Last week I asked you to vote on which of three different questions we should work on next. The opinion question was the most popular choice:
Popular hobbies and interests change over time and are more a reflection of trends and fashions than an indication of what individuals really want to do in their spare time. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Tip: start by thinking of examples.
For this type of question, I would begin by listing some hobbies or interests. Here are the first six that came into my head:
- playing / watching football
- swimming
- jogging / running
- going to the gym
- reading
- playing computer games
Next, we can decide whether or not these are hobbies that change over time. What do you think? Are these hobbies just short-term trends?
People hold different views about the impacts of trends and fashions on the public's hobbies. While I agree with the point that present fashions do have influence on people's choice for interests during the spare time, I do believe that the public are prone to do what really attract them.
Posted by: Claire | January 03, 2019 at 01:14
It is said that popular hobbies vary from time to time and compared with individuals' interests, trends and fashions would play a major role in determining which hobby would be prevalent in a period of time. However, is it real? From my experience, it just only seems to be like that, but it is peoples'love that is the dominant factor forming the popularity of a hobby and an interest.
Posted by: he li | January 03, 2019 at 03:07
The popularity of hobbies and interests varies from time to time. While people think that it is mostly influenced by fashions and trends, I believe that most people choosing their pastime based on what they enjoy most.
Posted by: cherchun | January 03, 2019 at 04:22
There are people who believe that traditional hobbies and interests are short-term hobbies. They think that people continue to enjoy popular hobbies and interests because they reflect trends and fashions, but I completely disagree with this point of view. Playing football, swimming and going to the gym are important for health, people like it, and they really want to do these activities in their spare time
Posted by: ilkin | January 03, 2019 at 05:54
This is very tricky question.
From introduction of some guys, I see that some of you are going to write about influence of modern fashions and trends on people's hobbies and interests.
Does questions ask us this?
Waiting for Simon's instructions :)
Posted by: ilkin | January 03, 2019 at 05:59
Hi Simon, may seek for your advice on this opinion topic.
Writing Task 2:
Some people prefer to live in a house, while others feel that there are more advantages to living in an apartment.
Are there more advantages than disadvantages of living in a house compared with living in an apartment?
My question:
Is it alright if I pick on side " The advantages of living in an apartment" to discuss for the whole essay?
Thank you.
Posted by: Kathy | January 03, 2019 at 08:47
FROM SIMON:
Slow down guys! I didn’t ask for introductions yet. Let’s take the time to consider some examples of hobbies and interests. This will help us to form an opinion that we can explain and back up.
Perhaps you could list some hobbies that seem like passing trends, and then list some hobbies that have been around for many years.
Posted by: Simon | January 03, 2019 at 08:55
playing mahjong
singing in a karaoke room
surfing the internet in an internet café
drinking in the bar
going fish
playing Texas Hold'em
Posted by: he li | January 03, 2019 at 09:27
I would say no because Football (as you mentioned above) is one of the examples of an all-time favorite sport to me and is called "King sport" to the whole world. However, "going to the gym" and "playing the computer games" are popular recently by the development of the modern devices. Therefore, I partly agree with the mentioned idea.
Posted by: Hagii | January 03, 2019 at 10:24
I would like to share my hobby list here :
Reading cartoon online
Listening to classical music
Decorating my room
Cooking
Playing games
Running etc.
I am a type of person that enjoy solo-hobbies. They almost can be done by myself.
Posted by: hwajin | January 03, 2019 at 10:53
There are people who believe that traditional hobbies and interests are short-term hobbies. They think that people continue to enjoy popular hobbies and interests because they reflect trends and fashions, but I completely disagree with this point of view. People play football, swim and going to the gym because they really want to do these activities in their spare time.
Even though some people say that people’s hobbies and interests change over time and gradually become in line with modern trends, I believe that there are some major hobbies that people really enjoy when doing. Playing football, swimming and going to the gym have always been in the top list of many people because they are good for health. They do this not in purpose of catching up with modern trends and fashions, but for their own health.
