Advanced English Listening Practice | Can YOU Understand? | Talking about Hobbies (with Subtitles)

hello this is Jack want to improve your English 

and understand native speakers better? 

this episode and this podcast  is exactly what you need 

today you're going to learn how to describe your free time in English 

whether this is hobbies weekends or just relaxing you're going to get real English phrases 

listening practice and insight knowledge 

into how native speakers talk about free time in the UK and the United States of America 

so listen carefully and by the end you'll be able to talk about your own free time 

naturally and confidently let's get started during the work week 

people often struggle to find free time think about your work week right now 

do you often have free time  in the evenings for hobbies 

to relax and to do the things you want to do if so this is the case for most people 

now in the UK many people finish work around 5:00 sometimes 6:00 

and they have to get up for work the next day so the evenings are very precious 

they're really important to people this is their free time during the week 

now later we're gonna talk about holidays 

and how they differ in the UK and the USA but for now we're focusing on the work week 

in the US work hours can be a little longer some people work a little longer in the US 

but on average I'd say the very  

similar people finish around 5 or 6 a typical everyday office job 

let's say so people in their free time after work 

usually do one of two things it falls into two different categories 

they either relax or they do something active for example you might hear someone say 

I try to wind down in the  evening by reading a book 

I tried to wind down in the evening so to wind down is a phrasal verb 

and I'll leave a playlist to all of our phrasal verb lessons 

but to wind down means to relax after a busy day some people like to hit the gym straight  

after work hit the gym  

and to hit the gym means to go to the gym and this is a very specific phrase that we use 

when going to the gym and the gym is often busy or it's busiest around 5:30 or 6 

when people go to the gym on the way back from work 

personally my day is all over the place which means I don't usually have a set schedule 

due to family and different  types of work commitments 

however what I like to do is this I like to put on a podcast  

or catch up on a podcast which means to listen to something I've missed 

and cook dinner so I love doing this put on music put on a podcast and cook dinner 

now let's use a phrase with wish because you'll hear people say 

I wish I had more time in the evening I wish I had more time in the evening 

they don't have time but they wish they had more time in the evening 

but a lot of people usually  have to do certain chores 

certain activities those types of things in the UK 

going to the pub after work is common not everyone not every day 

but a lot of people go to the pub after after work and you might hear someone ask you in the UK 

do you wanna head to the pub after work? do you want to head to the pub after work? 

so head to the pub means go to the pub also know I'm gonna have all the phrases 

in the description for you in the US many people do after work activities 

after work activities as part of a club and this is common in the UK as well 

but from my experience more common in the US so for example a lot of people join running clubs 

running clubs or attend  evening classes to stay social 

with children a lot of people in the US take their children 

to after school clubs and activities sometimes 

the bus will pick up the children from school take them to the after school activity 

and then the parents pick them up later which gives the parents a little  

bit more free time but let me know below 

what is a typical evening like for you? when you get home from work 

or when you get home from school what do you do? what's a common thing that you do? 

a typical day after work the next section is about the weekend 

and if you've taken any English class you'll know your teacher always asks 

what are you doing for the weekend? or what did you do last weekend? 

and people like to talk about their free time especially weekends in all different  

types of settings so these phrases 

and this section is gonna be really useful so let's start with weekend plans 

now to talk about weekend  plans you can ask a question 

what are you doing this weekend? what are you doing this weekend? 

now this is in the present continuous because a lot of the time 

we yet like to use the present continuous to talk about future plans 

especially when we have arrangements and also when we're asking questions 

so what are you doing this weekend? what are you doing this weekend? 

another common way to ask this question is do you have any plans for the weekend? 

do you have any plans for the weekend? and if there is something you are  

excited about you can say yes 

I'm looking forward to the weekend because I'm doing this or I'm doing that 

some people like to have an action packed weekend where they're always doing lots of things 

they might be going for a hike meeting friends doing different  

types of activities going to parties etc 

other people like to take it easy to take it easy which means to relax and not do much 

for example I often take  it easy on Sunday mornings 

I often have a very relaxing Sunday morning and I take it easy 

a lot of people do things  like chores and housework 

as well during the weekend because they don't have time during the week 

so I like to wake up on Saturday morning and clean the house that's what I love doing 

