What do you usually do in your leisure time
What do you usually do in your leisure time
What do you usually do in your leisure time
— What do you usually do in your leisure time?
— Unfortunately, as I have not had much free time this year, I have done my best to spend it wisely. It is known, that people can do all kinds of things in their spare time. They go shopping, play football, collect records or stamps. Of course, some of the time activities, like visiting relatives or taking driving lessons, may not be fun. In big cities people spend their free time by going to the theatre, cinema, museums, art galleries, concert hall, fitness or disco clubs. When I have some free time I can choose any of them. But when the weather is fine, I like to go for a walk along the boulevards and streets of the city with my friends, enjoying its architecture.
— A re you fond of collecting anything?
— No, I am not. I have not enough time to collect anything. My friend collects coins. His collection is rather rich. Coins of different countries are gathered there. Moreover, he has a lot of books devoted to numismatics and albums picturing the coin collections of different museums.
— What do you think about it?
— Everyone has the right to collect various, even the most unusual things, if it gives sense to his or her life. People collect paintings, stamps, match boxes, bottles, cans, buttons, books, etc. I know that girls are fond of collecting dolls. Some of them do not give it up even when they are of age. In their spare time people can read books, listen to their favourite music, invite their friends to a cafe or a park, or watch TV. Watching TV is also a popular leisure activity. Sometimes it is pleasant to be entertained without leaving the apartment. But excessive TV watching deprives a person of his initiative. Very often TV addicts are governed by television.
— Do you have the same problems?
— No, I don’t. We turn on our television to watch only selected programmes. In my leisure time I read books, go to the theatre or cinema.
— Do you like to go to the theatre?
— Do you often go to the theatre?
— No, I do not. I do not often go to the theatre. If I have a chance, I prefer to go to the Bolshoi Theatre, Mali Theatre or Art Theatre. I like conventional rendering of the classical ballets, op eras and plays. The tradition of Russian realist theatre was exemplified in the work of Konstantin Stanislavsky of the Moscow Art Theatre. The leading theatre companies of ballet are the Bolshoi in Moscow and Mariinsky in St. Petersburg. Russian ballet had a formative role in Western dance through a number of figures, such as Sergey Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky.
— Do you like ballet?
— Yes, I do. Once saw a ballet «Giselle». The performance with its beautiful music, designs and cast was perfect. My concentration and enjoyment were intense. I also saw some new ballets with music from «outerspace», with dancers resembling mysteriously lit sculptural images, and severely geometrical de signs, and I can not say that I delighted in them. I prefer classical performances.
— What do you expect when you go to the theatre?
— When I go to the theatre I expect more than just fun of it. I want to see some actors I’ve heard of or a new version of the classical play. Recently I’ve seen the theatrical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s «Picture of Dorian Gray». It is excellent. If you want a thought provoking evening at the theatre, that’s the one you want to see. But most of all like to go to the cinema.
— Is it your hobby?
— Yes. It is one of my hobbies.
— What kind of films do you like to see?
— I delight in seeing all kinds of films: comedies, love-stories, thrillers, westerns, war films, and cartoons. I like films if they are exciting. I do not like horror films because of their frightening moments even if they are superbly made and the acting is marvellous.
— What are your favourite films?
— One time I liked films directed by James Cameron. When I was younger I saw his heavy-metal Sci-Fi «Terminator» and «Terminator 2» several times. The special effects were wonderful and important to the success of the films. I took pleasure in ferociously exciting «Aliens». I liked his «Titanic» too. «Titanic» was no mere disaster movie. It was an epic love story. Cameron’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on a sinking ship became an international sensation.
— What other films have impressed you?
— Do you like to read books?
— Yes, I do. I am fond of reading books.
— What books do you like to read?
— I am fond of science fiction.
— When did this form of fiction develop?
— This form of fiction developed in the 20th century. It deals with the impact of actual or imagined science upon society or individuals. This term is used to refer to any literary fantasy that includes a scientific factor as an essential orienting component.
— What does such literature consist of?
— It consists of an extrapolation of scientific facts and principles, or it incorporates absolutely contradictory facts and principles. In either case, likelihood based on science is a requisite.
— Who were the precursors of the genre?
— In the 18th century they were Voltaire with his «Micromegas», Jonathan Swift with «Gulliver’s Travels». In the 19th century the precursors of the genre were Mary Shelley with her Gothic novel «Frankenstein», Robert Louis Stevenson’s with his «Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde».
— When did science fiction begin?
— Science fiction began at the end of the 19th century with the scientific romances of Jules Verne, whose science was rather on the level of invention, as well as with the science-oriented novels of social criticism of H.G. Wells. They pioneered what may be properly termed science fiction.