In addition, people like to be in good mental condition. Whether hobbies and interests are fashionable or not people choose those that help them to relieve stress and become happy. Traditional and fundamental activities, such as jogging and running, allow people to rest after stressful working day. Jogging and running help train the mind as they train the body. It would be absurd to go to disco or fashion show, where lights and sounds of such events affect negatively attenders, to train the mind.
In conclusion, popular hobbies and interests do not change over time. Many people do various type of sports because sport is good for their physical and mental health, but not because of modern society’s requirement.
Posted by: ilkin | January 03, 2019 at 11:26
walking
reading
pilates/joga
online games
online socializing
Posted by: Pri | January 03, 2019 at 12:20
It is said that popular hobbies vary from time to time and compared with individuals' interest, trends and fashions would play a major role in determining which leisure activity would be prevalent in a period of time. However, is it real? From my experience, it is exactly people's personalities that acts as the dominant factor to form the popularity of a hobby and an interest which exists in a stable way without getting any substantial influences brought by trends and fashions.
On the one hand, while people living in different countries or regions have different hobbies and interests, the common thing is that there has been no change to these popular activities people enjoy participating in when they are free. Because this stability is guaranteed by the inheritance of culture. For example, over the past century, there have been no signals showing that Britons are not passionate about football any more, or Chinese people have been tired of playing ping pong.
On the other hand, while trends and fashions can play a role in influencing a hobby or an interest's popularity, they apparently cannot act as a gamechanger. Individuals' personalities directly determine which activity they would love to do as an interest, and behind personalities, it is the combination of culture, custom, history and personal experiences which dominates what they enjoy. The 1994 World Cup hosted by America is no doubt an excellent example. Because no matter how successful this event was, the fact is that football is still unpopular in America.
To conclude, while trends and fashions indeed have an impact on the prevalence of hobbies and interests, individuals would never easily change their preference due to the fact that the most essential factor determining the popularity of leisure activities is individuals' personalities.
Posted by: he li | January 03, 2019 at 14:39
Following are some popular hobbies that come in my mind that could be discussed for this type of question;
1. Travelling
2. Shopping
3. Cooking
4. Collecting
5. Photography, and
6. Singing or watching movies
Posted by: Ameet | January 03, 2019 at 15:30
Ilkin
1) People play football, swim and go to the gym
2) ... some major hobbies that people really enjoy while doing them.
3) ... always been top of the list for many people..
4) They do this not for/with the purpose of catching up ...
5) Whether hobbies and interests are fashionable or not [comma needed] people ...
6) Jogging and running help train the mind as much as they train the body. .
7) In conclusion, the motivation for popular hobbies and interests ...
8) because of modern society’s requirements.
A tricky question to answer well, because it is about people's motivation and psychology, not about sport and hobbies, and people's thinking and mindset are quite diverse, depending on their age, milieu, family background, and economic situation, all of which makes generalizing speculative and questionable. If we did a survey, what would the results be? Maybe teenagers would be more influenced by fashion trends, but later in life time constraints, or genuine interests would hold more sway.
Posted by: Beyonce | January 03, 2019 at 18:51
@Beyonce,
you are great! will work on my mistakes
Posted by: Ilkin | January 03, 2019 at 19:46
3 of the hobbies listed above (swimming, jogging, reading) which are basic human pursuits/needs and integral to our lives have been around a long time and i'm sure they are going to linger on for many years to come. Others may go out of fashion though. I mean they might be replaced by the ones that we find more interesting, healthier, more suitable etc.
Some of the hobbies in the list could, i think, be more a reflection of trends and fashions than what individuals really want to do in their spare time. For example, there is pressure on many boys from their peers, the people around them, to look muscular and athletic. So they go to the gym instead of doing things that they are passionate about merely because of this pressure that they constantly feel. Or Some people might join a group of football fans to play/watch football not because that's something that they want to do but merely because it's so popular and enjoyed by many that they don't wanna be left out.
Posted by: shokhrukh | January 03, 2019 at 21:51
he li
a) personalities that acts: 'that' here is plural because 'personalities' is plural. Therefore we need 'act' not 'acts'.
b) Avoid 'thing' where possible: feature, trait.
c) 'inheritance of culture' = traditions.
d) beyond personalities and personal choices,
e) is their personalities.
