talk about your hobbies essay

Essay on My Hobby for Students and Children

500+ words essay on my hobby.

Hobbies play a very important role in our lives. They occupy our minds when we are free and also make us happy. Hobbies are our escape from the real world that makes us forget our worries. Moreover, they make our lives interesting and enjoyable. If we look at it, all our hobbies are very useful for us. They teach us a lot of things about different stuff. They also help in expanding our knowledge.

Benefits of Having a Hobby

In today’s fast and competitive world, we often get time for ourselves. Over time, our schedule gets very dull and monotonous. That is why we need to indulge in something in between to keep our minds fresh and active. What’s better than a hobby for this? One of the main benefits of having a hobby is that it is a major stress-buster. You actually enjoy doing it and it satisfies your soul.

In other words, without a hobby, your life becomes an unhealthy cycle lacking any excitement or spark. Hobbies offer you a great opportunity to take a break and forget the worries of your life. They allow you to explore yourself and realize your potential in different areas.

Moreover, hobbies can also be a source of extra income. For instance, if you like painting, you can actually sell your art to make some extra money. Likewise, if you have a knack for dancing, you may teach dance classes to people on your holidays. This way your hobby a benefit you both spiritually and financially as well.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

My Favourite Hobby

If I were to pick one favourite hobby of mine out of the many I have, I will definitely pick gardening. I developed a taste for dancing when I was very young. The way my feet moved to the rhythm of the music convinced my parents that I was a born dancer. Dancing is very uplifting as well as economical.

I have always had a love for music and dance. However, I never realized the utter joy they bring to humans. Dancing gives us a lot of exercises. It teaches us to move our body rhythmically and feel the beat of every song. This kind of physical exercise is extremely delightful and enjoyable.

Moreover, dance also taught me how to stay strong and push my limits. I have had many injuries while dancing, too many bruises and cuts but that didn’t stop me from pursuing it further. In fact, it pushes me to do my best and realize my potential more than ever.

I have enrolled in dancing classes because I wish to make my hobby my career. I feel we all should do things which we enjoy doing. Everyone is running after money and in this race, they give up their likings and preferences. I have learned from this race and decided to not take part in it. I wish to take the road less traveled by and take on challenges most people don’t dare to.

In short, my hobby of dancing makes me feel alive and well. It is the only thing I look forward the most to. Thus, I hope to achieve my dream of being a professional dancer and making way for people who wish to make careers out of their hobbies.

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Hobbies Essay: 80 Topics, 2 Examples, & My Hobby Essay Outline

Do you need to write a perfect leisure time essay?

It is an exciting topic – you can write about the things you are genuinely interested in! Try to think about what makes you feel inspired and share it with your readers. We will show you how to prepare a worthy paper in this article. You will find a hobbies essay writing guide, some topics on hobbies, and essay samples in the end.

• 🗂️ Hobby Essay Writing Guide

🧙 80 Hobby Essay Topics

✅ my hobby essay outline, 📔 hobby essay examples, 🗂️ hobby essay: 3 writing rules.

Here we will give some advice and discuss common mistakes in a “My hobbies” essay.

Follow these rules to prepare your paper wisely.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#1 Choose the Topic

First of all, you need to ensure that the hobby essay title you chose is appropriate to your paper’s length. If it is a short 100-word or 150-word essay, you can pick a simple topic. The longer the paper, the more complex issue you need. It also depends on your level of studies: high school and college paper topics have different requirements.

Your paper might also require some scientific research. In this case, look for a topic on which you can find enough information. Don’t be afraid to change or adjust the focus if you can’t find sufficient materials.

Use our amazing free essay topic generator to get the best topic!

If your instructor gave a list of topics, choose the one that interests you the most. You can also make a shortlist before you pick the most suitable title.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#2 Plan before Writing

Create a list of the essential points of your hobbies essay. Planning is vital as every paper needs a structure. Otherwise, you just might end up worshiping your hobby. This is the number one mistake.

Your outline should consist of three main parts:

• Introduction. You need to state your topic and describe what the paper is about.
• Body. Develop your arguments or narrative and provide evidence if necessary.
• Conclusion. Summarize the information you provided in the previous paragraphs.

Find rare aspects of your hobby. They can include equipment, locations, your achievements, and inspiration, etc.

If your hobby is rather popular, share a unique story connected with it.

Essay on Hobbies Rule#3 Filter What You Say

The first thing you should remember: be as objective as possible. No matter how much you love your hobbies, you better stick to the facts. All the information you provide should be unbiased and reliable.

How can you do it?

• Make references. Statistics, facts, and all other data will support your statements.
• Pay attention to vocabulary. You can use jargon and specific terminology as long as it has explanations. Avoid emotional words such as “very,” “terrible,” “awesome.”
• Don’t use reductions. As for academic writing, it is better to choose full forms.
• Show opposing points of view. To stay objective, indicate that your ideas have counterarguments.
• Check English grammar and spelling . Literacy is a must-have for any academic paper.

You can discuss one of these essay topics in your paper:

• What is the hobby you dream of taking up?
• Are active or passive hobbies better for children to develop properly ?
• Woodstock: An important event for those who have music as their hobby .
• How much time do you devote to your hobbies and interests?
• Reading as a family hobby .
• Should a hobby be affordable or require extra spending?
• Hobbies in ancient Rome: The importance of games and baths .
• Who or what inspired you to take up a new hobby?
• What equipment do you need for your hobby?
• Art as a hobby in the UK: Why it is worth supporting .
• Is it essential for a person to have a hobby?
• Is there a childhood hobby that you gave up?
• Sociology of music: What music means in our life .
• How many hobbies can a person have?
• What is your favorite hobby that you genuinely enjoy?
• Did your parents force you to choose your leisure time activities?
• What hobbies should you include in your resume?
• Folk music as a hobby .
• What is the right age to take up drawing?
• Gambling as a controversial hobby .
• Is it possible for a person not to have any hobbies?
• Sports as a hobby: Fan habits and behaviors on a game day .
• What is the most important lesson your hobby has taught you?
• Japanese manga and anime: A popular hobby worldwide .
• Which hobbies can you take up with a low budget?
• Rock music as a hobby .
• What hobby is the most popular in the United States ?
• How can you define the word “hobby”?
• Game of Thrones: A proof of why watching TV can be a legitimate hobby .
• Can singing be your hobby if you are not talented ?
• When can you say that activity became your hobby?
• Music as a hobby: Its influence on the mind .
• Who has the most exciting hobby in your family ?
• Why do people choose extreme or dangerous hobbies?
• What are the benefits of reading books?
• How to help a kid to pick their hobby?
• Yoga as a stress-reducing hobby .
• What should you do if you are no longer interested in your hobby?
• Is it essential to achieve something in your hobby?
• Music technology: Effects on professional and amateur musicians .
• Can your hobby become a profession ?
• How can you define that a hobby is not suitable for you?
• Graffiti as a hobby and an art form .
• How to choose your hobby if you are interested in too many things?
• Is gardening a hobby or a duty?
• Teenage gaming: Balancing between an innocent hobby and addiction .
• What free time activities are the most common among high school students ?
• What is your favorite family free time activity ?
• Video games: Are they an appropriate hobby for children ?
• Why do people lose interest in their hobbies over time?
• What are the differences between sports as a profession and as a hobby?
• What are the benefits of team sports such as basketball?
• What hobbies have you already tried?
• Do you prefer participating in your hobbies alone or with other people?
• Is gaming an appropriate hobby for the elderly ?
• What hobbies, in your opinion, are the most expensive?
• Violent video games: A hobby causing behavior problems .
• Did you enjoy your hobby when you first tried it?
• Music, media, and culture: Influence on behavior .
• How can a hobby be helpful in your career ?
• Video games as a hobby producing cognitive benefits .
• Is volunteering an unpaid job or a hobby?
• Music as a hobby: Personality traits and music preferences .
• Have your hobbies ever interfered with your studies ?
• Toys and games as important activities for children’s gender socialization .
• What hobbies are harmful to human health ?
• Online games: Are they a suitable hobby for children or adults ?
• Is taking up a new hobby stressful for you?
• The importance of music as a hobby .
• How much money do you spend on your hobby?
• Video games: A hobby with controversial effects .
• Do you want to devote more time to your hobby?
• Hip hop music as a hobby .
• Have you ever inspired anyone to take up your hobby?
• Music as a popular hoppy among Americans .
• How do your hobbies help you in life?
• Heavy metal music as a hobby: Gender differences .
• Who is your role model in your hobby?
• Leisure satisfaction in school teachers in Taiwan .
• Does sharing a hobby make people better friends ?

Writing an essay about your hobby is so exciting! If you don’t know where to start or how to organize your ideas, consider the following outline we’ve prepared to guide you.

