Information Sheet 2.1-4

Information Sheet 2.1-4: Providing personal information on hobbies, like, dislikes, weekly activities and future plans

Likes and dislikes

What are your likes and dislikes? We’re constantly talking about things we do and don’t like. In fact, finding out what a person likes or doesn’t like helps us to get to know him (or her) better. Or imagine if someone wants to find out what are your hobbies or tastes. How would you respond?

Expressing Likes and Dislikes in English

Expressing Likes in English

Here are some English phrases and words to say what you like:

I adore
I love
I like
I enjoy
I’m into something
I have a soft spot for something
I’m quite keen on
I think …. is/are brilliant …

For example:

I ADORE having a massage after work. It helps me to relax.
I LOVE shopping for clothes in the sales. I’ve got some great bargains.
I’M INTO making music.
I LIKE inviting my friends around for dinner. I ENJOY cooking a special meal for them.
I LIKE ice-cream
I HAVE A SOFT SPOT for Sarah
I’m QUITE KEEN ON learning new languages
I THINK Mark’s idea IS BRILLIANT

ADORE here suggests a strong feeling of pleasure.

Expressing Dislikes in English

Here are some words in English to express things that you don’t like: I detest, I hate, I loathe, I’m not keen on, I can’t stand, I can’t bear …

For example:

I’M NOT KEEN ON watching soap operas.
I DETEST being stuck in a traffic jam.
I HATE Mondays!
I LOATHE visiting the dentist.
I CAN’T STAND Paula’s new boyfriend
Shopping DRIVES ME CRAZY

Both I CAN’T STAND and I CAN’T BEAR mean I HATE.
DETEST and LOATHE suggest strong feelings. These are things that you really don’t like doing, whereas I’M NOT KEEN ON expresses a preference.

We can use pronouns, nouns or verb +ING when we are expressing likes and dislikes in English:
I love it.
I hate football.
Waiting in queues drives me crazy.

How to talk about Likes and Dislikes in English?

Sarah, Kate, Steve and Tom are talking about what they like doing:

SARAH: I like inviting my friends’ round for dinner.
KATE: I’m not keen on cooking. I enjoy going out for a meal.

KATE: I like going to watch football on Saturday.
SARAH: I hate football. I’d rather go and play tennis.

STEVE: I like taking photographs on holiday.
TOM: I’m not into photography. I’d rather buy postcards instead.

TOM: I’m going to the rugby match on Saturday. Would you like to come with me?
STEVE: I hate rugby. I’ll be going shopping with Kate instead. SARAH: I’m flying to Glasgow on Monday.
KATE: I hate flying. I like going by train, even if it takes a little longer.

Preparing to talk about hobbies

Common questions about hobbies

Here are some typical hobby question examples. Use these to help you practice talking about hobbies for social situations or for speaking tests such as IELTS:

Do you have any interests or hobbies?
Why do you do your hobby?
Is your hobby difficult?
What skills does your hobby require?
How did you get into your hobby?
What’s the point of having a hobby?
Why do people often give up their hobbies?

Reasons why people do hobbies

To kill time
To unwind / relax
To keep fit
To master a new skill / get good at something
To sharpen the mind
Improve confidence / self esteem

Examples of hobby categories

Arts and crafts – (do + ) knitting, sewing, modelling, drawing and painting, sculpture, baking, photography, creative writing
Outdoor pursuits – (go +) climbing, caving, canoeing, skydiving, biking, hiking, orienteering
Sports – (play + ) football, cricket, rugby, golf
Martial arts – (do +) judo, karate, kung fu, taekwondo, kickboxing
Games and puzzles – (do +) online gaming, (play +) chess, board games, sudoku, crosswords
Home improvement – (do +) interior design, carpentry, furniture restoring, DIY

Talking about your favorite hobby

Introduce your hobby

First of all, say what your hobby or interest is:

My favorite hobby has got to be gaming
I’m really into board games.
Yoga is my thing.
Judo is the hobby that I spend most of my time doing.
Chess is my main hobby.
Skydiving is one of my biggest hobbies.
I’m a huge fan of model making.

Follow up

Explain how (or when) you started doing your hobby:

I first got into …….. when I was a teenager.
I first discovered ………… after I saw someone doing it on TV.
I first fell in love with ……… when my best friend sent me a link to a tutorial.
Say how long

Use present perfect simple or continuous forms to say how long you’ve been doing your hobby:

I’ve been doing / going / playing …………….. for about ……. years / months, now.
Ever since then, I’ve been hooked! (hooked = addicted / can’t stop)
Why you enjoy it

Explain the benefits of doing your hobby

I find….
I think…
I guess…
- ..it takes my mind off things.
- ..it’s a distraction.
- ..it boosts my creativity.
- ..it helps me explore my creative side.
- ..it helps me unwind. (= relax)
- ..it improves my focus / concentration.
- ..it helps me think more clearly.
- ..it’s something to do after work.
- ..it breaks up my daily routine.
- ..adds variety to my daily routine.
- ..it gives me a challenge.
- ..it gets me out of the house.
- ..it helps me connect with others.
- ..it’s a great way to meet new people.
- ..it keeps me fit and healthy.
- ..it makes me stronger / more flexible.
- ..it’s an opportunity to develop new skills.

