Talking about leisure
Ex. 12. Let’s talk about your leisure. The questions below will help you.
How much time do you spend on existence and subsistence?
Are you a well-organised person?
What do you think is the difference between a hobby and a pastime?
What activities do you consider pastimes?
If you have a twenty minutes’ gap between the planned activities, what would you do?
Do you plan your weekends? If you plan them, do the plans work?
Are you in the habit of alternating activities?
If you have options to spend an hour reading, walking or doing sport, what would you prefer?
What is your favorite pastime on a windy rainy autumn day?
Does your mother sometimes grumble at you for your idleness?
Now you may decide what leisure is for you. Refer to this: ‘Some people view leisure simply as recreation. Others view it as an attitude or a frame of mind. Many people consider leisure the main objective of life, and work merely a means to reach this objective’.
Ex. 13. Read the interview and speak about Svetlana’s weekend.
I Svetlana, would you mind telling me about your weekends?
S Well, I often have a lot of work to do about the house, but if I am free, what I do depends on the time of the year.
I Uhum.
S In winter we often go skiing. My family has a house, a dacha outside Minsk near a lake and we leave on Friday afternoon and come back on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes we go fishing under the ice: my father likes fishing.
I What about other times of the year?
S Well, you must remember that winter lasts from November to March. In summer we go to a river or a lake to sunbathe and play voleyball, and in autumn something that is very popular is picking mushrooms.
I Really? And where do you do that?
S Mostly in the woods around the town. There are plenty of people in the woods in autumn.
I Are weekends a special time in any way? Are they for families or time to relax or …?
S Well. I don’t think they’re as special as for you in the west. On Saturday a lot of people work. Children are at school, at least until 1 o’clock and parents have to stay in town half a day.
I Really?
S Yes, and most shops are open on Sunday as well. You can do all your shopping on Sunday if you want. Some shops then close on Monday.
I Oh, I see.
S People often have a nice meal on Sunday with all their family, grandparents, grandchildren, and so on. The meal can go on for long time, maybe three, four hours and we drink vodka and cognac.
I Ah, yes. What about entertainment? Do you like going out to the theatre, for example?
S Well, there are lots of cinemas and concerts and theatrical performances, of course. We watch television, but it’s not very good. People read lots and lots, popular books and classical as well. We have parties and visit each other a lot. We don’t even need any reason to drop in on your friend for a cup of tea and a good chat.
Ex. 14. Let’s plan an ideal weekend.
Ex. 15. In the text ‘Kinds of Hobbies’ you’ve read: ‘There have traditionally been four types of hobbies – those relating to history, nature, handicrafts, and the arts’. However, there is one more classification of hobbies:
Doing things:
|
Making things: |
Collecting things: |
Reading Doing sport Painting Singing Photography |
Modelling Woodwork Metalwork Electronics Pottery |
What do people collect? |
What kind of people would choose the above mentioned hobbies? Consider the following:
Interests, abilities, possibilities, available time of a person.
How are the mentioned aspects influence the choice? Give examples.
What else can affect the choice of a hobby?
Ex. 16. Let’s talk about the positive role of hobbies.
What do people need hobbies for?
A sort of a relaxation?
To relieve a stress?
To reveal and apply one’s creativity?
For self-realisation?
For practical needs?
A sort of escapism?
Communication?
New impressions?
To overcome solitude?
New friends and activities?
Anything else?
Ex. 17. Sometimes a hobby is an obsession. Considering the following prompts discuss the possible harm a hobby may do.
Spending / wasting too much time / money
Gluing to the only topic in conversations
Narrow circle of friends and acquaintances
Loosing a touch with the reality
Anything else?
Ex. 18. Tell your group-mates about your hobby (hobbies). You may use the following outline:
What hobbies did you have when a child?
Who influenced your choice of hobbies?
What is your hobby now?
How did you take it up? Was it a practical necessity or an attempt to satisfy your creativity?
Do you think this hobby helps you in your life?
Do your relatives and friends criticise or encourage you?
What is your best achievement?
What hobby would you choose (being reasonable)?
Ex. 19. React to the following situations:
1. You’re a successful businessman, you lead a busy and stressful life and have very little leisure time. What hobby would you choose? Start with complaining of your life. You may use the following words:
to run one’s own business, to produce food products, strong competition, to have an intensive life (negotiations, presentations, business trips and so on), stomach problems, insomnia, splitting headaches,
to make appointments with the doctor.
2. You’ve lost a friend. You had been on friendly terms for about ten years and then all of a sudden he/she changed a lot. You found out that she/he had taken up a hobby - hunting. Will you make up the development of addiction? You may use the words:
a new acquaintance, a narrow circle of people, a cast, snobbery, to be reserved, to avoid smb, to get a dog, to keep the dog at home, expensive, to become aggressive, to fume easily, to show superiority, to affect family life.
3. What hobby would you recommend to a hard-working teacher, who wastes his/her life on marking and farming children?
4. Hobby is an obsession. It distracts a member of the society from productive labour. People engaged in these useless activities lose a contact with the reality. Do you agree with this viewpoint? Comment on this statement.
5. Hobby is a waste of time. What’s the use of slaving months on making a bookshelf, if you can buy it at a shop? The time you squander on it you may devote to your professional activities and earn enough to buy a dozen.