Lesson 15: Hobbies
Hobbies and Recreation are the best topics to open up a friendly conversation. This lesson will teach you the basic vocabularies and dialogs in regard to hobbies in Chinese. Playing sports and sing songs in KTV are the two most popular recreational activities in China today.
Since the "hobbies" topic covers a wide range of categories, we have created a seperate section (Section VI - Entertainmnet) to describe the details on individual activites: Shopping, dinning, bar, coffee shop and travelling. Finish this lesson first and the rest of them will be easier to follow.
Vocabulary:
| Chinese Character | Pinyin | Pronunciation | English Translation | |
| 周末 | zhōu mò | Weekend | ||
| 周 | zhōu | Zhou dynasty; circumference | ||
| 末 | mò | final, last, end; insignificant | ||
| 喜欢 | xǐ huān | like, love, enjoy | ||
| 喜 | xǐ | like, love, enjoy; joyful thing | ||
| 欢 | huān | happy, pleased, glad; joy; enjoy | ||
| 打球 | dǎ qíu | play (ball related) sports | ||
| 打 | dǎ | strike, hit, beat; fight; attack | ||
| 球 | qíu | ball, sphere, globe; round | ||
| 电视 | diàn shì | television | ||
| 视 | shì | look at, inspect, observe, see | ||
| 唱歌 | chàng gē | sing songs | ||
| 唱 | chàng | sing, chant, call; ditty, song | ||
| 歌 | gē | song, lyrics; sing, chant; praise | ||
| 跳舞 | tiào wǔ | dance | ||
| 跳 | tiào | jump, leap, vault, bounce; dance | ||
| 舞 | wǔ | dance, posture, prance | ||
| 听 | tīng | hear; understand; obey, comply | ||
| 音乐 | yīn yuè | music | ||
| 音 | yīn | sound, tone, pitch, pronunciation | ||
| 乐 | yuè | happy, glad; enjoyable; music | ||
Tips:
- The Chinese vocabularies of hobbies or activities are often constructed by a verb which describes how is the activity excuted, followed by a noun which is the name of the activity. (e.g. "play soccer" = "kick" + "football" = "ti zu qiu" = 踢足球, "go for bubble tea" = "drink" + "bubble tea" = "he nai cha" = 喝奶茶, "
- Many ball related sports can use the verb "hit / beat" = "da" = 打, to describe (except soccer), and the word "ball" = "qiu" = 球 to end. (e.g. "play basketball" = "打" + 篮 + "球", "play badminton" = "打“ + 羽毛 + "球", "play tennis" = "打“ + 网 + "球", and "play golf" = "打" + 高尔夫 + "球"). More of sports related vocabularies will be introduced in lesson 33.
Dialog:
Click to hear the above dialog.
English Translation:
What do you like to do on the weekend?
I like to play (ball related) sports, watch TV. How about you?
I like to sing, dance, an listen to music.
Do you like to watch movie?
Yes, I do.
Then how about let's goto a movie tonight?
OK!
Chinese Calligraphy:
周 末 喜 欢 打 球 电 视 唱 歌 跳 舞 听 音 乐 怎 样
Questions and Comments