— When did science fiction emerge as a mode of serious fiction?
— With the publication of stories and novels of such writers as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction emerged as a mode of serious fiction. Such writers as Aldous Huxley, C.S. Lewis, and Kurt Vonnegut, who were not de voted exclusively to science fiction, also added much to it.
— Whose works became paperback best-sellers during the postwar period?
— The works of such science-fiction writers of notable merit in the postwar period as A.E. Van Vogt, J.G. Ballard, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Harlan Ellison, Poul Anderson, Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. LeGuin, Frederik Pohl, Octavia E. Butler, and Brian Aldiss became paperback best-sellers. These writers’ approaches included predictions of future societies on the Earth, analyses of the consequences of interstellar travel, and imaginative explorations of forms of intelligent life and their societies in other worlds. Radio, television, and motion pictures have reinforced the popularity of the genre.
— What were the aims of the science fiction writers?
— Since the days of Wells’s «Time Machine» and «Invisible Man», the aims of science fiction were didactic. The works of contemporary writers opposed the utopianism that Wells built on the potentialities of socialism and technology. Aldous Huxley’s «Brave New World» showed how dangerous utopianism could be, since the desire for social stability might overlook techniques that would destroy the fundamental human right to make free choices. Toward the end of his life Huxley produced a cautious Utopian vision in «Island», but the dystopian horrors of his earlier novel and of his «Ape and Essence» remain more convincing. Orwell’s «Nineteen Eighty-four» showed a world in which a tyrannic unity is imposed by a collective solipsism, and contradictions are liquidated through the constant revision of history that the controlling party decrees. Anthony Burgess’ «Clockwork Orange» and «Wanting Seed» portray ghastly futures that extrapolate, respectively, philosophies of crime control and population control out of present-day tendencies that are only potentially dangerous.
— Are there any science-fiction books without prophetic or warning intent?
— The fantasist who fantasizes without prophetic or warning intent is rarer, but works such as Nabokov’s «Ada», Tolkien’s «Lord of the Rings» cycle, and «Christine Brooke-Rose’s Out» rep resent legitimate and heartening stretching of the imagination, assurances that the novelist has the right to create secondary worlds, as well as characters, of his own.
— Who created secondary worlds?
— Only three masters became architects of a complete secondary world. The vast Middle Earth trilogy «The Lord of the Rings», by J.R.R. Tolkien, was not written for children. It reworks many of the motives of traditional romance and fantasy. It is essentially a structure of sheer invention. Tolkien’s fellow scholar, C.S. Lewis, created his own otherworld of Narnia. It is more clearly Christian- allegorical, more carefully adapted to the tastes of children. The seven volumes of the cycle are exciting. And the final scenes of «The Last Battle» are deeply moving. The third of these classic secondary worlds is in a sense not a creation of fantasy. The four volumes about the «Borrowers», with their brief pendant, «Poor Stainless», ask the reader to accept only a single impossibility, that in a quiet country house, under the grandfather clock, live the tiny Clock family: Pod, Homily, and their daughter Arrietty. All that follows from this premise is logical, precisely pictured, and carries absolute conviction. Many critics believe that this miniature world so lovingly, so patiently fashioned by Mary Norton will last as long as those located at the bottom of the rabbit hole and through the looking glass.
— Is it difficult for a person to have a hobby?
— No, I don’t think so. I can say that there are a lot of ways of spending one’s free time. I always have a lot to do in my leisure time. It is great to have some free time and do what is really pleasant.
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IELTS Mentor «IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer»
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IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe what you usually do in your leisure time.
and explain why you like to spend your free time this way.
Follow-up Questions:
Model Answer 1:
Finding little leisure time in this modern, tough and complicated world, where we are all so busy, is never an easy proposition. And, this holds true at least for me. So, whenever I manage some leisure time, I make sure that I do make the best use of it by visiting a nearby park.
Yes, as I’ve just mentioned, I like to visit a park, preferably having a lake in it, with some of my friends and neighbours whenever I get an opportunity (by the way, sometimes, I have to go alone because others may have different priorities). I also don’t forget to grab a food basket and a blanket/bed sheet for a lazy feast on the grassy lawn of the park unless, of course, it rains. Finally, accompany with us are some fishing rods and camera as well.
Anyway, once we arrive at the park, the first thing we do is to wander around in it for a while and warm ourselves up for the next big “thing”, which is taking pictures of different kinds of plants, as well as the local animal residents who are never scared to get “cosy” with us. Our picture taking activities, while wandering around, continue until we get tired and hungry. So, we just grab our food and eat them for as long as we could in a very lazy manner by sitting on the grassy park lawns. Food makes us even more tired and lazy, because of eating too much of it, but never tired enough to do our next significant thing, which is to do some fishing in the lake. Needless to say, of course, we seldom catch any fish, not even after making some “valiant” efforts.