And here are some short hobby essay examples for you. Read them to find inspiration. Pay attention to the structure and use them as a reference to your paper.

Let’s start!

Free Time Activities Essay

Each person needs to change their activities. If you have a sedentary job or study a lot, it is great to do some sports. If you move too much, you can enjoy reading a book in a quiet place. People need free time activities to make their lifestyle more enjoyable, healthy and get to know themselves better. First of all, having a hobby creates new experiences for you. Any kind of free time activity develops new skills and teaches you something new. It is excellent to know that you do something for yourself just for pleasure and new emotions. You can also find new friends, visit new places, and participate in events just because you have a hobby. For example, you like running. You can do it alone or join a local community. There are also plenty of amateur competitions that take place in different locations. Hobbies are beneficial for both your mental and physical health. They help you to keep your life in balance. Lacking movement in your daily life means you can compensate for it with sports. If you work from home and don’t communicate with people, you can sign up for group classes. Also, hobbies that require effort make your character more vigorous and more resistant to difficulties. When you spend your free time the way you like it, you become more self-aware. Knowing yourself means that you discover your strengths and weaknesses and understand your preferences better. You know what you are capable of now and what you need to learn to do. It is great to have a hobby to participate in different activities and enrich your life experience with new skills, places, and people. Hobbies also keep you healthy. Free-time activities are crucial for understanding your self-worth, motivations, and strong and weak spots.

My Favorite Hobby Essay

As for a high school student, my hobby might seem untypical. I design custom clothes for my family and peers. I am a seventeen-year-old boy who knows how to sew an evening dress for my mother or to create a tailored suit for any event. I chose this hobby as I was always interested in fashion, I am good at drawing and sketching, and my progress motivates me. It was always curious looking at people on the street when I was a kid. I noticed patterns, silhouettes, and various combinations. I knew some were good, some didn’t suit people, and some were just outdated. That was the moment when I started to notice the difference between fashion and style. Later, I watched fashion shows and educational YouTube videos. It is my dream to own a fashion brand, so I also paid attention to the business part of the process. Sketching clothes is the first step to their creation. I am a good drawer, so there is no problem showing all of my design ideas on paper. You just need a lot of practice. I needed to hone my skills to make proportions and colors seem as natural as possible. I also try to memorize how people look and draw them when I have an opportunity. I own more than twenty sketchbooks full of ideas and inspiration. The more ideas I generate, the easier it becomes. When I see my old sketches or pieces of clothing that I created, I can notice how much I’ve improved. Hard work and knowledge can make your goals achievable. If I don’t know something, I just search for it on the Internet and try it. Maybe you will need to try more than once, but eventually, I can see the result I want. Fashion is one of my greatest passions. That is why I never hesitate to spend some extra money or effort to create something new. I never regretted choosing fashion over any other hobbies because I always knew I was doing what was suitable for me. I know I developed my taste, drawing skills, and persistence because of this hobby. I hope one day it becomes a profession. My dream is to use all my skills and knowledge to create something people will like to wear.

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My hobby essay | How to write an amazing one!

Your hobbies could be distinct and can often direct the course of your life. while communicating about your hobby could be different, writing about it in an essay will require a separate set of steps. check out the blog to know more about how to write a ‘my hobby essay ’, table of contents, tips to write a ‘my hobby essay’, how to write a ‘my hobby essay’, an example of ‘my hobby’ essay in 300 words, what we have to say.

Hobbies help you dive deeper into your world of passion. 

We are required to engage in hobbies to live an enriching life. Not only do hobbies allow us to escape the worries of the real world for a limited time, but they also help us use our intellect for something that interests us. 

Check out the key elements for writing an amazing ‘My hobby essay’

• Prepare a strong outline for the essay to ensure that it is well written with no gaps in the framework.
• Don’t write about hobbies that you do not have in real life. Maintain your authenticity, as that will help you produce a meaty essay.
• Instead of continuously talking about how your hobby makes you feel, you can give examples of how your hobbies were integrated into your job or how your expertise or interest in something unexpectedly proved beneficial.
• By proofreading your essay , you can remove redundancy, and mistakes from it. 

Begin by deciding which interests you will discuss in your essay. You have the option of listing multiple distinct interests or focusing on just one. The idea is to stay true to yourself. Do not make up interests for the blog to feel authentic. 

Your activities are a reflection of who you are. Start your essay by saying what your passion is, then explain how you became interested in it, what encouraged you to pursue it, and how it benefits you emotionally. Describe how it aided you in learning new skills , assisting you in various life circumstances, and assisting you in being a better person.

You can also mention the influence it had on someone else, such as if you enjoy nature and planted trees to benefit the environment, or if you enjoy doing social work and volunteering at a homeless shelter. This will help the reader ‌learn about your beliefs, vision, and character by reading your essay.

An enriching hobby is something that everyone should have to make their lives free from monotony. Everyone needs a hobby because it keeps them occupied and gives them time to dwell on other things besides work. 

It serves as a peaceful escape from the rat race. I recall that when I was three years old; I preferred to spend my free time in my garden. Spending my mornings in the garden with my father was something that I looked forward to. My father used to laugh at me when he saw me watering plants when I was a kid. But now my dad is so proud of me that I try to safeguard plants and recognize their contribution to the environment.

Hobbies are things we must engage in daily. We can get away from the stresses of everyday life. It provides us with great joy and tranquillity of mind, body, and soul. It stimulates our creativity and motivates us to make positive changes in our lives and often leads to a positive impact on the community. Creating a positive impact on the community can be possible as a result of our collective efforts. 

Hobbies also aid in the discovery of our talents and abilities, which may eventually lead you to discover your life’s calling.

Gardening is my favorite hobby, and I enjoy planting new plants and watering them every morning. The sight of flowers blooming and plants growing appeals to me. Not only does this give me happiness, but it also gives me a feeling of being involved in contributing to a healthier planet, regardless of how small the scale is. 

This hobby further aids my fitness, health, strength, and rejuvenation. Watering plants and gardening regularly is a great way for me to begin my days in a positive light.

• Every person on our planet is different, and so are their interests.
• People work, think, communicate , interpret, and act in a variety of ways. All of these things are ways for us to express ourselves. 
• Life is intended to be lived passionately and with a clear vision of making it as enriching as possible. 
• What people like doing, or their interests, define them greatly. And that makes it important for us to have a hobby of some sort, as it can often help to direct our lives on the right path. 
• It keeps our ideas fresh, allows us to relieve tension, and increases our drive to achieve our goals. You may also make a profession out of your interest. It depends on what you enjoy doing and how much passion it inspires in you.

Liked the blog? Comment below and share your thoughts with us!

Liked this blog? Read next: How to write the perfect discipline essay?

Q1. What is the root of the word hobby?

Answer – The word hobby is derived from the word hobbyhorse, which means favorite pastime.

Q2. What is the world’s oldest hobby?

Answer – The hobby of collecting coins, known as numismatics, is the world’s oldest hobby.

Q3. What are some of the healthy hobbies you should try?

Answer – Here are some of the healthy hobbies you should try – 

• Learning to cook healthy meals
• Going for a long walk
• Practicing meditation daily

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• My Favourite Hobby Essay in English for Students & Children

Give Wings to your Creative Side with Hobbies

Hobbies play a very crucial role in everyone's life. Whenever we are free, it is good to follow our hobbies. It makes us occupied, and we do not feel idle. Every person finds their happiness and enjoys doing some kind of activity in their leisure time, these activities are known as hobbies. 

My Special Hobby 

My favourite hobby is watching TV. Whenever I have free time, I love watching Television. It never obstructs my studies. Hobbies help us to expand our knowledge, and it teaches us several things. First, I like to finish all my school homework and then start watching TV. This lightens my mood and sparks up the excitement inside me, as it increases my curiosity about the world. Watching different useful stuff on TV enhances my knowledge horizons and gives me lots of joy. 

Benefit of My Hobby

It is a good habit because watching TV escorts a lot of knowledge in various fields. There are several channels on TV, which represent worldwide affairs. I watch the news and I like channels, such as animal planet, discovery channel or another informative channel. These channels increase my curiosity and encourage me to learn about different aspects of life.

I interestingly watch a cartoon network that provides me with creative and new ideas to make cartoons and arts. Some of my favourite comics are Mr Bean, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and many more. Many art-themed cartoons, like The Pink Panther and SpongeBob, inspire me to draw them. Primarily, the artworks of comics attract me and inspire me to decorate my scrapbooks with their figures. 

Parents Find Hobbies Useful

My parents praise my hobby, and they are also happy when they see me watching national and international news and several events on the TV. Moreover, they feel proud when they listen to the news update from me. 

Now, I study in class with two and eight years old girls. Creating jokes, sitting idle and spending time roaming around is unproductive, according to my parents. My parents made sure that I developed my hobbies from childhood. Therefore, they encouraged me to create some good habits. 

