4.1. Free time

En la sección anterior, hemos visto cómo hablar sobre acciones que se están realizando justo ahora. Para ello usamos el Presente Continuo. Ahora vamos a revisar cómo hablar de nuestro tiempo libre y de las actividades que nos gusta o no nos gusta hacer. Revisa las actividades del tiempo libre más comunes pinchando en este enlace.

TIEMPO LIBRE / FREE TIME

Actividad de Lectura

Lee el siguiente diálogo entre Kathy y su profesor de español:
Girl
Fotografía en Flickr de Paulo Brandão bajo CC

Teacher: So Kathy, why are you learning Spanish?

Kathy: Well, I'm married to Manuel, my husband, and he is Spanish. So now I'm learning because I really want to talk to my husband's family, his parents and so on. They don't speak English so.....

Teacher: And you don't speak Spanish?

Kathy: Well, I can only say "hola" and "adiós".

Teacher: Well Kathy, tell me about your hobbies and interests.

Kathy: Oh, I like learning languages and I love reading books. Mystery books are my favourites. My husband also enjoys reading, but not books, he reads things on the Internet. I love European cinema but I hate watching American movies, they are too comercial.

Teacher: And do you practise sports?

Kathy: Sure, I like swimming very much. Besides, I do judo twice a week.

Teacher: Don't you like team sports?

Kathy: No, not much. I don't like playing in teams and I hate football.

Actividad

Como has leído en el diálogo anterior, Kathy habla un poco sobre sus aficiones. En inglés usamos varios verbos para expresar lo que nos gusta o nos gusta: Like (gustar), love (encantar), hate (odiar) ,prefer (preferir), don't like (no gustar). Estos verbos pueden ir seguidos de un nombre o de un verbo con la terminación -ing. Fïjate:

Jake likes fast cars (A Jake le gustan los coches rápidos)

Jake loves driving fast cars (A Jake le encanta conducir coches rápidos)

En español, traducimos el verbo terminado en -ing como un infinitivo. El verbo like (gustar) en inglés, no es reflexivo aunque en español se traduzca de esa manera.

A Kate le gustan los deportes, ¿cuántas actividades deportivas conoces en inglés? Aquí tienes un listado:

football fútbol
basketball baloncesto
swimming natación
golf golf
hiking hacer senderismo
surfing hacer surf
horse-riding montar a caballo
aerobics hacer aerobic
gymnastics hacer gimnasia
judo judo
karate karate
camping ir de acampada
chess ajedrez
cards cartas
darts dardos
tennis tenis
computer games
juegos de ordenador
canoeing ir en canoa
ice-skating patinaje sobre hielo
running correr

Las actividades de ocio y tiempo libre, pueden ir en inglés con tres verbos: play, go, do. ¿Cuándo usamos cada uno? Bien, fíjate en el siguiente cuadro resumen:

PLAY

Se usa con deportes de equipo, con reglamento o para torneos.

We need two people to play tennis

GO

Con actividades que terminan en -ing como camping, swimming...

Pete and Joe go swimming together

DO

Todas las demás actividades recreativas.

I do gymnastics at school

Actividad de Lectura

Lee el siguiente texto sobre cómo los británicos disfrutan de su tiempo libre:

How British spend their free time?

 

London Eye

Fotografía en Flickr de Harshil Sha bajo CC

The weekends are a time for families in Britain. Saturdays are a busy time for shops with many families going shopping.

People enjoy various indoor and outdoor activities in Britain. People in Britain spend about 45% of their free time watching television, 24% of their free time socializing, 22-23% on sport and hobbies, and 10% on other activities. Other popular leisure activities are listening to the radio, listening to pre-recorded music, reading, DIY, gardening, eating out and going to the cinema.

The most common leisure activity in the UK is watching television. The average viewing time is 25 hours per person per week. Almost all households have at least one television set. Many television programmes are about wildlife, animals, holidays, cooking and gardening.

The second most popular activity in Britain is visiting or entertaining friends or relations. Britons also make lots of visits to the cinema making it the most popular cultural activity in the UK. Eating out is also very popular, with British people spending an average of £5.63 per person per week on food (excluding alcohol) outside the home.

The British are a nation of gardeners. Most people have a garden on their property. Gardening is a popular pastime since Roman times. Many people in Britain are proud of their houses and gardens. They want their houses and gardens to look nice. Every town in Britain has one or more DIY (Do it Yourself) centres and garden centres. These are like supermarkets for the home and garden. These places are very popular with British home-owners at the weekends.

Saturday is traditionally the day for shopping and watching sports. Sports and physical recreation are very popular. Local governments provide cheap sport and leisure facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, parks and golf courses. People go to watch other people play sports like football or take part in sports themselves.

Texto basado en el original de Woodlands Junior School

Para leer su traducción pincha en el siguiente icono: