Hobbies - slovíčka
ballet dancing (subst.) - balet
pottery (subst.) - hrnčířství
pot-holing (subst.) - jeskyňářství
stamp collecting (subst.) - sbírání známek
glass blowing (subst.) - foukání skla
woodcarving (subst.) - řezbářství
brass rubbing (subst.) - grafika
flower arranging (subst.) - aranžování květin
bell ringing (subst.) - zvonkohra
hunting (subst.) - lovení
collecting fossils (subst.) - sbírání zkamenělin
debating (subst.) - debatování
film making (subst.) - filmování
folk dancing (subst.) - tancování folkových tanců
orienteering (subst.) - orientační běhání
collecting wild flowers (subst.) - sbírání divokých květin
train spotting (subst.) - ježdění vlakem
pony trekking (subst.) - ježdění na poníku
chess (subst.) - šachy
mountain climbing (subst.) - horolezení
Leisure time is the time that we spend the way we like to spend it, usually after all the work that we have to do is done. Leisure time is the time for fun, time for entertainment and the time for hobbies. Hobbies are the activities that people like to do in their free time. There are many different ways of spending free time and many types of hobbies too. Just for example, people like to go to cinema, theater, concerts, art exhibitions or going for a walk during their leisure time. Many of them like to spend their time practicing their hobbies. Those might be for example: doing sports, playing games, keeping pets, fishing, hunting, gardening, playing on instruments, doing exclusive sports or collecting things. Collecting some sort of objects is very traditional hobby. The object of collection might be picture postcards, matchbox labels, badges, flags, coins, phone cards, model cars or stamps. Collecting is one of the activities that became a life-long hobby for many people. There are collecting activities that seem to be interesting just for people in some countries. Like for example there is a big tradition of collecting the tee-spoons with the pictures of different states in USA. Americans like to collect those, but they also like to collect little bells with the pictures of different states, the car license plates and many different things that remind them of the countries, they visited. Many of the collecting activities are international so people from all around the world keep in tough and trade the objects of their collections. This is very typical for collecting stamps. There are many collectors clubs and some of them even have their own magazines.
Children, teenagers and adults hobbies usually differ. Children usually like to play with toys or collect them. That's the most common hobby that children have. Teenagers have usually much more hobbies then children. They have more choices to do thing because of their age too. Many teenagers like to do sports like soccer, tennis, baseball, hockey, track and field sports act.. Spending time with friends in a group is a very typical thing for teenagers. They like to go to disco, parties, pubs or watching movies in theater.
Adults don't have that much leisure time and time for activities usually. They have more to do during the day, like taking care of their family, household and doing their own job.
If they have some leisure time or time for hobbies, they usually like to spend it with their friends or family. They like to go cultural activities, dinners with their friends or doing things with their family such as traveling, going for walks act.. Older people don't make sports that much, but they like to do exercises to keep their bodies in a good shape. That's why many sports and games are considered as hobbies. The most common are cycling, hiking, swimming, exercising in fitness centers, walking and playing games outdoors. Some of the adults, who have more time for themselves like to do other activities that teenagers usually can't do because they don't have enough money to do those. These expensive activities are called exclusive sports. Only limited numbers of people practice these hobbies. Those might be for example: hot-air ballooning, hand-gliding and others. Keeping pets is one of the hobbies that all of these group like to do. Having a pat at home doesn't mean just having fun with it and playing with it. People who have pats at home should really understand them. Keeping pat requires a good knowledge of their behavior and habits.
I personally like to do many different things in my leisure time. I like to do all kinds of sports. I prefer playing soccer and tennis in the summer and skiing in the winter. There are other hobbies that I like to do too. I love fishing. Fishing is not only about getting a fish out of the water for me. I don't look at it that way. I love fishing, because it brings me closer to the nature and it makes me understand how everything works out there. It is very relaxing. I make one of the exclusive sports too. I like to scuba dive. I can't do it on my own, because this activity is pretty risky too. I can make this hobby just with my dad, who doesn't have much time for that though. I used to ski when I was younger but I got hurt later on and I could ski for a while, so I dumped it. Now I ski just for fun with my family. I also used to collect stamps and coins. I have a nice collection but I don't do much with it anymore. There are many activities that I would like to do in the future. For example I would like to collect exclusive cars, but I don't think that that's ever going to happen. I think that there are many cultural and social activities in my town and Slovakia too. You can do any sport you would like in Bratislava, you can go to cultural activities like art shows, theater shows, music festivals, vine festivals, sport events, cinemas act..
Then you can do hiking, going for walks, ski or bungee jumps in mountains in northern Slovakia. You can do swimming, fishing, sailing, scuba-diving and other activities on many lakes and rivers in this country. There are some many clubs too, but not many of them have enough money to do all the activities that they would like to do. I hope that this will change soon and that people in this country will have even better choice and opportunities for doing things in their leisure time. Traveling is another activity that individuals and families like to do in their leisure time. People like traveling, because it is a good opportunity for them to experience different cultures, people or climate. There is a big choice of trips and countries to go to. You can decide if you want to go to country with hot or cold weather, mountains or to the sea, you can decide if you want to stay in hotel or if you want to camp or how you want to travel. There are many choices in traveling. Traveling in some of the countries might be an exclusive activity too.
