and children's hobbies, and how they differ.
- How much free time people really have today.
2. Kľúčová slovná zásoba
- general: free time, spare time, leisure (voľno), pastime (záľuba), hobby, interest, likes and dislikes, to be keen on, to be into something, to be good at
- why we have hobbies: to have fun, to relax, to develop a talent, to stay fit, to make new friendships, to be in the company of others, to find a balance in life, to complement work or study
- types of hobby: individual or practised in groups, creative, life-long, traditional, unusual, time-consuming (časovo náročný), expensive
- collecting: stamps, coins, postcards, badges (odznaky), stickers, model cars, comic books
- handicrafts: knitting (pletenie), sewing (šitie), embroidering (vyšívanie), pottery (hrnčiarstvo), woodwork
- sport: jogging, cycling, hiking (turistika), rock climbing, swimming, skating, skiing, snowboarding, roller skating, scuba diving (potápanie), rowing (veslovanie), bodybuilding, yoga
- games: chess (šach), card games, board games, dice games, word games, computer games, gaming
- music and art: to play a musical instrument — the piano, the guitar, the violin (husle), the drums, the flute; choir singing, painting, drawing, photography, acting, composing, going to galleries
- around the house: gardening (záhradkárčenie), house maintenance, DIY (domáci majster), car repair, cookery, baking (pečenie)
- pets: to keep pets, horse riding, walking the dog, feeding, cleaning an aquarium, fishing (rybárčenie)
- outdoors: to go for a walk, to go hiking, to pick mushrooms (zbierať huby), camping, a barbecue, a trip
- passive leisure: to watch TV, to binge-watch a series, to surf the internet, to read, to do crosswords, to listen to music, to do nothing at all
- at school: extracurricular activities, school club, drama club, chess club, school orchestra, sports team, leisure centre, course instructor
3. Užitočné frázy a väzby
- A hobby is an activity you do for pleasure and relaxation, not as your main occupation.
- We can spend our free time either actively or passively.
- People have hobbies because they need a balance between work and rest.
- What I enjoy most in my free time is…
- I have been interested in… since I was about twelve.
- I usually do it at weekends, because during the week I simply have no time.
- Some hobbies are quite expensive, others cost almost nothing.
- Hobbies also depend on the season — in winter we do completely different things.
- Our school offers a number of extracurricular activities.
- It is often said that men and women have different hobbies, but I think that is changing.
- All in all, everybody should have at least one hobby.
4. Modelová odpoveď
A hobby is an activity or an interest that we pursue for pleasure and relaxation, not as our main occupation. People have hobbies for a lot of good reasons. They want to relax after work or school, to have fun, to develop a talent, to stay fit and healthy, and to meet other people who share the same interests. A hobby also gives you a sense of achievement — it is nice to be really good at something. For young people especially, a hobby is important because it fills their time with something meaningful and keeps them away from bad company, alcohol or drugs.
We can spend our free time actively or passively. Active leisure means doing sport, working in the garden, hiking, playing a musical instrument or making something with your hands. Passive leisure means watching television, reading, listening to music, playing computer games or simply doing nothing. Both are necessary — the problem starts only when the passive part takes over completely.
There are a great many kinds of hobbies. Some people collect things: stamps, coins, postcards, badges or model cars. Others prefer handicrafts such as knitting, sewing, embroidering or pottery. Sport is probably the most common hobby of all — jogging, cycling, swimming, hiking, climbing or team games. Many people play a musical instrument, sing in a choir, paint, draw or take photographs. There are hobbies around the house too: gardening, cooking, baking, car repair and DIY. And a lot of people keep pets, which is not only a pleasure but also a responsibility — a dog has to be walked every single day.
What we do also depends on the season. In summer we can go cycling, swimming, hiking in the mountains, pick mushrooms in the forest, work in the garden, go to open-air concerts or simply sit outside with friends. In winter we go skiing, snowboarding or skating, we spend more time indoors, and this is the time for reading, board games, cooking or playing an instrument.