Watching TV in a proper way gives you so many important roles. It helps us to make something creative. It provides us with knowledge about different places, their cultures, climatic conditions and especially their history. Furthermore, it widens our imagination by showing imaginary characters from the marvellous Disney World and Jungle Book. 

Importance of Hobby

Getting the latest updates and gaining knowledge about today’s incident is so important. It provides us with a lot of benefits, which help us in developing our knowledge and thoughts. It also enhances our minds of thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Hobbies are all about interest and can only be done in our leisure time. These activities help us in keeping our mind and body in a relaxed and refreshed state.  

Moreover, hobbies also increase our productivity and improve our overall health. It protects us from the risk of dementia and also protects us from sadness in our life. It also helps in our overall development and ignites our hidden talents and passions. So it is essential to have hobbies in our lives.

Several Aspects of Watching TV as an Hobby

Watching TV is not only about fun and joy; it also introduces us to new characters and stories to analyse. Every show comes with a new set of characters and stories that tickles our brains. As a hobby, you can compare these different storylines and their characters with one another. 

There are different types of programs on TV that are so crucial to enhancing our awareness about worldwide matters. TV channels also telecast different types of educational programs to improve our knowledge of history, science, economics, math, culture, and geography etc. In such programs, you get to analyse the different acting styles, writing and overall good and bad behaviours of various communities, their thoughts and cultures. 

Different Genres on TV  

Each TV show has different types of content or genres. These TV genres are sci-fi, dramas, adventurous shows, action, animations and reality shows. While Watching TV, it is not necessary to stick to any one genre and thus, you get to explore various other genres. 

And this is the most valuable part of my hobby. Television brings together numerous elements of imagination and ideas from different genres and allows me to explore them. 

Some Other Hobbies

You can have more than one hobby, as they are not restricted to any particular limit. All the things that you have an interest in can be regarded as a hobby. A person can have multiple areas of interest and have more than one activity as a hobby. 

I, too, have more than one hobby. Other than watching TV, I like to listen to music. This helps me keep myself calm after doing lots of work and gives my ears and heart a soothing effect. 

Besides these, I also have hobbies, such as reading comic books, painting, writing narrative stories, and maintaining a scrapbook. These activities make me happy and enhance my hidden qualities. Writing and reading boost my imagination. Along with these activities, I participate in gardening in my leisure time because I love to plant new and colourful flowers. 

Moreover, I like dancing and singing. These are the activities I often do whenever I find time after completing my studies and homework. I do participate in singing and dancing competitions as well because I like to sing and dance. My teachers and parents always appreciate and encourage me to pursue my hobbies. 

Conclusion 

Every human being on this Earth is unique. Not only in terms of appearance but also for inherent characteristics. All the people work, think, talk, interpret, act, etc. , in countless ways. These are all the things which express me. One needs to have a good command of themselves before going to write something about their life. Life is meant to be lived avidly and with a proper visualization to do good for your fellow beings. Keeping this in mind, I have always desired to serve my people in whatever capacity I can.

FAQs on My Favourite Hobby Essay in English for Students & Children

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IELTS Essay On Hobbies: IELTS Writing Task 2 Hobbies Essay Samples

• Updated On December 12, 2023
• Published In IELTS Preparation 💻

‘Hobbies’ is one of the most common themes in the IELTS Writing Task 2 as well as in the Speaking section of this English language proficiency test. This is a seemingly easy topic and does not pose many difficulties for students taking the exam.

Table of Contents

The kind of questions that you can primarily expect for the hobbies theme in the IELTS essay writing task should be opinion-based questions. These questions will first give you a statement and then ask you to give your opinion on it with the help of supporting examples for each reason or opinion you give.

How to Write a High Band IELTS Essay on Hobbies

To score an excellent band in the hobbies essay IELTS poses, follow the below-mentioned tips:

• Inculcate strong vocabulary, and make sure your sentences are perfectly structured.
• Provide good examples for each reason or supporting argument that you present. Whenever possible, follow this pattern: topic sentence for paragraph giving a good idea about the reason you are stating, followed by a brief explanation, then an example, and finally wrapping it up with a concluding sentence.
• Manage your time well so that you have some spare time in the end to proofread your essay and correct any mistakes.

What sets apart a high band essay from a relatively low scoring essay is the overall structure of the essay, how you have linked one paragraph with the other, your vocabulary and grammar, and the quality of examples you have provided. So, make sure to work on each aspect before sitting for the final exam.

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Sample Answers

Here are two sample answers that will guide you on getting a high band score in the hobbies theme essay for IELTS Writing Task 2.

Question: Few people devote time to hobbies these days. Why do you think this is the case, and what effect does this have on an individual and society in general? You should spend around 40 minutes on this task and write at least 250 words in the essay.

Answer: Nowadays, there are only a handful of people who pursue a hobby with due diligence. In my opinion, this is not a positive development and can have many disadvantages for the individual and society in general. Leisure activities can be the much-needed relief from the bursts of high-level energy to cope with today’s highly competitive world. They not only keep you fit and healthy but also contribute towards society’s development. The paucity of time and introduction of alternative means of spending one’s free time are the top two causes for the declining number of people engaging in hobbies today. Demanding jobs and a tough education system make it harder for people to take time out and engage in recreational activities like gardening, dancing, yoga, etc. Additionally, with the new streaming platforms, social media applications, and online gaming communities, people often find themselves on the internet in their spare time rather than stepping out for some simple hobbies. The surge in demand for data and the rising number of online users serve as testament to this statement. With the absence of physical activities comes direct and latent consequences like deteriorating physical health leading to issues like obesity and declining mental health as a result of feeling alienated from society. The individual and the society suffer on account of these effects on physical health, mental health, and community building. For instance, as people increasingly choose the company of their smartphones over their friends and other members of society, they feel increasingly alone and start getting out of shape, as observed by some social scientists at the University of Los Angeles. To conclude, not interacting with others while engaging in hobbies has had a rather negative impact on individuals and society consequently. People should thus be encouraged to step out more and participate in various hobbies within their community to ensure they are in good health and instill in them a strong sense of belonging for the society.

Question: Some people are of the view that hobbies need to be difficult for people to be able to enjoy them well. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Write your answer with a minimum of 250 words and give relevant examples.

Answer: While some hobbies are fairly easy to pursue, others are more difficult to perform and pose a challenge for the individual. However, in my view, it is wrong to establish a correlation between the level of difficulty in performing a leisure activity and the enjoyment (or the recreation value) derived from that hobby. Some people truly find pleasure in easy hobbies like swimming. Such activities do not require a very high level of expertise to perform them and can be completed without putting a lot of strain on their physical health. However, that does not mean that swimmers do not like the activity as much. Another example of such hobbies can be people who like to go bird-watching. This is not a difficult hobby per se, but it still serves the purpose of recreation for the individual partaking in it. In contrast, sometimes, more challenging and difficult hobbies can be thrilling. These hobbies can be more rewarding and more satisfying in the end because the person goes through more challenges to reach the endpoint. For instance, video editing and filmmaking are two rather challenging hobbies that can be very rewarding for some people and, thus, more enjoyable. Therefore, in conclusion, I believe that both kinds of hobbies, easy and difficult, can be pleasurable for an individual depending on their preferences. Hence, it is wrong to state that one type of hobby is more enjoyable than the other simply because it is more challenging. The hobbies essay IELTS often presents can be very easy to tackle and should be written in coherence with the statement given and the question asked. However, to score a good band, you should follow a well-structured format like the ones given above in the sample answers.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how do i get >7.5 in ielts writing.

Ans: To get a high band score in writing, you should  practice  writing regularly and figure out certain formats with which you feel the most comfortable in writing an essay. After you’ve figured out certain formats, try to answer as many common questions as you can.

2. What are the most common essay questions in IELTS?

Ans: Some of the most common essay questions for IELTS are based on themes like fossil fuels, global warming,  society , etc. The questions here can be opinion-based or description based (where you don’t give an opinion and simply describe what is asked).

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Experienced IELTS prep trainer and education management industry veteran. Specializes in public speaking, international education, market research, mentoring, and management.

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How to Answer “What Are Your Hobbies and Interests?” (Example Answers Included)

Mike Simpson 0 Comments

By Mike Simpson

What are your hobbies and interests? Seems like a strange question for an interview, right? After all, what do your hobbies and interest have to do with your career? Well, they can actually have a lot to do with it, depending on what they are.

So, are you ready to learn more about the wild world of interests and hobbies, including which interests and hobbies to put on a resume, discuss during an interview, and more? Great! Here’s what you need to know.

Hobbies, Interests, and Your Job Search

Alright, it might not seem like hobbies, interests, and your job search have a ton in common. The thing is, they can, particularly if you frame the situation the right way.

