Free time / Art and Culture

It’s agreed that we all need some time to relax, to switch off from our everyday routine or
stress. It depends on our personality how we spend our free time. We are often stressed and
tired, adults often do / work overtime, children study a lot at school. We need to relax at the
weekend, so we can start the new week renewed. Some people like spending some time alone,
for example reading something. Others like active ways of entertainment, like doing sports,
going out or eating out with friends.

A hobby is an activity that you like doing and do quite often. Hobbies are a form of
recreation. If you have a hobby, it’s easier to regain energy after a hard day’s work.
Depending on the type of the hobby, you can also make friends.

People can have either indoor or outdoor hobbies. Sport is often done as a kind of relaxation.
What I think important, in connection with hobbies and free time activities, that is has be
different from our everyday routine so that it can switch us off.

Indoor hobbies can be for example playing cards or chess, elder people like doing
crosswords. Young boys play computer games. Reading or watching films or series can be a
kind of hobby as well.

Outdoor hobbies are doing sports, like jogging and cycling, going swimming, playing some
kind of ballgames, hiking in the mountains.

I think men and women usually have different kinds of hobbies, for example, very few
women go fishing and they are not really interested in extreme sports, either. Men often play
football, go fishing or hunting others like watching sport on TV. Watching football and
handball matches and Formula1 is a quite popular free time activity among men. On the other
hand, men generally aren’t interested in needlework or just talking. Women __like / prefer__
meeting their friends, drinking coffee and talking about their lives, families, problems.

In my opinion both men and women do gardening but they tend to do different jobs in the
garden. Women like dealing with flowers, plant new varieties and they design the whole
garden. Men usually mow the lawn.

Watching TV / Films / Cinema

With the appearance of applications like Netflix and the internet channels like youtube,
watching television and TV channels have become quite unpopular these days. People
nowadays ( mostly younger generation ) tend to watch films Netflix and they follow the news
on internet forums. The problem with commercial channels is that films and broadcasts are
often interrupted by advertisements, which is really annoying. However, channels like
Cartoon network or Nickelodeon are really gripping and fun for young children; or watching
the news on BBC or CNN can not only widen your point of view but also improve your
English as well.
Letting children watch films on TV or on the internet sites can be really dangerous. Children
need parental control and a supervision with everything. Films, broadcasts often have content
that is not appropriate for children. They often use bad language, have sexual content,
violence that children at young age are not prepared and ready for. I believe that it’s the
parents’ responsibility to control what their children watch.

Films

Films are made to entertain people, to make people think, feel, laugh or cry. They take people
to places and times where they can’t go in real life, films break us away from reality.
Depending on your personality and your interest, you can watch true-story-based films,
drams, comedies, thrillers, science fiction, war films or adventure films. Films often deal with
great human feelings, like love loyalty, faithfulness, revenge or forgiveness. Some people are
amazed by computer technology, they admire strange but lovely creatures, like in Star Wars.

A good film is gripping and exciting, for some people it’s important that a film is moving,
spectacular, or full of twists and turns of events. Most of us don’t like slow and predictable
films.

Nowadays more and more people tend to watch films on applications like Netflix, as it is
comfortable and easy to use. You can watch any types of films whenever you want to, you
can choose among hundreds of films as series in your home. You need a subscription
( előfizetés ) and you can enjoy as many films as you want. You can choose if a film is
subtitled or dubbed.

Going to the cinema to watch the latest films is still one of people’s favourite free time
activities. Films are shown on a huge screen, often with 3D effects, they may have subtitles or
be dubbed. To improve the atmosphere of the films, the producers use a lot of special effects
(music, sound, light, voices, 3D effect, stunts). Excellent films win an Oscar at the film
festival where actors are often awarded an Oscar for an excellent performance.

Going to the theatre is more fun among middle aged people, I guess. My grandmother and
my mother have season tickents for the performances of the Theatre in Kecskemét, the are
keen on watching the actors and actresses on stage. Musicals are popular among families with
young children. Musicals like Mary Poppins, Joseph, or The Boys from Pál Street are visited
by hundreds of people each year. These performances are spectacular with a lot of dancing
and singing and the plot is usually simple but nice and gripping.
I was in theatre 2 years ago and I saw The Boys from Pál street on stage. I liked it because
I’m fond of its music, I enjoyed following the plot, although I knew the storyline.

Reading ( books, blogs, e-books )

We have to admit that reading has become less popular among teenagers, as most of them
prefer watching films or series. They think it’s easier to watch a good film, they find reading
boring. On one hand it’s quite worrying, I think. Teenagers’ lives are fast, they don’t like
using their phantasy, they choose the easier way for entertainment. On the other hand, I think
compulsory literature can be one reason why children don’t enjoy reading. I think compulsory
books are often boring, I don’t understand why the books hasn’t been changed over the years.
I think elective literature could be the solution for this problem, I mean we should choose
what we would like to read.

