Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajuma]

Do real people actually say this any more, or is it just used in conversation textbooks? Seriously, outside of Korean classrooms, have you ever been asked this question?

I'm trying to get my students to ask questions like:
What are you into? What do you like to do? What do you do for fun? instead of the textbook "What is your hobby?"

Opinions?

[ChilgokBlackHole]

If I, if *I* were king of the forest... I would make the conversation go like this:

"So what do you do?"

"I'm a student."

"So when you're not busy being a student, what do you do?"

[grant gerstners]

I'm wondering if your thought is that the question, 1. "What are your hobbies"? may sound at least a bit archaic to young ears, and therefore generates a feeling of at least slight awkwardness. If so, I would agree.

Still, one of the chain stores in the USA is called Hobby Lobby and sells a bunch of crafts items for people who engage in various hobbies. Job applications sometimes have a section for "interests and hobbies". Understanding the word "hobby" and it's common usage is appropriate at some point for students learning English.

I prefer the question: 2. "What do you do in your free time?"

Questions 1. & 2. are not completely equivalent, because people do things in their free time that aren't strictly-speaking hobbies (e.g. spending time with family).

[grant gerstners]

Do real people actually say this any more...have you ever been asked this question?

Reply: In my experience, "What is your hobby?" is a rare question.
-------------------
I'm trying to get my students to ask questions like:
What are you into?

Reply: Although real people actually ask this question, to "be into" something is non-standard usage. "Into" in my dictionary, is a preposition, but I don't think it has that function in the question "What are you into?"

It would probably confuse non-native speakers to teach this at all, since people and things "go into" a place. Is the usage "be into something", as in "I am into ceramics", best left for learning outside of class; or at least a section on slang and other non-standard usage?
-------------------
What do you do for fun?

Reply: I think this question is fine. But I wonder about getting the abstract idea of "fun" across in a way that assures that students really connect it to the concrete experience of "fun" and know what the word really means and how/when to use it.

[lifeinkorea]

Depends how you want to teach. If I was in the US and I was teaching students who would go out and actually use the English I taught them outside of class, then I would teach variations.

However, these students are not going to care how to paraphrase stuff unless it's on a test.

I think "What IS your hobby?" is strange because we usually enjoy several things. So, "What ARE your hobbies?" makes more sense to me.

I would rather use this than the annoying "What do you do for fun?" question. This implies you don't live a fun life already and have to do something else to "have fun". I don't know, I am just not into that kind of thinking.

Words like "prefer", "I like to___", "I like (verb) +ing", and "interests" could be taught instead and have practical use in future lessons.

[djsmnc]

[The Cosmic Hum]

lifeinkorea wrote:

[VanIslander]

I have NEVER heard nor seen the question "What is your hobby?" in my life until coming to Korea and thought it very odd in the singular. The query "What are your hobbies?" has been on a few job applications back home.

[frankly speaking]

Most Koreans will use English more often with non native English speakers so word choices and phrases that are easily understood are best.

My first two choices would be:
What do you like to do?
What are your hobbies? Never what is.

"What are you in to?" sounds almost too slang and might be common regional communication but not everyone will understand it unless they are a native speaker.

I think that they sound pretty natural when talking to other native speakers.

I don't think:
What do you do in your free time?"
is natural at all. I don't think that I have ever heard this structure between two native speakers.

Native speakers will use it with non native speakers, but I don't think that it is common in natural communication.

[raewon]

I asked a similar question last year. Here are the replies I got:

[Troglodyte]

I would never say "What is your hobby?" It implies that you only have one (and that you indeed even HAVE a hobby). And it just sounds strange to me. At a job interview "What ARE your hobbies?" might be used, but I can't imagine using it in a conversation unless I was on a blind date or something. I think that I more commonly use "What do you do for fun?" or "What do you do in your free time?" or even "Do you have any hobbies?" I think that "What are you into?" is a bit to colloquial and specific to a younger generation, but I don't doubt that any native speaker would understand it. It's just a matter of WHO would say that (i.e. mainly young people). Although I do say "What kind of music are you into?" "What kind of girls are you into?" "What kind of food are you into?" etc.

[Goon-Yang]

Come on OP (T). Koreans always prefer whatever garbage they learn from their book.

How are tings on the other side of Asan?