First, let’s take a moment and talk about what a hobby or interest even is. So, what are hobbies? Well, the definition from the folks at Merriam-Webster says, “a pursuit outside one’s regular occupation engaged in especially for relaxation.” While that might be a little nondescript, it’s nonetheless accurate.

As for interests, in this context, it usually references – according to Collins Dictionary – something “you want to learn or hear more about.” Again, a bit vague but apt. It is a subject or pursuit you enjoy, typically to the point that you willingly and enthusiastically spend personal time diving into it.

Alright, but how does all of this matter to a job search? Well, your hobbies might showcase your creativity, your ability to work as part of a team, or a specific skill that you acquired through non-traditional means. With interests, you can showcase a passion for a topic and a willingness to learn on your own. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Why does being able to showcase additional skills and traits matter? Well, no matter where you are in your career, they could help you separate yourself from the pack and land the job you have your eye on; that’s why.

Here’s something to consider; entry-level jobs were down 68 percent during the pandemic. That meant most recent grads were facing stiff competition for a limited number of openings. Couple that with skyrocketing unemployment, and finding any advantage could be a must.

Even seasoned professionals can benefit from looking beyond their traditional job-earned skills. Of companies that screen candidate social media accounts, 31 percent were specifically looking at whether the job seeker seemed well-rounded, including having a wide variety of interests. While that was social media-specific, it shows the potential value of showcasing knowledge and passions outside of your professional life.

Plus, the hobbies and interests you choose could demonstrate that you’re a great culture fit. Since many hiring managers take that into consideration, highlighting activities that align with the company’s mission, values, or vibe can work in your favor.

Ultimately, by highlighting the right hobbies or interests, you might be able to differentiate yourself from the pack. Yes, they are that powerful, but only when properly leveraged. And how do you do that? Don’t worry; we’ll get into that here in a moment.

List of Hobbies / List of Interests

Okay, before we dig into why hiring managers ask this question and how to tackle it properly, it’s helpful to see a list of hobbies and a list of interests that could potentially be relevant to your job search. That way, you can focus on the right areas when it comes time to prepare a response.

So, without any ado, here are those lists.

List of Hobbies

• Volunteering
• Team Sports

List of Interests

• World Cultures
• Foreign Languages

Why Does the Hiring Manager Ask This Question?

Generally speaking, the hiring manager asks you, “what are your hobbies” or “what are your interests” for a few reasons. One of the biggest is to see if you’re a well-rounded person.

Hobbies and interests suggest a full life that isn’t entirely dominated by your career. Plus, there’s a good chance you use them as a form of stress management, which may mean you’re better equipped to handle challenges that occur in all parts of your life.

Second, the hiring manager wants to know about your hobby or interests because you likely gained some transferable skills along the way. Both hard and soft skills can be earned through these kinds of activities and pursuits of knowledge, so the hiring manager is trying to figure out if you’ve picked any potentially valuable capabilities or understandings.

Finally, learning about your interests and hobbies lets the hiring manager assess your culture fit. For example, if a company values wellness, they may appreciate your dedication to fitness as it makes you look like a better match for the culture.

Ultimately, the hiring manager has to look at more than your technical capabilities to figure out if you’re right for the role. By asking about your hobbies and interests, that gets a bit easier.

Remember, this is just one question the hiring manager could ask you in your interview! That’s why we created an amazing free cheat sheet that will give you word-for-word answers for some of the toughest interview questions you are going to face in your upcoming interview.

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Common Mistakes When Answering This Question

Alright, when it comes time to prep an answer to this interview question, it’s critical that you avoid certain mistakes. For example, lying about your hobbies or interests is a biggie. Why? Because, eventually, the truth will probably come out. Not only can dishonesty be a huge red flag, but it can also cost you the job.

Second, talking about hobbies or interests that aren’t professional isn’t a smart move. Similarly, anything related to taboo, controversial, or illegal undertakings shouldn’t come up on your resume or during your interview.

Additionally, avoiding specifics isn’t ideal. If you’re overly vague, it may come across as disingenuous. Ideally, you want to exude enthusiasm for what you do, and adding some details can help you do that.

On a final note, it’s also best to avoid hobby or interest overload. While mentioning a few is fine, even if they are usually good interests or hobbies to put on a resume, it’s better to limit yourself to no more than a handful, preferably just three or so.

Tips for Answering This Question

Now that you have some ideas about which hobbies and interests to put on a resume or talk about during an interview, let’s take a moment to discuss how to create a quality answer to the interview question. If you want to make sure your response is on point, here are some outstanding tips that can help.

Focus on Relevance

As with every part of your job search experience, when you’re choosing interests or hobbies for a resume or interview answer, relevance is the key. You should only discuss an activity or knowledge area that provides the hiring manager with some level of value.

Now, this doesn’t mean you’re stuck with only relevant hard skills . Soft skills are essential, too, along with culture fit. If one of your examples hits at least one of those areas in a way that matters to the hiring manager, you should be in good shape.

How do you figure out which hobbies and interests hit the mark? By doing some research. Review the position description to learn about must-have skills and traits. Take a deep dive into the company’s website to explore its mission and values. Head over to the company’s social media accounts to glean insights about its culture. Those are all great ways to find out more about what the hiring manager is trying to find, ensuring you include the best hobbies and interests to show you’re a match.

2. But Be Genuine

As mentioned above, being passionate about the hobby or interest is crucial. Don’t say that you love an activity or subject if you don’t just because you think it’ll help you get on the hiring manager’s good side. Instead, talk about something that really matters to you.

Enthusiasm is an important part of the equation. It’s better to say what your hobbies and interests are – and briefly explain why you adore them so much – in an authentic manner. That way, your answer feels real.

Plus, the hiring manager may only be concerned with whether you’re well-rounded, not whether the activity gave you a work-related skill. That means that the hobby or interest you discuss doesn’t matter as much as having one in the first place.

3. Be Concise

While you do want to add enough detail to showcase the relevance of the hobby or interest, as well as your passion for it, it’s still important to be concise. When we talk about stuff we adore, it’s easy to get carried away; that’s just a fact.

Create an answer that about three to five sentences long. That way, you can fit in a few details without digging too deep. Then, practice it so that you really have it down.

And, when your interview arrives, resist the urge to extrapolate. Keep your answer brief. If the hiring manager wants to know more, they’ll ask follow-up questions – giving you room to expand – so keep that in mind.

How to Answer the Interview Question “What Are Your Hobbies and Interests?”

When it comes time to answer the “what are your hobbies and interests?” you want to have a compelling response ready to share. How do you prep an answer that’s informative and engaging? Well, by using the Tailoring Method , of course.

With the Tailoring Method, it’s all about relevance and creating a great narrative. By using that approach, your responses will be meaningful in relation to the role, ensuring you can showcase your potential value as an employee.

So, what does it look like when you put the Tailoring Method, and the other tips above into action? Why don’t we show you? Here are the great examples of how to answer “what are your interests and hobbies,” with one showcasing a hard skill , one showcasing a soft skill , and one focused on culture fit .

1. Hard Skill

Usually, you’ll want to focus on a hard skill you learned through a hobby when the capability is relevant to the role, and you don’t have any on-the-job experience with it. It’s an approach that lets you highlight how you earned the capability, effectively covering what may otherwise look like a gap.

Here is an answer that focuses on hard skills.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

“When it comes to hobbies, photography is the most significant one in my life. Not only has it taught me a lot about composition, but it also created an opportunity to hone my photo editing skills. It is the photo editing aspect of this role that really caught my attention. Turning images into something spectacular is one of my passions, and I believe that my experience with my own photography has given me the necessary capabilities to thrive.”

2. Soft Skill

In most cases, soft skills are highly transferable. Plus, they can be crucial for success, giving you the ability to navigate complex situations at work with greater ease and work better with others, regardless of whether you always see eye-to-eye.

Here is a response to this interview question that concentrates on soft skills.

“When it comes to interests and hobbies, I would have to say my volunteer work is the most important thing in my life in that regard. Every month, I spend time volunteering at my area foodbank. Not only has this given me the opportunity to support my community, but I’ve also learned valuable skills along the way. I’ve had opportunities to lead projects, connect with people in need, and become part of a dedicated team that shares common goals. The experience is invaluable, and I look forward to my time there greatly.”

3. Culture Fit

With a culture fit answer, you want to align how a hobby or interest connects to one of the companies values or workplace vibe. It’s all about showcasing how you’re on the same page and that you’d mesh quickly with the company’s culture.

Here is an answer to this critical interview question that addresses culture fit.

“One of my biggest hobbies and interests is meditation. I noticed in your company values that employee wellness is a priority. Through meditation, I find that I am better equipped to offer myself self-care. It also keeps me centered and focused, even during high-stress times. Your dedication to wellness is one of the reasons I applied to the position, as I feel the company’s values align with my own.”

