Spread the Word – Hobbies

¿Podrías hablar de tus hobbies y aficciones en inglés con tus amigos sin problemas? Si tienes alguna duda, aquí te dejamos vocabulario que puede servirte.

This month we’re looking at hobbies and pastimes, the activities we like to do in our leisure time.  As there are so many options, there’s a wealth of language in this area and I’ve just chosen one activity for each letter of the alphabet; so let me present Spread the Word’s A to Z of hobbies!

A is for amateur dramatics, a popular group activity in many parts of the UK, and also in Madrid. Bird-watching is the more familiar term for ornithology. And then we have Collecting – from stamps to coins, antiques, cinema memorabilia, orchids and even Barbies. D is for darts, a traditional pub game.

For E we have something a bit different: extreme ironing, a sport in which people take ironing boards to remote locations and iron items of clothing. Apparently it began in 1997 in the UK and people have done their ironing while parachuting, skiing, up a mountain or underwater.

F and G are for the less extreme and rather more relaxing pastimes of fishing and gardening. H stands for home brewing for those who like to make their own beer and I represents ice-skating. For J we have jamming – that’s not about making jam but getting together with your musician friends and coming up with some new sounds!

K is for kite-flying – if you want to learn how, then look here! And for L we have line-dancing, said to have originated in 70s disco despite its association with country and western. We have a double M – making models – planes, ships and tanks seem to be popular choices. N is for needlepoint, embroidery done with wool thread on canvas. And O stands for the Japanese tradition of paper-folding, origami.

For P we have puzzles, specifically jigsaw puzzles, the perennial time-killer, first commercialized in the eighteenth century. And Q is for the American tradition of quilting, an activity which is often both creative and communal. R is for rock-climbing and for S I’ve selected stand-up comedy, which, of course, is both hobby and profession.

And here’s another weird one: Toy voyaging – this is for people who want to send a toy of their choice on holiday somewhere around the world – you don’t believe me?  Here’s the website! For U I’ve selected another new hobby: urban exploration. This is an activity in which people explore derelict urban structures such as abandoned sewers or underground    railways. V is for the more sedentary video-gaming and W for wood-carving. And I’ve cheated slightly to make the general term exercise as a healthy representative of X.

Finally we have Y for yoga and Z for zip-lining, a fast way to get from A to B if you’re in the tree tops! Whatever your hobbies are, I hope you enjoy doing them! And maybe this post has inspired you to try something new…