Explain challenges

Now say why your hobby can be difficult

..Photography can sometimes be very tricky (difficult).
..It has a very steep learning curve. (hard to learn how to do it)
..Modelling can often get a bit fiddly, sometimes (e.g. difficult to manage small parts).
..Knitting can sometimes be very repetitive.
..It can sometimes be exhausting. (makes you tired)
..It’s not always easy to find the time to do it.
..It can be very competitive.
..It can be frustrating at times.

Skills required

Say which skills you need for your hobby

You need to have a lot of patience.
It’s useful to have nimble fingers.
Having good flexibility is a bonus.
You need good concentration skills.
It helps if you’re good at judging distances.
You need to be able to focus for a long time.
You need to be quite strong.
Being able to think creatively is a definite plus. (a plus = an advantage)
I’d say that having good eyesight is an absolute must. (a must = something you really need)

Bring it together

My favorite hobby has got to be gaming. I first got into video games when I was a teenager, when my best friend sent me a link to an online strategy game. Ever since then I’ve been hooked! I think for me, gaming’s a distraction. You know, like a break from real life. It helps me unwind, but at the same time, I find it improves my concentration, and helps me think more clearly. And of course, when I play online, I’m playing with other gamers, so I think it’s also a great way to meet new people. Gaming isn’t easy though – I sometimes get really tired playing – you know, it can be really exhausting sometimes when you’re playing for hours on end. I think if you want to get into gaming properly, you have to have really good concentration, and I’d say you need a lot of patience, too.

Hobbies and interests: Key speaking topic vocabulary

Hobby synonyms

an interest – stamp collecting is one of my oldest interests / i’ve had an interest in stamp collecting for ages.
a pursuit – climbing is an example of an outdoor pursuit (formal)
a leisure activity – people pursue leisure activities to relax and keep fit (formal)
a pastime – drawing is a very relaxing pastime (formal)

Hobby action collocations

take up a (new) hobby / interest (take up = start doing)
get into a hobby become more interested in…
stick at a hobby – keep doing it
make progress with a hobby
develop a hobby
do / have / have got a hobby – I’ve got so many hobbies, i’ve lost count!
give up (or drop) a hobby – I gave up collecting stamps because i got bored of it. (give up = stop doing)

Hobby adjective collocations

an interesting hobby
an absorbing hobby
a satisfying hobby
a rewarding hobby
an expensive hobby
a time-consuming hobby

Vocabulary Connected with Weekend Activities

Learn vocabulary connected with weekend activities. Weekend phrasal verbs. Small talk related to your last weekend or future weekend plans.

Talking about last weekend

When we’re talking about the weekend, it might be something that we did the last, the previous weekend. So when we use that, we’re typically using simple past.

For example,

Did you have a nice weekend?
How was your weekend?
What did you do last weekend?
What did you get up to last weekend?

So, they’re just simple ways of asking the question about somebody’s weekend, and all of them use simple past formats of the verb.

The follow-on questions that might lead to these when you’ve got your answers:

Well, what did you do?
Where did you go?
Who did you see?

Or you might ask somebody’s opinion.

Did you like it?
Did you enjoy it?
Is it worth going to?
How did you like it?
How did you enjoy it?

So, when we talk about the previous weekend or last weekend, we usually use simple past.

Talking about your weekend plans

So, a very simple way of asking the question is,

Do you have any plans for the weekend?
Do you have any plans for this weekend?
What are you up to this weekend?

And we often use going to in these circumstances. We are talking about something in the immediate future.

So, what are you going to do this week?

We’re going to go skiing.
We’re going to do some hiking.
We are going to play tennis.

Difference between ‘night in’ and ‘night out’

If we want to look at expressions that we would use when we’re talking about weekend activities, then you might use expressions like,

I had a night in

Meaning: I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t do anything. I stayed at home.

I just had a night in front of the fire a night in front of the TV and a night watching Netflix, I chilled out watching that series that you recommended.

The opposite is

I had a night out

Meaning: I left home and went somewhere else. I had some fun at some party or some restaurant or went clubbing.

We had a great night out on Saturday. You should have been there, it was really really good fun.