Other Places Hobbies / Interests Are Important

Alright, so now you should have a solid idea about how to tackle the interview question. But what about interest and hobbies to put on a resume? Where do they go?

Well, one of the simplest things to do is to add a “Hobbies and Interests” section to your resume . If you go that route, you can list a few choice hobbies or interests in a spot that’s just for them.

Just make sure you do more than listing the activity by itself. Instead, include a few extra words that highlight why it’s relevant to the role, like the skills it helped you acquire, or at least give a bit of context.

However, your resume isn’t the only option. You can also discuss hobbies and interests in your cover letter . If you need a bit of extra space to showcase why a particular one is relevant, your cover letter could be the perfect spot for that.

Putting It All Together

In the end, hobbies and interests can come up during your job search. Use the tips above to make sure you showcase the right ones at the proper time, including during your interview, on your resume, and even in your cover letter. That way, they can help you come across as appropriately skilled, well-rounded, a great culture fit, and, ultimately, the best candidate for the job.

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Mike simpson.

Co-Founder and CEO of TheInterviewGuys.com. Mike is a job interview and career expert and the head writer at TheInterviewGuys.com. His advice and insights have been shared and featured by publications such as Forbes , Entrepreneur , CNBC and more as well as educational institutions such as the University of Michigan , Penn State , Northeastern and others. Learn more about The Interview Guys on our About Us page .

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Talking About Your Hobbies In English

When you want to get to know someone, ask about their hobbies and interests. Talking about hobbies means you can share details about yourself – and discover shared interests and free-time activities.

Here are some phrases you can use.

Questions you can ask

What do you like doing? What sort of hobbies do you have? What do you get up to in your free time?

How to reply

In my free time I… When I have some spare time I… When I get the time, I… I relax by watching TV / listening to music, etc. My hobbies are bird-watching / playing sport, etc.

I’m interested in (+ noun / gerund) I’m keen on (+ noun / gerund) I’m into (+ noun / gerund) I enjoy (+ noun / gerund)

You can add “really” or “quite” after “I’m…” for emphasis. “I’m really keen on football.” “I’m really into geneaology.”

Talking about hobbies in more detail

You can give more information about your hobbies and interests:

“I like arts and crafts . I’m a creative / practical person, and like doing things with my hands.”

“I’m an outgoing person, and like socialising / hanging out with friends.”

“I enjoy being physically active , and spend a lot of time playing sports and team games.”

Saying why you like your hobby

You can also explain why you spend time on your hobby to make the conversation longer and more interesting.

“I really enjoy going to the gym because…”

…it keeps me fit. …it gets me out of the house, you know! …it’s sociable. I’ve met lots of new people. …it gives me something interesting to do with my time. …it’s not very expensive, and anyone can do it!

“My hobbies are all creative…”

… I’ve always enjoyed painting and drawing. … Because my job is technical, it’s good to spend time doing something completely different. … I enjoy spending time making things like clothes.

More words that you can use to describe your hobbies:

creative fascinating practical cheap enjoyable relaxing different unusual

Like doing vs like to do

We use like + gerund (ing form) to talk about general likes: I like fishing .

We use like + infinitive to talk about more specific likes: I like to go fishing at the weekend.

If you want more information for talking about what you like or dislike, check out this page .

Talking About Hobbies

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Your Answers

10 Best Answers to “What Are Your Interests and Hobbies”

Among the most common interview questions asked by potential employers is “What are your interests and hobbies?” When a hiring manager asks about your personal interests, they are asking if you are a well-rounded individual and if your personal qualities are a match for the company culture.

Let’s review ten excellent answers to this interview question. Then, read more below for some tips and mistakes to avoid, and a sample list of hobbies and interests for crafting your own answer.

10 Best Example Answers about Your Interests and Hobbies

Example #1: volunteering.

“An activity that I am very strongly involved in is volunteering. I try to volunteer two to three times every month at my local homeless shelter. I find it is a great way to give back and have community involvement. It helps me to grow my inner self and avoid becoming self-focused. I enjoy meeting different people, not just other volunteers, but I also hear the stories of the people we help.  (This answers the question, and states how often you do it.)

I’ve learned a lot of new things while volunteering. For example, I’ve learned soft skills like compassion, empathy, and active listening that are critical to relating to others. Additional skills and values, such as persistence, are important, too.  (This discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

There are some weekends when I am tired, and I don’t want to turn up. But I know the others are counting on me, and I take a lot of pride in being a good team player and helping others, so I am always there on time and ready to work hard, regardless of the day.”  (This states how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #2: Team Sports

“My greatest interest is in team sports. While I enjoy most team sports, my passion is baseball. I haven’t played in a while as I have been busy job hunting since moving cities. However, before moving, I used to play on a regular basis with a local team. I played in every game possible, which was every Saturday during the season, and turned up to every practice without missing a single one.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

Playing on a team requires a lot of skills. In particular, communication skills are important to successful teamwork. I have also been working on my leadership skills, as the more senior players such as myself would help coach, train, teach and motivate the new team members.  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

I love the fact that team sports require everyone to work together. You can’t win the game unless every single person does what they are supposed to do and works together.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #3: Fitness and Exercise

“I enjoy a lot of hobbies, and there are several hobbies and interests that I regularly enjoy doing. While I do enjoy reading, various group activities, games, and sports, my favorite activity is working out, specifically strength training. While the gym isn’t my only hobby, it is very important to me to maintain my health and fitness, and I go to the gym three days a week.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

Working out is one of those leisure activities that people either love or hate. I love that it pits you against yourself. Your only competition is your own personal best. I am always challenged to be the very best I can be when I am at the gym. While I am always excited when I raise the bar for myself, I find peace and satisfaction in the process. The regular consistency is itself a challenge, and it is satisfying to know that I can hold myself accountable, even on the days I don’t want to be at the gym.  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

This ability to set and work towards goals, to be reliable and accountable, and to always show up and give 100% is something that I bring to all aspects of my life, and I would bring to this role, too, if I am successful.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #4: Reading

“I am a voracious reader. I read both fiction and non-fiction, everything from short stories to sagas, self-help, and business books. While I like to always have one fiction and one nonfiction book on the go, it’s not uncommon for me to have several books going at once. I read at least a chapter every single night before bed, but on the weekends or a day off, it’s not uncommon for me to spend several more hours reading.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

While I read fiction for enjoyment and love being able to go on an adventure inside my head, I enjoy learning new things and expanding my horizons by reading nonfiction too.  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

Besides the skills learned by reading, reading is itself a skill that requires both patience and the ability to focus. I credit reading books with helping me to be a well-rounded person. Because I enjoy reading and I am a good reader, I am also a very fast reader and retain almost everything I read. It’s one of those good hobbies that overflows into every other part of life in a positive way.   (Discusses more skills.)

If I am hired, you will see my love for reading benefit me as I can learn new skills quickly, I often use internal manuals to teach myself new skills, and because of my good retention of information, I only need to be taught things once to commit them to memory long-term.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #5: Practicing an Instrument

“One of my favorite pastimes is practicing and playing the piano. I am not very good right now, so most of the time, I am practicing, but I can already play a few basic pieces, and it is very satisfying to play beautiful music. I try to practice for 15 minutes every day and for at least one hour during the weekend. On weekends I try to have dedicated practice time for improving my skills and also some time to just mess around and play one of the pieces I already know. This way, I am always improving, but I can also enjoy the rewards of the effort I have put in already.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

It takes a lot of patience to learn, especially at the start when the first 20 or 30 hours of practice, you can’t even play something to enjoy it. It’s just hard work. Now that I can play some full pieces, I find it very relaxing, and it helps me to destress at the end of the day.   (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

If I play before bedtime, I sleep a lot better, and I have seen this reflected in the quality of my work as I am less stressed and better rested.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #6: Traveling

“My favorite thing to do in my free time is to travel, and I dedicate a lot of time to it. I try to go on one overseas trip every year, but sometimes it is every two years. When I am not traveling overseas, I also like to travel at home and take road trips around my state to see other counties, and on long weekends I often travel to the next state over. I love seeing new places, so if I am not traveling, I am seeking travel inspiration from others on social media, always on the lookout for the best place to go on my next trip.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

I enjoy traveling because it is so much more than just the journey. It takes planning, commitment, an openness to new cultures, new people, and a spirit of adventure. Traveling has taught me how to create long-term plans, choose priorities and work towards goals and objectives in an effective manner. (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

I bring these skills and an openness to learning about people and cultures to the workplace, and I believe I would rapidly become a valuable and cohesive member of any team.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #7: Playing Board Games

“I have several hobbies and activities that I enjoy participating in. I read and volunteer, and I have outside interests such as hiking and camping, but one of my most frequent hobbies is playing board games. I am a member of a board gaming social group, and we try to meet up twice a month for a couple of hours of gaming. Once every three months, we have a weekend meetup for longer games.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

It is difficult to pick just one aspect of board gaming that I enjoy as every game is different. I enjoy the social aspect. We often have anywhere from two up to eight people in one game. Most board games also require strategy and the ability to consider scenarios and a range of possible actions and choose the best option. Some games are also played as teams, so there is a cooperative teamwork aspect while applying strategy and planning too.  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

In addition, some of our group can get competitive sometimes, so I have had to learn and apply effective interpersonal skills to manage those people so that we can play games and have fun without letting individual emotions ruin the day for others.  (Discusses more skills.)