Our school also offers extracurricular activities. There are sports teams, a computer club, and various courses and clubs that students can join after lessons. I think it is a pity that more students do not use them.
It used to be said that men and women have quite different hobbies — men doing DIY, repairing cars and watching football, women knitting, cooking and gardening. Honestly, I think that division is disappearing. Today plenty of women play sport and drive rally cars, and plenty of men cook or bake, and nobody finds it strange.
As for me, my main interests are sport and computers. I play football with my friends after school, and in winter I go skiing whenever there is snow. Most of my free time, though, goes into computers — I like programming and I read about technology. I also listen to music a lot. The problem is that in my final year I have far less free time than I used to, because I am preparing for the maturita. I am rather looking forward to the summer.
5. Otázky na diskusiu
- Why do people practise hobbies?
- What is the difference between active and passive leisure?
- Which hobbies are common among your friends?
- Which hobbies did you have as a child, and have they changed?
- How do you spend a typical weekend?
- How do leisure activities differ between summer and winter?
- What extracurricular activities does your school offer?
- Do you think men and women have different hobbies?
- Are some hobbies too expensive to be fair to everybody?
- Do people today have more or less free time than their grandparents did?
6. Zhrnutie na ústnu odpoveď
- Definícia: an activity done for pleasure, not as your main occupation.
- Prečo: relax, fun, develop a talent, stay fit, meet people, keep young people out of trouble.
- Aktívne × pasívne: sport, gardening, music, handicrafts vs. TV, reading, gaming, doing nothing.
- Druhy: collecting · handicrafts · sport · music and art · around the house · pets.
- Podľa ročného obdobia: summer — cycling, hiking, mushrooms, open air · winter — skiing, skating, indoor hobbies.
- V škole: extracurricular clubs, sports teams, courses.
- Muži × ženy: the traditional division is disappearing.
- Ja: two or three real hobbies, how often, and the honest note that the final year leaves little time.
Pri hudobných nástrojoch sa vždy používa určitý člen: to play the guitar, to play the piano. Pri športoch naopak žiadny člen nie je: to play football, to play tennis. Je to malá vec, ale komisia ju zaručene počuje — a je to jedna z mála gramatických drobností, ktorú sa oplatí naučiť naspamäť.
Súvisiace poznámky
- A03 – Sport and Games — šport ako najčastejšia záľuba
- A17 – Young People — ako trávia voľný čas mladí
- A02 – Culture and the Arts — kultúra vo voľnom čase
- A24 – Books and Reading — čítanie ako záľuba
- Anglické ekvivalenty — slovná zásoba a termíny po anglicky
Kontrolné otázky
Why do people practise hobbies?
To relax, have fun, meet people, learn new skills and forget about stress.
What is the difference between active and passive leisure?
Active means doing something – sport, playing music, building things. Passive means watching TV, scrolling or listening to music.
Which hobbies are common among your friends?
Computer games, football, the gym, cycling, music and programming.
Which hobbies did you have as a child, and have they changed?
I played with Lego and football. Now I build computers and work on my own IT projects – Lego changed into technology.
How do you spend a typical weekend?
I sleep longer, meet friends, do some sport, help at home and sometimes go on a trip with my family.
How do leisure activities differ between summer and winter?
In summer people swim, cycle and travel; in winter they ski, skate or stay inside reading and watching films.
What extracurricular activities does your school offer?
Clubs like robotics, programming, sports and preparation for competitions.
Do you think men and women have different hobbies?
Sometimes, because of tradition, but today anybody can do any hobby.
Are some hobbies too expensive to be fair to everybody?
Yes, for example skiing, horse riding or golf. But there are many cheap hobbies too, like running or reading.
Do people today have more or less free time than their grandparents did?
Officially more, because of shorter working hours, but we feel we have less because we are always online and busy.