Now, let’s look at some phrasal verbs connected with weekend activities.

To clean up

Meaning: make a place tidy

So if somebody asks you,

What did you do for the weekend?

We decided to stay at home and clean up the garden, ready for the winter.

We decided to stay at home and clean up the spare room because our daughter’s coming home for a few months.

To tidy up

Meaning: make a place look neater and more organized

At the beginning of spring, we like to have a spring clean. We tidy up all the rooms to get rid of the rubbish that we’ve accumulated over the previous year.

By mid-afternoon, we had tidied up most of the rooms. And then as promised, we went off for pizza and we were off to the cinema.

To stay in

Meaning: do not go out, remain at home for the weekend or evening

We’ve had a busy week. The weather is bad, it is cold, so we decided to stay in this weekend.

To chill out

Meaning: to relax

We’ve been travelling a lot over the last few weekends. So we really need to just chill out.

We chilled out. We sat in front of the TV, we looked at a few movies with the kids.

To wind down

Meaning: to gradually relax after stress or worry; forget about all the troubles, spend a little bit of time relaxing

If you’re planning a holiday, you always find it takes a couple of days to wind down before you get into the holiday mood.

To have someone over

Meaning: to invite somebody to come to your home

We like to have their cousins over. It’s a bit of fun and they get to know each other better.

To flick through

Meaning: to go through something reasonably quickly until you land on something that’s of interest to you

Snuggled up on the sofa, James flicked through Netflix hunting for a film to watch.

She was flicking through photographs from years gone. It was sort of a trip down memory lane.

To meet up (with)

Meaning: to come together formally or informally to spend a bit of time

Would you like to meet up at the weekend?

Let’s meet up over the next couple of weeks.

To catch up (with)

Meaning: when we want to catch up with somebody, we want to find out what’s going on in their life

I promised that I would get home early this evening. So give me a call, and we’ll catch up over the weekend or we’ll catch up for lunch.

To run into

To bump into

Meaning: meet someone when you have not planned to meet them

I ran into Sue and Sarah when I was doing late-night shopping last night.

You’ll never guess who I ran into in High Street. I haven’t seen her for ages. We were in university together, but we lost touch. She must be back home now.

So they’re all phrasal verbs connected with weekend activities.

Okay, let me give them to you one more time.

to clean up
to tidy up
to stay in
to chill out
to wind down
to have someone over
to flick through
to meet up (with)
to catch up (with)
to bump into
to run into

How to speak about future plans in English

We can use the Present Continuous to speak about future plans. For example:

I’m seeing the doctor this Friday at 1pm.
We’re playing tennis at 11am this Saturday.

Remember, we form the Present Continuous with the verb to be (often a contracted form: I’m, you’re, she’s…) and a verb in the gerund (verb, -ing). We often use it to describe an action in progress. For example:

She’s studying.
They’re waiting for you.

We can use the Present Continuous to refer to future plans at specific times. These plans are often with other people. For example:

I’m Pete later this evening.
Jessica is playing golf on Sunday.

It’s quite common to use this structure with verbs of movement (go, leave, come, etc.). For example:

They’re coming to the pub tonight.
He’s going to the Caribbean this summer.

In many cases, there’s very little difference between futures with be + going to and the Present Continuous when we’re talking about the future. Both these sentences have almost identical meanings:

I’m playing chess with her tomorrow.
I’m going to play chess with her tomorrow.

However, compare these sentences which are both in the Present Continuous:

He’s seeing the doctor.
He’s seeing the doctor this Monday at 9am.

Sentence “a” is describing an activity in progress – something that’s happening now; Sentence “b” is describing a future appointment with another person at a specific time.

Lesson Transcript

Intro

Imagine you’re being quizzed on your future plans. How do you respond?

Hi. Alisha here.

Discussing future plans in English is easy. In this lesson, you’ll learn how.

Gustavo and George are catching up at a restaurant.

Let’s watch!

Dialogue

George: So, Gustavo, when will your family be here?

Gustavo: Luiza’s going to bring the kids on Friday.

George: And what are they going to do when they get here?

Gustavo: Luiza’s going to keep writing. She also plans on starting a blog about American culture.

George: Sounds interesting. How about the kids?

Gustavo: Sofia’s going to go to an international school. Half of the classes will be in Portuguese, George: and the other half in English.

Gustavo: She’s young, so she’ll learn English easily.

George: Yeah, but Lucas is going to go to a regular high school.

Gustavo: Could be tough for him. Will he be okay?

George: We think so. He’s been studying English a lot at home. But it will be pretty difficult at the beginning, I think…

Now, with Subtitle!

George: So Gustavo, when will your family be here?