Board gaming is an activity that builds skills relevant to work. We need to work as a team to solve complex problems and interact with different people who can be in different emotional states from day to day, so it is a good way of developing critical thinking skills and social skills while also having fun with friends.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #8: Spending Time with My Family 

“My family is easily the most important thing in the world to me, and because of this, the way I prefer to spend my free time is to relax, socialize and interact with them. It might sound cliché of me to say it, but I spend almost all of my free time with my family because it brings me great joy and happiness to be with my children and watch them play and grow.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

We are a very tight-knit family, so whether we are watching tv, playing video games, going to church on Sunday, or exploring the woods on a long weekend, we do almost everything together. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my family, and this is a big part of why I am an ideal candidate.  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

I am motivated to provide my family with the best life and the best opportunities that I can and to be able to afford to enjoy our time together. I know that to do this, I need to do well at work, commit to habits of excellence, and go above and beyond to produce exceptional value for the company.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

Example #9: Being Creative

“The activity that I enjoy the most is being creative. I have several creative skills, including drawing and painting, but I particularly enjoy graphic design. The ability to make something from my imagination come to life on a screen is very satisfying. I use my skills to take on small jobs for friends and family, and I maintain a portfolio of my work online. I used to create art two to three hours per week, but now that I have the core skill, I just work on projects for enjoyment, usually three or four hours most weeks and any weekend that I have free.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

I want to get better, and I like seeing what others have done online and exploring the limitations of my abilities. For this reason, I am always looking to incorporate new tools, functions, and techniques into my work. This means that I have the technical skill of graphic design that I bring to the role, but it also demonstrates my ability to be self-directed and self-motivated. I don’t require much oversight, and I am always looking to push myself and develop new skills. I also enjoy sharing my skills with others and helping them to improve their abilities so that we can all become better together.”  (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest and does not explicitly state how the skills will help in the prospective job, but that will be obvious to the interviewer.)

Example #10: Debating

“It is not a very common interest, but one of my passions is debating. In my college days, I was a member of the debate team. In my last town, I was a member of Toastmasters International and would attend many events and particularly liked to participate in debates. While I am not currently active with a local group, I am a member of a private online debate group. We meet up every Wednesday evening for a video chat.  (Answers the question and states how often.)

Most weeks, we learn about debate and argument techniques and ways to improve our thinking.  At least once a month, we break into teams and have to debate a current topic from the news. We try to form teams arguing the opposite point of view to our personal opinions. I enjoy the friendly but competitive rivalry in the group and the fact that most of the time, we are helping each other, and then occasionally, we have these debate contests. I also like that we are forced to think about issues from the opposite side of what we would like. This means that we need to be very good at critical thought and reasoning and open to new ideas. To debate effectively, we also need to learn to be assertive, think on our feet, and hone strong communication skills. (Discusses the skills from that hobby or interest.)

All of the skills I have developed as a debater I would bring to the position, and I believe they would be valuable in the role.”  (States how the skills will help in the prospective job.)

5 Tips to Plan Your Answer

• Create a list of hobbies, sports, or interests that you enjoy and any volunteer work you are involved with.
• Identify what work-relevant skills you have developed or demonstrated in the activity.
• Visit the company’s website and look at the job description and identify what technical skills and soft skills are important to the job role and the company.
• Think of some of the best examples of when or how you demonstrated relevant skills or developed a new skill in the activity.
• In the job interview, explain to the prospective employer the transferable skills from your hobby or interest and how it is relevant to your job application, and why it makes you the perfect candidate.

5 Mistakes to Avoid in Your Interview Answer

• Failing to list hobbies or interests that relate to the job or failing to explain how they relate to the job.
• Do not say you use leisure time for partying and drinking and need every Sunday to recover for the next week.
• Don’t discuss controversial hobbies. Keep to examples of hobbies that are widely accepted extracurricular activities.
• Don’t talk about wasting your spare time or showing a lack of interest and direction in life.
• Don’t use examples of hobbies that demonstrate skills, interests, or personality traits that are a strong mismatch for the role.

Sample List of Hobbies and Interests

• Charity, volunteering, and community work
• Cooking, food and wine experiences, and restaurant dining
• Creative activities, art, crafts, and playing music
• Educational pursuits, intellectual activities, investing, reading, and book clubs
• Entertainment, board games, and video games
• Exercise, fitness, and weight training
• Gardening and horticulture
• Group activities, field sports, and team sports
• Motor sports
• Outdoor activities and extreme sports
• Meditation, bird watching, and other relaxing activities
• Family time and activities
• Solo sports
• Traveling, road trips, and adventure

During an interview, the most important thing to remember is to explain how your hobby or interest relates to the job and keep it relevant to the hiring process. Be genuine and use a real hobby or interest, and be prepared for follow-up questions.

If you don’t have many hobbies or interests, the best way to respond to this question is with a common interest that shows a desirable quality. Reading or playing team sports are examples of the “right hobbies” to use as an interview answer for this question. With adequate preparation, answering this question will be a breeze. Good luck!

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You should say: – How long have you been doing it? – How often do you do it? – What benefits do you get from it? And explain why you enjoy it?

Sample Answer

Now I’m gonna talk about drawing, which is an activity that I’ve taken up recently. I have to admit I’m not an artistic person so I’m not really good at painting or drawing. However, maybe about 9 months ago if I’m not mistaken, I came across some pictures and sketches on the Internet and I was hooked on creating my own works of art. At that time, I felt stuck and was also occupied with my work, so I was trying to find something to unwind and relieve stress.

I bought some sketched pictures on Shopee which is the most famous e-commerce sales page in Vietnam. You know, the pictures are divided into numerous numbers so what I had to do was just to fill in the numbers with the given colors. Like I told you before, although I don’t have an eye for art, I could eventually complete a beautiful picture by myself. 

There are several benefits of drawing that I’ve received from my experiences. First of all, it helps me boost my creativity. This is simply because I need to mix and match distinctive colors to make the pictures harmonized. Besides that, I’ve become more focused as drawing requires patience and concentration. This is pretty beneficial for a person who can easily get distracted like me. 

So if I had a chance, I would sign up for some painting classes to master my skills to be able to create beautiful paintings myself. I feel energetic every time I draw so I highly recommend everyone to give it a try.

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Conservatives Are Getting Comfortable Talking Openly About a National Abortion Ban

After this week’s oral argument, few court watchers believe the Supreme Court is now ready to limit the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to approve mifepristone , a drug used in more than half of all abortions , as opponents of abortion sought. At oral argument in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine , it did not appear that the plaintiff doctors persuaded the court that the law inflicted injuries that would give them standing to sue. The reason for the justices’ skepticism is not hard to find. The doctors built their case on a mountain of remote possibilities. Patients might suffer complications from mifepristone—a drug with an impressively low complication rate—and might seek treatment at emergency rooms, where the plaintiffs may happen to practice, when the plaintiffs might not be able to find another physician willing to intervene. And all of that might mean that the plaintiffs would have to act in violation of their conscience. But then again, it might not. That’s why this case seems dead on arrival: The justices seemed unwilling to engage in the sort of rank speculation the plaintiffs have in mind. If this chain of hypotheticals is enough, anyone can bring a constitutional challenge to any drug approval or any law.

But the case was also a vehicle for advancing ever more expansive conscience-based arguments that have become common currency among Christian conservatives—claims of the kind we have seen in well-known cases like the 2014 Hobby Lobby decision recognizing conscience objections to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act or even last year’s ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis that allowed a conservative Christian graphic designer to refuse to make custom websites for same-sex weddings.

Today, those with conscience-based objections seek more than to pray or dress in conformity with religious belief. They object to laws providing Americans access to health care or freedom from discrimination. Compliance with these laws, they claim, would make the objector complicit in the assertedly sinful conduct of others.

Objectors bringing this new generation of complicity-based conscience claims invite courts to deny other Americans the protections of the law. In the FDA case, the plaintiffs do not even seek an exemption from the law; through an expansive standing claim, the doctors claim the only way the court could protect their conscience is to strike down FDA approvals providing all Americans access to medication abortion. Simply having mifepristone on the market, they argue, risks making them complicit in abortion.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson zeroed in on the problems with this argument. She observed that Erin Hawley, the attorney for the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had identified a “broad” and “narrow” idea of conscience. The “narrow” reading was straightforward: “participating in a procedure.” This reading had problems of its own: In fact, no doctor was obliged to prescribe mifepristone, and in any event, federal law provides doctors conscience protections.