People, who like reading can enjoy a wide range of books, including novels, science fictions,
crime stories, dramas. Books take them away from reality, they take them to another world. A
lot of book lovers have e-books. It’s cheaper to read e-books, than buying real books, but
some people don’t like them as they don’t give the feeling as real books. Teenagers on the
other hand read and follow a lot of blogs on the internet. They choose the topics and themes
that they are interested in, and they read a lot of comments, articles in connection with their
favourite topics.

Unfortunately, I don’t read too much nowadays. I used to read more when I was younger. I
really enjoyed the Geronimo books, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and some books of Leiner
Laura. But nowadays prefer watching series on Netflix. It’s simpler and more comfortable for
me after a tiring day at school.

Music

Actually, music is always around us somehow. We used to listen to our mother’s songs and
lullabies when we were babies, we learned different songs in the kindergarten and during
music lessons in primary and secondary schools as well. Many children at younger age start
learning how to play a musical instrument. They learn to play the piano, the guitar, the violin
or the drums but only a few of them become professional musicians. But everyone likes
listening to some kind of music. Depending on our age, our taste in music is quite different.
Youngsters like listening to loud music, it can be rock, pop, rap or instrumental music. Adults
often listen to their favourites as background music while doing housework. Many people
enjoy classical music and operas. Most of us like dancing as well.

I can’t imagine my life without music, my ears are often plugged in. In summertime I like
visiting concerts and smaller festivals, when I can enjoy music together. Summer festivals are
socio-cultural events, they are about togetherness; besides experiencing live music and the
performance of your favourite band.

Famous musicians can influence young people both in positive and negative ways. As they
often serve as role models, some of them have become iconic in their life, teenagers and fans
imitate them. They copy their looks, they have similar piercings or tattoos, wear similar
clothes and start behaving like them. But on the other hand, among musicians there are a lot
of outcasts, deviant people, media-created celebrities, who drink, take drugs and behave
aggressively. They influence young people in a bad way, as fans think this is trendy and they
should behave like their idols.

In my free time I usually ......

I sometimes....

In winter I like ....

In the summer holiday I enjoy.....

Last time I ......

Culture and Art

Culture and art add aesthetic value __to_ our lives. Cultural events, exhibitions, concerts are
ways how people __spend__ their free time. Art is a way of communicating feelings. Artists
express themselves in many ways. You can enjoy arts at different places such ___as___
museums, art galleries, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, churches, castles etc.

Artists are people who ___are_ gifted in arts, like actors, musicians, conductors, composers,
painters, sculptors, writers and poets. There are not only artists, but there are people who
enjoy visiting and watching their creations.

Folklore is important in a certain folk's or in a nation’s life. Traditions, folkways, folk songs
are ___parts_ of the culture as well. Villages also hold so-called village days annually.

Nowadays people prefer watching a movie to reading a book. It doesn't consume so much
time and tickets ( fimls at home ) are even cheaper than a book itself.

Fields of arts:

-theatre –Theatregoers can enjoy live performances __on_ stage, they can watch drama,
comedies, tragedies or a musical.

- cinema - films are shown on the screen, they _______may_ have subtitles or may be
dubbed. To improve the atmosphere of the films, the producers use __a__ lot of special
effects (music, sound, light, voices, 3D effect, stunts). Excellent films _____win__ an Oscar
at the film festival where actors are often awarded an Oscar for an excellent performance

- music: classical, rock, jazz, country, music, pop, folk music can be a hobby, a profession
but it’s definitely the part of our lives. It accompanies ___us__ in our entire life. Mothers
_____sing___ their babies some lullabies, on their way to school kids have their headphones
on and listen to their favourite music. Music is usually around as a background noise, it makes
people calms down or helps to release stress.

-literature - novels, short stories, drama, biography, poetry is the art of writing. Among
literary works are some novels and ___short__ stories, but also biographies and memoirs can
____be _ regarded as part of cultural heritage. It is said that writing requires some kind of
writing talent, therefore it is the art of creating sentences, paragraphs and even non-existing
worlds. 

- architecture - in the past people used ____to__ build splendid buildings to show the
importance and wealth of their owners. Some places are rich ____in __ castles, churches,
cathedrals, others are rich in pyramids, towers and bridges. Famous cities and capitals like
Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Prague are visited ____by__ tourists in every season of the year.

- painting - People often ____say / think_ that visiting galleries and museums is only for the
older people. Of course, it __takes__ some time to go through the place and see all the
paintings. It requires patience and some knowledge if you want to admire what is displayed.
The paintings may vary from the abstract paintings through sceneries, portraits such as Mona
Lisa. Nowadays, body painting and tattoo are quite popular among young people.

- tattoo - Some people consider tattooing and graffity ___as___ art, however, for the others it
is just a destructing activity. People with tattoos attract our attention, and the reactions vary
from the positive (independent, creative, trendy, tough) to the negative ones (crazy, absent-
minded). 

Places:

- art gallery – we can see exhibitions of classical or modern art there (e.g. exhibitions of
photographs, paintings, sculptures, book illustrations etc.)

- museum – we can learn there about the history of a country or about the history of the
whole world. You can see also exhibitions of things which show us how people lived in the
past.