I say love doing I would  prefer to do something else 

but I enjoy doing it and I enjoy having a tidy  

house by Saturday morning if you're a social person 

you'll love to hang out with friends to hang out with friends now 

to hang out with friends just means to spend time with friends 

so you might say to a friend let's hang out this weekend 

let's hang out this weekend or do you wanna hang out this weekend? 

and if you are somebody who  works hard during the week 

you need to take it easy on the weekend you might also need to catch up on sleep as well 

in your free time now to catch up on sleep means  

to sleep a lot in one day because 

you haven't been sleeping  a lot in the previous days 

so I like to have a lie in a lie in in America you'll hear sleep in I like to sleep in on Sundays 

now speaking of Sundays there's a bit of a difference  

here between the UK and American culture when it  

comes to food at the weekend because in the UK Sunday roast  

dinners are a tradition they are a tradition 

and this is where you have some type of meat roasted potatoes vegetables 

Yorkshire puddings and gravy and on Sundays 

many families get together for a Sunday dinner a Sunday roast you'll also hear a Sunday roast 

whereas in the US Sunday  mornings are known for brunch 

brunch people love going out for brunch in the US and this is the combination between breakfast 

and lunch people get up a  little bit later on Sunday 

and then they go to their favourite brunch spot this is usually some type of breakfast meal 

eggs think eggs and bacon not the traditional British one 

people like to have pancakes and biscuits and have lots of coffee 

the next section is all  about holidays and vacations 

so there's a difference already to say go on holiday or go on vacation 

the first one is from the UK the second one is from the US 

so this is when people have more time off they have more free time to travel 

explore new places or simply unplug from work unplug from work 

which means just to forget  about work for some time 

when talking about vacation or holidays you might say or you might hear someone say 

I'm taking a few days off next month to relax I'm taking a few days off next  

month to go on a trip so to take a few days off 

means you're not working for a few days in the past you might hear 

I took a few days off last month or you might hear someone say 

I need to take a day or two off I'm so tired I need to take a day or two off 

and often times you need to take some days off you might need a holiday 

because you've been working non-stop to be working non-stop which  

means to be really busy and working without a break 

I'm sure you can think of a time maybe it's right now 

where you have been working non-stop let me know in the comment section 

the last time you took a few  days off from what you did 

is great writing practice now 

what's interesting about  time off in the UK and the US 

is that this is a big difference between the two cultures 

because in the United Kingdom workers are entitled to  

which means they need to have 28 days of paid leave per year 

okay 28 days of paid leave per year some companies include public holidays 

bank holidays to this total meaning fewer flexible days 

whereas in the US there is no law that guarantees paid vacation 

and from my experience most companies offer  

10 days of paid leave per year and from my experience as well 

there's a strong work to live mentality in the United Kingdom 

meaning that holidays are seen as essential that people need a holiday every year 

and oftentimes people will take two weeks off maybe even three weeks in the summer 

where is the United States taking these long holidays is less common 

and many people take a few days off at a time now there are similar number of public holidays 

but in the US not all of these are guaranteed to be time off 

so the bank holidays in the United Kingdom public holidays 

people will get these off work in most situations another difference is that in the UK 

a lot of people take short trips on the plane to different types of countries 

whereas in the US a lot of  people will take road trips 

road trips and this is  where they'll get in the car 

pack the car up and go to a different town maybe the beach maybe the mountains 

and very commonly the lake a lot of people like to go to the lake in the US 

especially around big holidays a question you'll often hear 

when it comes to holidays and free time is have you ever been to? for example 

have you ever been to Japan? have you ever been to England? 

have you ever been to the mountains? meaning have you in your life visited those places 

have you ever been to have you ever been to it's a great one to know 

let's now talk about hobbies and interests because this is what we do in our free time 

if we're not busy doing housework chores different types of admin or looking after children 

so hobbies and interest  

play such a big role in our lives because they help us relax 

we can learn new skills and  also connect with others 

now what's interesting is some people will stick with 

hobbies they've had since childhood now to stick with a hobby 

means to continue doing this hobby while 

others pick up new hobbies throughout their lives 

now if somebody asks you what do you do in your free time? 