Yet Hawley didn’t think complicity ended there. Jackson seemed confused. Did Hawley mean that a handful of other doctors who participated in post-abortion procedures, such as the removal of tissue, were also complicit? Or was Hawley asking the court to recognize the complicity claims of someone who worked in an emergency room where abortions took place, or handed an abortion provider a water bottle?

Jackson spotlighted a defining feature of “conscience-war” claims that one of us (Reva Siegel), writing with Douglas NeJaime, has identified : Conservatives assert ever-expanding complicity-based conscience claims, urging the government to accommodate their claims without making any provision for other Americans who would lose the protection of law. Appealing to the value of conscience obscures the material and dignitary harm that accommodating the objection inflicts on others.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed this point: While the plaintiffs could not say their conscience had been or would be harmed, their claim to conscience obscured harm done to a variety of other parties. That includes the FDA, which had its own scientific judgments displaced, and the pharmaceutical industry, which relies on the FDA approval process to ensure some sort of uniform industry standards. First and foremost, it includes, as Prelogar noted, “women who need access to medication abortion .”

Conscience claims have been alluring to conservatives because, like colorblindness, they allow conservatives to speak as a “minority,” and to assert traditional family values as individual freedom claims. But there is a telling shift. When groups like Alliance Defending Freedom asserted complicity-based conscience claims at the time of Hobby Lobby , they worried about losing in a Supreme Court that was far less conservative—and about alienating a Republican Party that still prioritized electability rather than ideological purity.

By contrast, in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, ADF talked not only about protecting women or safeguarding conscience; it made claims around the Comstock Act, a symbol of Victorian sexual morality focused not on protecting fetal life but on discouraging illicit sex , that ADF seeks to reinvent as a de facto national abortion ban. ADF argued that FDA could not have had the authority to approve telehealth abortions in 2021 because the Comstock Act bars the mailing of abortion pills—and indeed, any abortion-related item. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both seemed interested in transforming the 1873 Comstock Act into an abortion ban that American voters would never choose to enact. Alito seemed shy about mentioning Comstock by name, instead referring to the hard-to-recognize number in the U.S. Code. Thomas was not so reserved, all but telling attorneys for Danco, the maker of the name-brand mifepristone, that the Comstock Act barred the mailing of the drug.

The very fact that ADF wants to talk about the Comstock Act is remarkable. It seems unwise to hitch the anti-abortion movement’s star to a 19 th -century anti-vice movement known for “Comstockery”: censoring political speech, undermining democratic norms, and condemning any form of sex not intended for procreation .

Voters have already rejected state abortion bans. Just imagine what most Americans would make of it if an already unpopular Supreme Court interpreted a law from 1873 as a sweeping, punitive zombie abortion ban. But worrying about the public’s reaction assumes the movement is seeking to persuade voters rather than simply looking for ways to use power to enforce traditional family values and punish those who become pregnant or might provide them medical care. Anti-abortion groups are planning to revive enforcement of the Comstock Act if Donald Trump wins the presidency , claiming they would not need Congress to act .

The argument in the mifepristone case was a potent reminder of why conservatives have gravitated to conscience claims—and demonstrated the hidden harms that these claims can inflict on other Americans. But the conversation at the Supreme Court this week also suggested that conservatives are preparing to express the values underlying complicity-based conscience claims more openly. As it gains power, members of the anti-abortion movement seem increasingly ready to take off the mask.

Is a robot writing your kids’ essays? We asked educators to weigh in on the growing role of AI in classrooms.

Educators weigh in on the growing role of ai and chatgpt in classrooms..

Remember writing essays in high school? Chances are you had to look up stuff in an encyclopedia — an actual one, not Wikipedia — or else connect to AOL via a modem bigger than your parents’ Taurus station wagon.

Now, of course, there’s artificial intelligence. According to new research from Pew, about 1 in 5 US teens who’ve heard of ChatGPT have used it for schoolwork. Kids in upper grades are more apt to have used the chatbot: About a quarter of 11th- and 12th-graders who know about ChatGPT have tried it.

For the uninitiated, ChatGPT arrived on the scene in late 2022, and educators continue to grapple with the ethics surrounding its growing popularity. Essentially, it generates free, human-like responses based on commands. (I’m sure this sentence will look antiquated in about six months, like when people described the internet as the “information superhighway.”)

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I used ChatGPT to plug in this prompt: “Write an essay on ‘The Scarlet Letter.’” Within moments, ChatGPT created an essay as thorough as anything I’d labored over in AP English.

Is this cheating? Is it just part of our strange new world? I talked to several educators about what they’re seeing in classrooms and how they’re monitoring it. Before you berate your child over how you wrote essays with a No. 2 pencil, here are some things to consider.

Adapting to new technology isn’t immoral. “We have to recalibrate our sense of what’s acceptable. There was a time when every teacher said: ‘Oh, it’s cheating to use Wikipedia.’ And guess what? We got used to it, we decided it’s reputable enough, and we cite Wikipedia all the time,” says Noah Giansiracusa, an associate math professor at Bentley University who hosts the podcast “ AI in Academia: Navigating the Future .”

“There’s a calibration period where a technology is new and untested. It’s good to be cautious and to treat it with trepidation. Then, over time, the norms kind of adapt,” he says — just like new-fangled graphing calculators or the internet in days of yore.

“I think the current conversation around AI should not be centered on an issue with plagiarism. It should be centered on how AI will alter methods for learning and expressing oneself. ‘Catching’ students who use fully AI-generated products ... implies a ‘gotcha’ atmosphere,” says Jim Nagle, a history teacher at Bedford High School. “Since AI is already a huge part of our day-to-day lives, it’s no surprise our students are making it a part of their academic tool kit. Teachers and students should be at the forefront of discussions about responsible and ethical use.”

Teachers and parents could use AI to think about education at a higher level. Really, learning is about more than regurgitating information — or it should be, anyway. But regurgitation is what AI does best.

“If our system is just for students to write a bunch of essays and then grade the results? Something’s missing. We need to really talk about their purpose and what they’re getting out of this, and maybe think about different forms of assignments and grading,” Giansiracusa says.

After all, while AI aggregates and organizes ideas, the quality of its responses depends on the users’ prompts. Instead of recoiling from it, use it as a conversation-starter.

“What parents and teachers can do is to start the conversation with kids: ‘What are we trying to learn here? Is it even something that ChatGPT could answer? Why did your assignment not convince you that you need to do this thinking on your own when a tool can do it for you?’” says Houman Harouni , a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Harouni urges parents to read an essay written by ChatGPT alongside their student. Was it good? What could be done better? Did it feel like a short cut?

“What they’re going to remember is that you had that conversation with them; that someone thought, at some point in their lives, that taking a shortcut is not the best way ... especially if you do it with the tool right in front of you, because you have something real to talk about,” he says.

Harouni hopes teachers think about its implications, too. Consider math: So much grunt work has been eliminated by calculators and computers. Yet kids are still tested as in days of old, when perhaps they could expand their learning to be assessed in ways that are more personal and human-centric, leaving the rote stuff to AI.

“We could take this moment of confusion and loss of certainty seriously, at least in some small pockets, and start thinking about what a different kind of school would look like. Five years from now, we might have the beginnings of some very interesting exploration. Five years from now, you and I might be talking about schools wherein teaching and learning is happening in a very self-directed way, in a way that’s more based on … igniting the kid’s interest and seeing where they go and supporting them to go deeper and to go wider,” Harouni says.

Teachers have the chance to offer assignments with more intentionality.

“Really think about the purpose of the assignments. Don’t just think of the outcome and the deliverable: ‘I need a student to produce a document.’ Why are we getting students to write? Why are we doing all these things in the first place? If teachers are more mindful, and maybe parents can also be more mindful, I think it pushes us away from this dangerous trap of thinking about in terms of ‘cheating,’ which, to me, is a really slippery path,” Giansiracusa says.

AI can boost confidence and reduce procrastination. Sometimes, a robot can do something better than a human, such as writing a dreaded resume and cover letter. And that’s OK; it’s useful, even.

“Often, students avoid applying to internships because they’re just overwhelmed at the thought of writing a cover letter, or they’re afraid their resume isn’t good enough. I think that tools like this can help them feel more confident. They may be more likely to do it sooner and have more organized and better applications,” says Kristin Casasanto, director of post-graduate planning at Olin College of Engineering.

Casasanto says that AI is also useful for de-stressing during interview prep.