Posted by: Beyonce | January 03, 2019 at 23:17
1. List of hobbies that change over time
Listening Ipod, MP3 player
Playing with puppets
Playing board games
2. List of hobbies have been around for many years
Go camping
Reading physical books
Running
Listening music on vinyl
Posted by: Luke | January 04, 2019 at 08:34
There some hobbies that are considered as a lifetime possession.......
1. Reading
2. Writing on Blogs or Websites
3. Donation
4. Learning new things
5. Gardening
6. Exercising
7. Shopping
On the other hand, Some hobbies are just for passing leisure or spare time are like.......
1. Traveling
2. Going to the gym
3. Watching Movies
4. Going to parties
5. High Climbing
6. Listening to Music
7. Computer Gaming
Posted by: Akter | January 04, 2019 at 11:18
It is true that how individuals spend their leisure time changes over time. While I accept that some people simply alter their hobbies and interests due to following fashions and becoming more popular among their friends, I still believe that there are countless people who are devoting their time to involve in these activities since they truely find these activities entertaining.
On the one hand, some trendy hobbies are generally followed by people who are eager to either look cool or enhance their social image. Indeed, such people change their hobbies and regular sport activities as changing their clothes. If yoga and meditatition become popular this year, they start to practice yoga and meditation and share their pictures practicing yoga poses on social media. Next year they will likely to find another pursuit which will enable them to maintain their status in society.
On the other hand, as the technoloy and needs of modern people are improving and differentiated, activities that we indulge or the way we do our re-creactions are changing. In fact, we are constantly looking for discovering new excitements. In the past many people were just interested in skiing as a winter sport. Having discovered snowboards, many people have turned to snowboarding as learning new related activity tends to be much more fun than simply doing the same activity over and over again.
In conclusion, although some people have some popular hobbies owing to feeding their self-image in society, in my opinion, many people just participate in these improved spare time activities since they are looking for new experiences and enjoyments to relax and unwind themselves in their free times. (269)
Posted by: Carmen | January 04, 2019 at 13:06
Carmen
1) ...interests in order to follow ... and become ...
2) .. who devote time to these activities since they truly find them entertaining.
3) ... activities as often as changing their clothes.
4) meditation [spelling]
5) the technology and needs of modern people develop and diverge/become more diverse, [differentiate from what?]
6) re-creactions ? reactions? recreations?
8) looking for new excitement.
9) snowboarding [comma] as learning
10) some people pursue certain popular hobbies to enhance their image in society,
11) in their free times [time].
Posted by: zsófi | January 04, 2019 at 15:24
I would say some activities that we consider as hobbies which require physical fitness might over time such as playing football, going to the gym, swimming. Whereas hobbies like reading books, playing computer games, watching football will stay longer.
I do not think that there is any direct connection of trends or fashion that reflects actual activity. People might change the way of exercise, they start doing yoga instead of using gym equipment or play latest video games or start watching wrestling for instance.
Posted by: Jigna | January 04, 2019 at 21:59
It is to be believed that popular hobbies and interests widely changing with the passages of time and new fashions and trends play a crucial role in the noticeable change. I completely agree with the statement that people are now being confused about what they should actually do on their vacations or leisure periods.
Can anyone tell me that my Introduction goes with the given question???
Posted by: Akter | January 05, 2019 at 05:38
It is to be believed that popular hobbies and interests are widely changing with the passages of time and new fashions and trends play a crucial role in the noticeable change. I completely agree with the statement that people are now being confused about what they should actually do on their vacations or leisure periods.
Can anyone tell me that my Introduction goes with the given question???
Posted by: Akter | January 05, 2019 at 05:40
Akter
See Simon's comment further up the page. Your introduction comes across as if you are parroting off a formulaic paraphrase of the question, rather than thinking through the issues and planning a strong response first.
The introduction should signpost where the essay is going, so we need to have a good plan first.