Hobbies are activities, which we do in our free time. There are so many types of hobbies one can choose for his or her own. Some hobbies are rather expensive, some are dangerous, some are very romantic, some are very time-consuming.
Typical men's hobbies: sport, stamps, watching football, ice hockey, motorbikes, cars, computers, Internet…
Typical women's hobbies: knitting, sawing, and going to galleries, theatres, cooking…
….but now men and women have often same hobbies.
The most common hobbies in our country are these:
Collecting hobbies
We can collect a lot of kinds of thing - usually people collect the stamps, postcards or badges, some people collect unusual things as old cars, plain models, old motorbikes or other interesting things, which could be very expensive.
Art hobbies
Going to the theatre, concert, opera; play some instrument (the most popular instrument is guitar); painting, writing, sculpturing, poetry, photography. There are many clubs - e.g. amateur dramatics, singing, dancing…
Sports, games
Everybody do some sport activity - sport is healthy, keep us fit and keep our condition. Many students are members of a sports club - athletics, basketball, volleyball, swimming, handball and judo.
Family hobbies
For example travelling, mushrooming, many families have their cottages and people spend lots of time there (tending to their gardens - they grow fresh and healthy fruit and vegetables, nice flowers - cutting grass and repairing the old house).
The other rather popular hobby is watching TV or a video, play computer or video games, but it is not so useful for your eyes and your mind. Many people here like to spend their leisure time reading books, magazines and newspapers. Some people prefer music to reading. Going out can be very expensive now.
My own hobbies
One of my best hobby was always sport. When I was about eitht, I started with skating. Later I begin skiing and it is still one of my best hobby, but now there aren´t good conditions for doing it. During basic school I have known collective games and from that time I went with my friends play footbal, floorbal, basketbal or voleybal. Now I have so little free time. I cannot devote as much time to sports as I used to. Now I sometimes play floorbal, foofbal or volleyball, especially during our Physical Training Lessons. From time to time I go to the local swimming pool. My other hobbies are listening music and playing guitar.
Many students would like to make use of their hobbies in their future jobs, e.g. working with a computer etc. but it is not so easy. Hobbies are very important for everybody. A man would be very poor without a hobby and would not be satisfied.
LEISURE TIME AND THE HOLIDAYS
1. Leisure time
Free time after work or study is called leisure time. It's the
time for fun and entertaiment. Going to the cinema, theatre,
concerts, arts exhibitions are the most usual ways of spending
free time. Some people especially the younger ones, prefer going
to parties, pubs, coffee bars, clubs and discos, others like to
stay at home watching TV, reading books or listening to a music.
Many people spend their leisure time practising their hobbies.
There are many types of hobbies. One of the traditional ones is
collecting of objects (stamps, pictures, postcards ...).It becomes
a lifelong hobby for many people. It's an international hobby,
too. There are colectors' clubs all over the world. Then there is
keeping pets. Especially the British people love animals and
almost every family has a pet, usually a cat or a dog who becomes
part of the family. Many British people also love gardening which
is still one of the most popular hobbies. they prefer living in
small houses to living in flats. The slogan "My house - my castle"
is a living truth for many British people.
Then there are hobbies practised by people who enjoy the art.
Drama acting, singing, dancing, pop-music playing in amateur
group are favorite activities of those who want to develop their
talent. Photography, painting and drawing are also hobbies of
art-loving people.
At present, more and more people of all ages are concerned with
their health and spend some of their leisure time doing exercises
to keep themselves fit. For this reason many sports and games are
practised as hobbies. For those who prefer physical exercises
indoor, body-building and fitness centres are opening up all over
the world. They help people to stay healthy and fit. The same
result can be achieved by walking, jogging, swimming and aerobic
which are also useful, effective and very popular ways of spending
time.
Stress seems to be a predominant ingredient of human existence. No matter how old a person is, one is forever chasing goals. Sad, but true, even kindergarten kids are under pressure to excel in their class. They are burdened with more to learn. And as a child grows academically competition increases, which causes even more stress. Amongst adolescents there is a need to work and study at the same time in order to get that plum job after university. Adults are busy making a living. And in this rat race called life, one just forgets themselves.
Hobby is any leisure activity that diverts an individual from their daily strenuous like. Or it also plays the role of keeping the unoccupied, occupied with something to do. As, in the latter case an empty mind is a devil's workshop. Indulging in a hobby actually does away with the boredom that sets in due to the monotonous life one gets used to. Certain hobbies also help release pent-up frustrations.
One can indulge in varied hobbies depending on one's interests. There are some who enjoy collecting objects such as coins, stamps, baseball cards, etc. There are certain leisure activities that relax a person completely such as listening to music, reading a book and writing a diary. Some people like interactive hobbies such as chatting online, visiting a club so as to socialize, go dancing, talking on the phone, etc. For the energetic there are sports and games such as tennis, table-tennis, gold, badminton, cricket, etc.
Whatever the hobby maybe, it should be an activity that de-stresses and not add onto stress. There are many who make a living out of their hobbies. For instance, homemakers who enjoy cooking, have either started cooking classes at home or then catering services. There are others who make artifacts like artificial flowers, candles, wall-hangings, etc., and either teach how to make them or sell their own products.
If earning a living and forging ahead in this competitive world is a necessity, then maintaining a healthy mind and body is far more essential. Picking up a hobby and spending some time each week keeps the mind and body fit for all battles and struggles like offers.