“Students can use generative AI to plug in a job description and say, ‘Come up with a list of interview questions based on the job description,’ which will give them an idea of what may be asked, and they can even then say, ‘Here’s my resume. Give me answers to these questions based on my skills and experience.’ They’re going to really build their confidence around that,” Casasanto says.

Plus, when students use AI for basics, it frees up more time to meet with career counselors about substantive issues.

“It will help us as far as scalability. … Career services staff can then utilize our personal time in much more meaningful ways with students,” Casasanto says.

We need to remember: These kids grew up during a pandemic. We can’t expect kids to resist technology when they’ve been forced to learn in new ways since COVID hit.

“Now we’re seeing pandemic-era high school students come into college. They’ve been channeled through Google Classroom their whole career,” says Katherine Jewell, a history professor at Fitchburg State University.

“They need to have technology management and information literacy built into the curriculum,” Jewell says.

Jewell recently graded a paper on the history of college sports. It was obvious which papers were written by AI: They didn’t address the question. In her syllabus, Jewell defines plagiarism as “any attempt by a student to represent the work of another, including computers, as their own.”

This means that AI qualifies, but she also has an open mind, given students’ circumstances.

“My students want to do the right thing, for the most part. They don’t want to get away with stuff. I understand why they turned to these tools; I really do. I try to reassure them that I’m here to help them learn systems. I’m focusing much more on the learning process. I incentivize them to improve, and I acknowledge: ‘You don’t know how to do this the first time out of the gate,’” Jewell says. “I try to incentivize them so that they’re improving their confidence in their abilities, so they don’t feel the need to turn to these tools.”

Understand the forces that make kids resort to AI in the first place . Clubs, sports, homework: Kids are busy and under pressure. Why not do what’s easy?

“Kids are so overscheduled in their day-to-day lives. I think there’s so much enormous pressure on these kids, whether it’s self-inflicted, parent-inflicted, or school-culture inflicted. It’s on them to maximize their schedule. They’ve learned that AI can be a way to take an assignment that would take five hours and cut it down to one,” says a teacher at a competitive high school outside Boston who asked to remain anonymous.

Recently, this teacher says, “I got papers back that were just so robotic and so cold. I had to tell [students]: ‘I understand that you tried to use a tool to help you. I’m not going to penalize you, but what I am going to penalize you for is that you didn’t actually answer the prompt.”

Afterward, more students felt safe to come forward to say they’d used AI. This teacher hopes that age restrictions become implemented for these programs, similar to apps such as Snapchat. Educationally and developmentally, they say, high-schoolers are still finding their voice — a voice that could be easily thwarted by a robot.

“Part of high school writing is to figure out who you are, and what is your voice as a writer. And I think, developmentally, that takes all of high school to figure out,” they say.

And AI can’t replicate voice and personality — for now, at least.

Kara Baskin can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @kcbaskin .

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Opinion Michelle Cottle

Trump Is Financially Ruining the Republican Party

Credit... Mark Peterson for The New York Times

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By Michelle Cottle

Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion and is a host of the podcast “Matter of Opinion.”

• March 31, 2024

Donald Trump is someone you should think carefully about hitching your financial fortunes to. The guy is a gifted carnival barker, no doubt. But when it comes to serious business, he is a bad bet. Many of his ventures , from vodka and steaks to casinos and “university” degrees, have flopped like dying fish. Declaring corporate bankruptcy seems to be one of his favorite hobbies. And even when he wriggles away from failure largely unscathed, the other parties involved aren’t always so fortunate. Where money is involved, anyone still foolish enough to crawl into bed with him should be prepared for the experience to end in tears.

Which leads me to gently note: Hey, Republican Party, pay attention! You are being herded toward potential financial ruin. The red flags are smacking you in the face. Wake up and smell the grift!

One might assume that a presidential nominee who generates as much devotion as Mr. Trump would be a financial boon to his party. One would be wrong. With Mr. Trump, everything is about Mr. Trump. Other candidates and committees are an afterthought, left to squabble over his scraps. Which might not be problematic if the party’s money machine were whirring along smoothly. But it is not. Whether we’re talking about the battle for Congress or the basic health of the state parties, the G.O.P. is going through a rough financial patch, fueled in no small part by the MAGA king and his minions.

The most recent campaign finance reports show that his campaign coffers are notably lighter than President Biden’s. Crunching the numbers, Axios noted recently, “The Biden campaign and the D.N.C. ended February with more than twice as much cash on hand ($97.5 million) as Trump and the R.N.C. ($44.8 million).” While the Republican base may be smitten with Mr. Trump, plenty of big-money donors are skittish about bankrolling his nonsense. The former president has been scrambling to close the gap, leering at potential funders as if they were contestants at the Miss Universe pageant.

Now with Mr. Trump the de facto nominee, some top donors will hold their noses and start paying their tributes. But how do you build a strong party when at least part of your money is going to the nominee’s eye-popping legal bills? Being multiply indicted costs big bucks (more than $100 million and counting in his case). The former president has avoided paying those expenses with his own money so far — court costs are for suckers! — instead relying on his fans’ donations to accounts related to his 2020 election-fraud lies. But those accounts are drying up. Fresh income streams must be found. Anyone need a $59.99 Bible ?

Asked last month if she thought Republican voters would support the Republican National Committee footing Mr. Trump’s legal costs, Lara Trump, soon to be the committee’s co-chair, declared , “Absolutely.” I mean, what else is a good daughter-in-law supposed to say? Still, this possibility has raised enough eyebrows among donors that another Trump lackey, Chris LaCivita, who now oversees the R.N.C.’s operations, has vowed that committee funds will not be used for such.

Except! That doesn’t rule out slippery arrangements like the one in the invitation to an April 6 fund-raiser being hosted in Palm Beach, Fla., by the Trump 47 Committee, the fund-raising effort by the Trump campaign and the R.N.C. Individual attendees may contribute up to $814,600, with donations distributed accordingly: The first $6,600, the maximum allowed by federal law, will go into Mr. Trump’s campaign coffers. The next $5,000 (again, the legal limit ) will flow to the Save America PAC, which is the primary vehicle used to pay Mr. Trump’s legal bills. The next tranche, up to $413,000, will go to the R.N.C., which, as noted, has effectively been turned into a Trump family joint. Anything remaining will trickle down to the party committees in various states.

So to review: Under the new fund-raising agreement, the entity handling Mr. Trump’s legal bills takes its bite before the party committees receive a penny. That smells about right.

As you might imagine, there are better places those dollars could go to help Republicans this election cycle. Multiple state parties have been plagued by financial troubles, including in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia — battleground states that could easily decide not only the presidential race but also control of the Senate and House. But time and money are being wasted on Trumpian drama, with factional infighting, poor leadership and, of course, legal troubles.

In Georgia the previous head of the state party was among those indicted on charges relating to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In Arizona the state party spent last year begging the R.N.C. for help digging out of the hole that the then-chairman, Jeff DeWit, blamed on legal fallout from 2020. Complicating matters, he abruptly resigned in January after Kari Lake, the MAGAtastic election denier leading the Republican Senate field there, released a recording in which he seemed to offer her money to drop her 2024 bid. And in Michigan the infighting has been so nasty over the past year or so that physical fights broke out, even as concerns about the party’s finances helped spur a coup against Kristina Karamo, a Trump devotee elected party chairwoman in February 2023. Voted out this past January, she refused to accept the decision until a judge ordered her to stand down in late February.

Generally speaking, parties in chaos do not attract fat checks from potential donors.

Then there is the battle for control of the House and Senate. Republicans are feeling pretty upbeat about their Senate recruits, in part because many of the nominees are rich enough to self-fund their campaigns. Which is a good thing for the party, since campaign finance filings show the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee with $7 million more on hand than its Republican counterpart .

Life for House Republicans looks even more unsettling, with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sitting on $14 million more than the Republican committee. Worse still, the red team’s fund-raising is suffering from having swapped out its old, establishment-friendly speaker for a purer MAGA model with far inferior buckraking chops . Kevin McCarthy might have been a weasel, but he knew how to work donors, which is an important part of the job. Mike Johnson has many fine qualities, I’m sure. But he lacks Mr. McCarthy’s donor network and schmoozing skills. His ultraconservative religious positions are said to make some people uneasy, and — how do I put this gently? — he doesn’t exactly radiate competent leadership.

I refer you again to the point about chaos not inspiring serious donors.

Rarely has a political party been more desperately in need of a leader who can calm the waters, unify the feuding factions and charm the money men and women. Instead, Republicans have fallen in line behind a guy who has zero loyalty to the party, who cares only how it can serve him and who would rather strip it for parts than invest a nickel in its general well-being.

This deep into the Trump era, no one can say they weren’t warned.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Michelle Cottle writes about national politics for Opinion and is a host of the podcast “Matter of Opinion.” She has covered Washington and politics since the Clinton administration.  @ mcottle

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