or what are your hobbies? don't freeze instead start talking about the things you love 

now before I  

give you the phrases and talk about this more I made a video recently where I talked about 

how important it is to create sentences that you're going to use often 

so if you rock climb in your spare time rock climbing 

then think about creating  sentences based around this 

okay now with that in mind to talk about things that you love doing 

you can say things like I love simple phrases I love playing the guitar 

I love playing soccer I play a lot of soccer I play a lot of soccer so 

those are the types of things  that you do quite often 

now if you have just started a hobby you can say things like 

I'm getting into or I'm just getting into or I'm just starting so for example 

you might say I'm getting into yoga at the moment or I'm just getting into yoga at the moment 

now here's a question for you do you know what the most popular hobby is? 

what is the most popular hobby in the world? I'm gonna tell you in a second  

and this is gardening gardening 

so to garden means to work on your garden, plant dig weed 

etcetera so this is the most  popular hobby in the world 

personally I love playing soccer I try to read a lot I try 

it's not always easy but when I do have free time  

and the space to do it I like to read 

I'm big on exercise so I exercise a lot and also I love socializing 

I love hanging out with friends and going to different types of events 

in the UK and the US things like pub quizzes are quite common 

I'm very interested actually in your country do you have pub quizzes? 

and this is where you go to a pub or a bar sometimes a restaurant never a restaurant actually 

and there is somebody who is the quiz master and you get a sheet of paper  

and they ask questions and you have to answer them 

and you can't cheat you can't look at your phone that's cheating 

now some hobbies  

and interests are a little bit different and not as common and I did some research 

and I found some really cool ones the first one is extreme ironing 

ironing so this is where 

people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron their clothes 

I don't know how they do this without a plug maybe there is a battery powered iron 

another one is train spotting train spotting this is quite popular in the UK 

and it's where people will go to train stations or anywhere near trains 

and watch the trains and record the numbers and I guess there are different types of trains 

and people get and people really get into this do you have an unusual hobby? 

or a hobby that most people don't do? if so let me know in the comment section below 

and let's just give you some phrases here so you might hear someone say 

I'm thinking about signing up for a pottery class I'm thinking about signing up for a pottery class 

would you like to join? so to sign up for means to register for that class or activity 

another one is you might hear someone say I've always wanted to learn how to paint 

learn how to draw play the guitar I've always wanted to do this 

when people say that it means they want to do this but they just haven't found the time to do it yet 

or they haven't found that  

energy to start something new and if someone asks you 

would you like to come surfing with me? have you ever done it? 

would you like to come surfing with me? you might say okay 

I'll give it a go I'll give it a go now to give it to go means to try it out 

to try something out so to give surfing a go means to try surfing 

to see how you do with this now here is a new section 

I want to introduce to these episodes and it is interesting quotes 

so I'm gonna give you some quotes that I like and then talk about them a little bit 

and they might be quite inspiring for you too I really like the ones today 

because the first one is this time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time 

time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time and that is from Bertrand Russell 

what this means is that some people feel guilty about spending time in an unproductive way 

but it's not wasted because often times it  

can be a good way to recharge to get energy back 

so time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time the next one is a man should never  

neglect his leisure this is Confucius 

I'll leave all of these in the description for you a man should never neglect his leisure 

and this is saying that life isn't just about work we need time to rest 

play and enjoy hobbies in some cultures for example Japan 

people are known for working long hours also in parts of the US as well 

depending on the job you have while in other countries 

work life balance is more of a priority and then the next one is 

almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes 

including you almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes 

including you this is Ann Lamott and this means that sometimes  

we all just need a break because in modern society 

people are busy they're connected they're distracted but what this is saying is 

taking time to relax is essential and it's gonna help you do better in life 

and it's gonna help you recharge that is the podcast episode for today 

do these two things now check out the other  

episodes on the YouTube channel or on Spotify or Apple Podcast 

and then share this episode with a friend also like subscribe 

do all those things and leave a comment below alright speak to you soon bye for now