How to Talk About Your Free Time and Hobbies in English - Spoken English Lesson

Hello, I'm Oli.

Welcome to Oxford Online English!

In this lesson, you can learn about how to talk about your free time and hobbies in English.

What do you like doing in your free time?

Do you have any interesting hobbies?

Talking about your free time is a great way to start a conversation in English, or to

find things in common when you're speaking to somebody.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to speak clearly and naturally about your

free time and your hobbies in English.

Part one: free time and hobbies vocabulary.

What words do you know for free time activities in English?

Some people prefer things you can do at home, like watching TV, reading, or cooking.

Other people like sports, like playing football, playing basketball, playing tennis, going

swimming, going jogging, or going climbing, or maybe doing boxing, doing judo, or doing

yoga.

Of course, many people prefer more social activities, for example, hanging out with

your friends, relaxing with your family, or going shopping.

Or maybe you like to do something more creative, like taking photos, painting, or writing stories

or writing a blog.

What about you?

What kind of free time activities do you prefer?

Let's look at how you can talk about free time activities and hobbies which you like.

Part two: what do you like doing?

In my free time, I like . . . What could you say here?

"In my free time, I like playing basketball."

"In my free time, I like relaxing with my family."

"In my free time, I like reading books."

Can you see a pattern here?

In every sentence, after 'like,' we use a verb plus -ing.

Can you make a sentence?

What do you like doing in your free time?

But just using 'like' can be repetitive and boring.

So what other verbs can you use?

Well, you could use verbs like 'love', 'enjoy', or 'hate'.

For example: "I love going swimming."

"I enjoy watching TV."

"I hate going shopping."

Can you see the same pattern?

After all of these verbs, you need to use a verb with -ing.

You can also add words like 'really', 'sometimes', or 'absolutely', to make your meaning stronger

or weaker.

For example: "I really like taking photos."

"Sometimes I enjoy going jogging."

"I absolutely hate playing football."

Now it's your turn.

What can you say?

Can you make your own sentences?

OK, so now you can say something about what you like or don't like doing.

Let's look at how you can add more details to your ideas.

First, let's say how often you do your free time activity.

For example: "I like playing sport.

I play football every Tuesday evening."

"I absolutely hate going shopping.

I only go shopping once or twice a year."

"I really like taking photos, but I don't get the chance to do it often."

What about you?

How often do you do your hobbies?

You can use these phrases to help you talk.

'Every . . .' For example: 'every weekend', 'every Saturday afternoon', 'every day'.

'Once or twice a . . .', for example: 'once a week', 'twice a month', 'three times a year',

and so on.

Can you make some sentences like this about your free time and hobbies?

How often do you do your hobbies?

Next, let's add some details about where you do your hobby or free time activity.

For example: "I like playing sport.

I play football every Tuesday evening at the park near my house."

"I enjoy having coffee with my friends.

We go to a cafe in the city center once or twice a week."

"I really like taking wildlife photos in the forest, but I don't get the chance to do it

often."

You can see that our answers are getting more detailed.

When you speak, you should always try to add some details to your ideas, like this.

It will make your English sound more interesting and more natural.

What about you?

Can you add some details like these to your sentences?

Pause the video.

Practice.

Try to make some sentences.

Say them out loud.

Practice a little bit.

OK.

next, let's look at giving background information, especially if you have an interesting or an

unusual hobby.

You can talk about when and why you started doing it.

For example, "I started playing tennis when I was 10."

"I've been learning to paint for six months now."

"I decided to do yoga because I wanted to be healthy."

"My French friend got me into climbing."

In the last sentence, the phrase, "My friend got me into something," means that your friend

introduced this activity to you, and now you like it.

What can you say about your hobby?

Can you use some of these phrases to talk about yourself?

For example, I started climbing when I was living in Russia.

I've been climbing for about eight years.

I also recently decided to do yoga because I wanted to be more flexible.

When I was younger, my dad got me into photography.

What about you?

What are your examples?

Finally, let's look at how you can add some descriptive words to say why you do or don't

enjoy something.

For example, "I like climbing because it's really exciting."

"I love doing yoga because it's so relaxing."

"I really like writing stories because it's creative, and I like using my imagination."

You can also use negative adjectives to talk about things you don't like.

For example, "I don't like going jogging because it's tiring."

"I hate watching TV because I find it boring."

"I've been trying to learn to paint, but it's too hard."

Why do you like your hobbies?

What are some activities you don't like doing?

Can you say why you don't like them?

Try to make some sentences and practice using this language.

OK, now it's your turn to speak.

Let's try using everything we've looked at to make a longer answer.

For example, "I really like playing tennis.

I play every weekend at the park near my house.

Sometimes I play with my brother, or sometimes with a friend.

My brother got me into it because he loves sports, and he needed someone to play with.

I didn't like it at first because it was hard, and I lost all the time.

But now, I enjoy it, especially when I beat my brother."

OK, let's do one more sample answer.

"I love taking photos.

Once or twice a month, I go to different areas of the city and look for interesting pictures

to take.

I've been interested in photography since I was young, when my dad got me a camera for

my birthday.

I like it because it's creative, and I can express myself through my pictures.

Anyone can use a camera, but you need to use your imagination to find good pictures."

Now, can you talk about your free time?

What do you like doing?

Where do you go, and how often?

When did you start doing this hobby, and why?

And, why do you like or, perhaps, dislike this activity?

Try to talk for at least 30 seconds.

Give lots of details.

Add details to make your answer more interesting.

OK, that's the end of the lesson.

Thanks very much for watching.

I hope you learned something about how to talk about your free time in English.

You can see more free lessons on our website, www.oxfordonlineenglish.com.

But that's all, thanks again.

See you next time!

Bye bye.