Posted by: zsófi | January 05, 2019 at 15:43
Hobbies that may change over time:
Watching YouTube videos of certain themes, e.g., makeup and technology reviews
Following the latest fashions in clothing
Playing computer games
Listening to music of certain genres, e.g. Country music
Hobbies that may remain lifelong:
Hiking
Biking
Cooking
Gardening
Posted by: Sab | January 06, 2019 at 04:04
morning jogging
shopping online
going to the gym
Posted by: Michelle | January 07, 2019 at 03:36
List of hobbies that remained consistant
- Popular sports: football, tennis, swimming, etc.
- Music
- Travelling
Interests influenced by trend and influencing factor:
- Selfie - social network
- Surfing the internet - developments of internet
- Learning Spanish - Despacito song
Posted by: Long | January 09, 2019 at 16:21
it is true that the latest fashionable trends can have a certain impact on our life. I agree with this idea that some people like doing things due to such trends, but I would argue that most people can choose their own hobby by their real needs and interests.
Popular trend might have an important role to play in modern life, and some people might be easy to be affected by it. For example, many people like raising pets like cats and dogs at home, and then pose the beautiful and interesting pictures and videos on their own social media accounts, leading to a fashion that many people begin to cultivate cats or dogs. Perhaps some of them is stepping by this latest trend or in order to have a same topic to chat with their friend. This event that happened recently appears to support this idea of changing habits or interest.
On the other hand, i would believe that most hobbies can not be changed only by one trend. Man people need to constantly try and change to make sure what they like, so that they can know what kinds of things are suitable and useful for them. Computer game, for example, become more and more popular in recent years, and there are too many games created every year, and some people always play the latest one that may be more interesting and relaxing. Many things like such games can help people to reduce stress from life and study, and they play the latest game as a hobby because it can be seen as a more effective way to relax than old one rather than only follow the trend.
In conclusion, fashion obviously can affect people’s interest ,but i do not agree people choose interests that go against their real passion.
Posted by: Charlotte | January 14, 2019 at 09:45
Charlotte
...the latest fashion
abletrendsPerhaps use "follow the latest trends"
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=*_VERB+the+trends&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2C%2A_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bare_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bshows_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bshow_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bfollow_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bindicate_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bexamine_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Breverse_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bdetermine_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bstudy_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bfollowed_VERB%20the%20trends%3B%2Cc0
-> according to / based on their real needs ...
Popular trend [Why singular?] might ['May' is more natural when conceding a point.] have an important role to play in modern life, and some people might be easy [easily?] to be affected ['be' twice?] by it.
... to cultivate ['Cultivate' crops or habits but not animals ] cats or dogs. Perhaps some of them is [Singular/plural? ] stepping by [What does 'stepping by' mean? ] this latest trend
This [recent] event [Which event are you referring to? A terrorist bombing? ]
[]
On the other hand, i [Capitalized?] would [Why 'would'? Under what circumstances?] believe that most hobbies can not [Almost always 'cannot'] be changed only by one trend. Man [Many?] people ..
Computer game [Singular or plural?], for example, [Period up till now -> which tense?] become more and more popular in recent years, ...
than only [simply just? ] follow [gerund?] the trend.
Posted by: Sandi | January 14, 2019 at 17:52
@ Sandi
thank you
actually, the question how to use " rather than" have confused me for a long time
Posted by: Charlotte | January 15, 2019 at 05:43
Charlotte
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/usage-of-rather-than
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=*+becoming+rather+than+being%2Cdie+fighting+rather+than+be%2Clive+rather+than+die%2Csurrender+rather+than+die%2C*+living+rather+than+dying&year_start=1960&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t2%3B%2C%2A%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bof%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bon%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bas%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bis%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bwith%20becoming%20rather%20than%20being%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cdie%20fighting%20rather%20than%20be%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Clive%20rather%20than%20die%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csurrender%20rather%20than%20die%3B%2Cc0%3B.t2%3B%2C%2A%20living%20rather%20than%20dying%3B%2Cc0%3B%2Cs0%3B%3Bon%20living%20rather%20than%20dying%3B%2Cc0%3B%3Bof%20living%20rather%20than%20dying%3B%2Cc0
Posted by: Sandi | January 15, 2019 at 16:21