I like to spend my leisure time in this way mainly because it perfectly fits with my “laidback” lifestyle. Besides, it allows me to get close to Mother Nature and to enjoy it while also doing some fun and recreational activities. Finally, it helps me recover from the hectic work schedules of a long week.
Sample Answer 2:
I have classes 5 days a week, I attend a diploma course on Computing and I do some tuitions as well and all of those activities and my study make my days busy. However, I maintain some leisure activities and in my day-off, I go through a different routine.
I love to read books and maintain my own blog. Whenever I get time either I read books or write/ moderate my blog. Besides reading and writing for my blog, I play some indoor games with my friends and family members like chess, computer games etc. If it’s an outdoor game, I play with my neighbours or friends.
I read books mostly in my study room and sometimes in the nearby library. I work on my computer to update my blogs. I mostly read fictions and historical books. The blog I maintain is mostly technology related and I add the details with images for my blog readers. Two friends of mine are now the moderator of this blog and they contribute to this blog as well.
I like to utilise my leisure time and enjoy very much what I do. Reading books is the most prudent investment of leisure time and I learn many things from reading. Maintaining a blog is a great way of improving the writing and sharing knowledge and that helps me greatly to explore new things as I need to read a lot to generate ideas to write.
The indoor game like chess is a great way of passing time and it also helps to do some brainstorming. I take part in the outdoor games to both enjoy the game and to keep my body and mind fresh and fit.
Part 3 – Two-way discussion:
Q. What types of leisure activities are popular in your country?
Q. Why it is important for people to have time for leisure activities?
Q. Why are some leisure activities more popular than others?
Q. Are the types of leisure activities that are popular today the same as those that were popular when your parents were young?
Q. What types of leisure activities may become more popular in the future?
Q. What type of leisure activities helpful for children? Why?
Q. Some people do not have any leisure activity. Why it is the case?
Tips for answering this cue card question:
Not necessarily you have to talk about one particular thing you do in your leisure time, you can say a combination of things you do in your leisure time like sometimes you surf the Internet, sometimes you go out for walking and sometimes you spend time with your family members and help them on their tasks.
People usually do their leisure activities from their interest, passion and need. So describe your reasons for doing things you do in your leisure time. Besides, you should describe how you enjoy doing it and how it is beneficial for you.
You should also be able to talk about the following cue card topics if you get prepared for this cue card:
1. Describe your hobby.
2. Describe how you like to spend your free time.
3. Talk about an activity you do.
4. Talk about how you spend your days-off.
5. Describe a thing you like to do.
6. Describe a healthy habit you have.
7. Describe how you help your family members.
8. Describe something you do besides your study or job.
9. Describe an outdoor activity you perform.
IELTS Mentor «IELTS Preparation & Sample Answer»
Nav view search
Navigation
Search
IELTS Speaking Part 2: IELTS Cue Card/ Candidate Task Card.
Describe what you usually do in your leisure time.
and explain why you like to spend your free time this way.
Follow-up Questions:
Model Answer 1:
Finding little leisure time in this modern, tough and complicated world, where we are all so busy, is never an easy proposition. And, this holds true at least for me. So, whenever I manage some leisure time, I make sure that I do make the best use of it by visiting a nearby park.
Yes, as I’ve just mentioned, I like to visit a park, preferably having a lake in it, with some of my friends and neighbours whenever I get an opportunity (by the way, sometimes, I have to go alone because others may have different priorities). I also don’t forget to grab a food basket and a blanket/bed sheet for a lazy feast on the grassy lawn of the park unless, of course, it rains. Finally, accompany with us are some fishing rods and camera as well.
Anyway, once we arrive at the park, the first thing we do is to wander around in it for a while and warm ourselves up for the next big “thing”, which is taking pictures of different kinds of plants, as well as the local animal residents who are never scared to get “cosy” with us. Our picture taking activities, while wandering around, continue until we get tired and hungry. So, we just grab our food and eat them for as long as we could in a very lazy manner by sitting on the grassy park lawns. Food makes us even more tired and lazy, because of eating too much of it, but never tired enough to do our next significant thing, which is to do some fishing in the lake. Needless to say, of course, we seldom catch any fish, not even after making some “valiant” efforts.
I like to spend my leisure time in this way mainly because it perfectly fits with my “laidback” lifestyle. Besides, it allows me to get close to Mother Nature and to enjoy it while also doing some fun and recreational activities. Finally, it helps me recover from the hectic work schedules of a long week.
