Manuals > General English > Rosetta Stone Advantage > Elementary - Book 2 > Lesson 3
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By the end of the lesson, the student should be able to ask and answer questions about their hobbies
Communication strategies:
The student should be able to talk about their hobbies using the following strategy:
1) ask someone what their hobbies are
2) comment on their hobbies.
3) state what your hobbies are (try to find a shared interest)
4) share some information about your hobby
e.g.
A) What do you do for fun?
B) I like travelling. Last month I went to Italy.
A) Cool! I love travelling too. What's your favorite place to go to in Italy? Mine is Rome.
Words and rules:
- The student should be able to use verbs and gerunds together e.g. I like dancing.
- The student should be able to express reasons. e.g. I don't really like cheese. I don't like the taste.
Appropriateness:
Non-verbal behaviour: NA
Register: When talking about hobbies a casual register is usually used.
Social rules: When starting a conversation with a new person at a party, it's common to comment on something that affects both people. (The role-play in the lesson is at a party.)
- topic: the party - Are you having a good time?
- topic: friends - You're Ben's friend, right?
- topic: new person - Hi, have we met?
Cultural references: Some people don't think of hobbies as hobbies. Some people just have habits e.g. playing on their phone, or watching TV - they don't necessarily think of them as hobbies.
Track #5
I like surfing. I really like surfing in Australia and Hawaii. I don’t like
cooking very much. I usually eat out.
Track #6
My sister loves listening to music. She loves house music and R&B but
she hates country music.
Track #7
My whole family is into sports. My brothers love playing baseball, but I
don’t really like baseball. I like playing tennis.
Because the lesson touches on the topic of hobbies, you are welcome to introduce some of the following vocabulary if you like.
1) photography (n)
2) baking (n)
3) exploring Tokyo (n)
4) sewing (n)
5) relaxing with a good book (n)
6) playing on my phone (n)
7) arts and crafts (n)
8) watching Netflix (n)
9) working on my car (n)
10) fishing (n)
Option 1:
Difficulty ★★
Type: Let's start - Warm-up discussion
Purpose: Steering the student into the goal of the lesson before opening the book.
Method: Before you open the book, take turns listing some different hobbies you do. Discuss how often you do them, why you started, how long you have been doing them etc.
e.g. I love playing soccer. I usually play soccer once a week. I started playing soccer because my friends at school played it. I have been playing soccer now for about 10 years.
Option 2:
Difficulty ★★
Type: Let's practice - Free practice activity
Purpose:
Explaining why we don’t like something
Method:
Explain to the student that when we say we don’t like something, it’s quite common to give a reason why or to state what we like doing instead. Practice explaining why you don’t like different things with the student.
e.g.
- I’m not really interested in playing sports. I much prefer watching them on TV.
- I don’t really like cooking. It’s just not my thing. I do like eating, though.
- I don’t really like anime. I think it’s a little childish. I prefer watching movies.
- I’m not all that into playing PC games. They are a little nerdy. I do like playing games on my smartphone, though.
Naruhodo point
You can use “quite” or “really” to add extra emphasis when talking about your hobbies.
e.g. I quite like playing tennis.
Extra questions you might like to ask in the lesson
- When did you start?
- Why did you take up dancing?
- How long have you been doing that for?
- Why do you like it?
- Are there any new hobbies you’d like to try?
A speaking hint you might like to use
AAA (Answer > Add > Ask)
> Feel free to use this speaking hint in the “Let’s Practice” / “Let’s Speak” sections of the lesson
e.g. What are you into?
ANSWER: I love dancing.
ADD:
My favorite style is hip hop.
ASK: How about you? Do you like dancing?
Let’s try
Track #5
She likes surfing. She doesn’t like cooking.
Track #6
His sister loves listening to music. She loves house music and R&B but she hates country music.
Track #7
She doesn’t really like baseball. She likes playing tennis.
Let’s practice
Content
Likes
• museums
• reading history books
• wine tasting
Dislikes
• heavy metal
• reality TV
• watching NASCAR
Expected outcome
A) What do you do for fun?
B) I really like going to museums. I usually go to the museums once or twice a month. I also enjoy wine tasting. My favorite wines are red wines. And, I quite like reading history books. I just finished reading a book about the civil war.
A) Do you like heavy metal?
B) Not really. I much prefer country music.
A) What kind of TV shows do you like?
B) I like comedies. A lot of my friends like reality TV, but I don’t really like it.
A) Do you like NASCAR?
B) No, I’m not really into NASCAR.
Let’s speak
Note to teachers
For the final role-play in the lesson, the teacher should play multiple roles. This is designed to give the student multiple chances to practice asking about people’s hobbies. The role-play can be easier if the student approaches a group of people and asks them about their hobby instead of going around all the people at the party. This lets you skip starting and finishing a conversation with the different people.
Talking to different people at a party about their hobbies.
A) Hey. Are you having a good time?
B) Yeah. It’s a great party.
A) I’m Dave.
B) Hi Dave. I’m Chris.
C) Hi Dave. I’m Steve
A) So, Chris. What do you do for fun?
B) I love watching movies. I usually go to the cinema two or three times a month. How about you?
A) Me? I really like playing video games. My favorite game at the moment is Mario Kart.
B) Cool.
A) How about you Steve? Do you like video games?
C) Not really, I’m more into sports.
B) What sports do you play?
C) Soccer and Tennis.
B) Cool.