Speaking Cycle 5: Unusual Hobbies

1. Activating

· What different kinds of hobbies do people normally have?

· Why do people enjoy hobbies like these?

2. Sharing

· Think of some examples of hobbies you have or used to have.

· Work in groups of three. Tell your group about your present and past hobbbies. As you listen to your partners, decide if you've ever had any similar hobbies.

3. Preparing

· Choose one hobby (present or past, and if possible an unusual one) of one member of your group. One of you is going to tell the rest of the class about this hobby (it doesn't matter if the person who speaks is the person whose hobby it is or if they talk about a hobby of someone else in their group).

· Spend 15 minutes, as a group, preparing what the speaker is going to say. Think about a) information, such as what the hobby is/was; when and why the person took up the hobby; what the hobby involves; how the person felt about the hobby when they first took it up, and how they feel about it now; and whether they would recommend the hobby to other people; and b) the organisation and structure of what the speaker will say.

4. Performing

· The speaker from each group talks to the rest of the class.

· As you are listening to other speakers, try to answer the following questions.

a) What was the hobby each speaker talked about?

b) When and why did the person take up the hobby in each case?

c) What does the hobby involve?

d) How has the way each person feels about the hobby changed since they first took it up?

e) How would you feel about trying each of the hobbies yourself?

5. Reporting

· When you have heard the speaker from each group, check your answers to the questions with the other members of your group.

· As a group, decide which of the hobbies you have heard about is, in your opinion, the most unusual.