Sample Answer 2:
I have classes 5 days a week, I attend a diploma course on Computing and I do some tuitions as well and all of those activities and my study make my days busy. However, I maintain some leisure activities and in my day-off, I go through a different routine.
I love to read books and maintain my own blog. Whenever I get time either I read books or write/ moderate my blog. Besides reading and writing for my blog, I play some indoor games with my friends and family members like chess, computer games etc. If it’s an outdoor game, I play with my neighbours or friends.
I read books mostly in my study room and sometimes in the nearby library. I work on my computer to update my blogs. I mostly read fictions and historical books. The blog I maintain is mostly technology related and I add the details with images for my blog readers. Two friends of mine are now the moderator of this blog and they contribute to this blog as well.
I like to utilise my leisure time and enjoy very much what I do. Reading books is the most prudent investment of leisure time and I learn many things from reading. Maintaining a blog is a great way of improving the writing and sharing knowledge and that helps me greatly to explore new things as I need to read a lot to generate ideas to write.
The indoor game like chess is a great way of passing time and it also helps to do some brainstorming. I take part in the outdoor games to both enjoy the game and to keep my body and mind fresh and fit.
Part 3 – Two-way discussion:
Q. What types of leisure activities are popular in your country?
Q. Why it is important for people to have time for leisure activities?
Q. Why are some leisure activities more popular than others?
Q. Are the types of leisure activities that are popular today the same as those that were popular when your parents were young?
Q. What types of leisure activities may become more popular in the future?
Q. What type of leisure activities helpful for children? Why?
Q. Some people do not have any leisure activity. Why it is the case?
Tips for answering this cue card question:
Not necessarily you have to talk about one particular thing you do in your leisure time, you can say a combination of things you do in your leisure time like sometimes you surf the Internet, sometimes you go out for walking and sometimes you spend time with your family members and help them on their tasks.
People usually do their leisure activities from their interest, passion and need. So describe your reasons for doing things you do in your leisure time. Besides, you should describe how you enjoy doing it and how it is beneficial for you.
You should also be able to talk about the following cue card topics if you get prepared for this cue card:
1. Describe your hobby.
2. Describe how you like to spend your free time.
3. Talk about an activity you do.
4. Talk about how you spend your days-off.
5. Describe a thing you like to do.
6. Describe a healthy habit you have.
7. Describe how you help your family members.
8. Describe something you do besides your study or job.
9. Describe an outdoor activity you perform.
Leisure or free time is a period of time spent out of work and domestic activity. It is also the period of recreational time before or after compulsory activities such as eating and sleeping, going to work or running a business, attending school and doing homework or housework. Leisure time is the time when you can forget about day-to-day stress and stressful activities and relax. These activities can be our hobby.
Nowadays people work all day long and rarely have spare time to rest and to do something they like. But if they have it they try to spend it in the way they prefer. And there are a lot of possibilities to do it perfect. There are plenty of things to do that can help you not to feel bored. Any activity is much better than doing nothing.
I’d like to notice that there are two main ways of spending free time: the one is to do some physical activities (often outdoors), for example, football, swimming, hockey, skiing; and another way is to enjoy something relaxing at home or in special places: reading, watching TV, knitting, engaging in hand-made. At any rate, hobby is a matter of taste, and everybody should choose it according to the personal preferences.
As for me, I like to pass my leisure time both in active and passive way. I really enjoy reading or watching films, because it’s always interesting, helpful and helps to relax, what is especially necessary after a long tiring day. Also I am fond of active sports, swimming, skiing or riding a bike from time to time, when it is possible. Sometimes you feel you need to escape from everyday worries and to do something no thought-provoking. In many cases I can’t let me doing anything very extraordinary, so I just go walking over long distances. It really helps to release the tension and refresh the mind.
To the point, the way how people pass their free time depends on the culture and social status. For example, American favorite leisure activity now is participating in experiences that they know aren’t real, they turn to imagination – to worlds created by others, such as books, games, movies and television. Also public researches show that the average amount of weekly free time of many people fell; while the average amount of time spent working is now up. It can be explained by the fact of extra time spent on mobile phones or computers, and infrastructure development (the problem of traffic gems in big cities). As well, preferences of people to spend their time have also changed over the past years: instead of team activities more and more people choose solo activities.
Following these simple advices you will never have a time to think about such problem as boredom.
As we all know, leisure time is one of the most important thing people can’t live without. It is a big part of our life, and it actually shows the character and temper of person. I can’t imagine a person who doesn’t have any hobbies and favorite activities, because it is really impossible. Our hobbies and habits make our lives, filling it up with variety of feelings and emotions. Each person chooses his own way of spending time, either active of passive, and in any case in should be a refreshment and a source of inspiration.