How to Talk About Your Hobbies

Learn how to talk about your hobbies

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Can-Do Japanese by JapanesePod101.com.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about your hobbies in Japanese.

For example, “My hobby is fishing.” is

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

Two neighbors, Shin Ishikawa and Haruto Sasaki, are having a conversation in an apartment building lobby.

Before you hear their conversation, let’s preview some of its key components.

つり

"fishing"

つり (enunciated)

つり

しゅみ

"hobby"

しゅみ (enunciated)

しゅみ

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

Once more with the English translation.

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

"What's your hobby?"

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

"My hobby is fishing."

Let's break down the conversation.

Do you remember how Shin Ishikawa asks,

"What's your hobby?"

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

First is しゅみ (shumi), "hobby." しゅ-み. しゅみ.

Next is the particle, は (wa), the topic-marking particle. は. は.

It marks "hobby" as the topic of the sentence. Think of it like "as for" in the expression "as for [your] hobby."

Together, it's しゅみは (shumi wa), "as for [your] hobby." しゅみは.

the "your" is understood through context, as the speaker is asking the listener a direct question.

After this is なん (nan), "what." な-ん. なん.

Next is です. In this case, it's like the "is" in "what is." で-す. です.

And last is か, the question-marking particle, which turns the sentence into a question. か. か.

All together, しゅみは　なんですか。 literally means, "As for [your] hobby, what is?" but translates as "What's your hobby?"

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

Let's take a closer look at the response.

Do you remember how the Haruto says,

"My hobby is fishing."

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

First is しゅみは (shumi wa), "as for [my] hobby," in this context. しゅみは.

Note: the "my" is understood through context, as the speaker is answering a direct question.

Next is つり (tsuri). "Fishing." つ-り. つり.

After this is です. In this context, it's like "is" in English. です.

All together, しゅみは　つりです。This literally means, "as for [my] hobby, fishing [it] is," but it translates as, "My hobby is fishing."

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

When responding to a question or request about your hobby, you can omit the phrase, しゅみは, "as for [my] hobby," because it's clear from context you’re giving your hobby.

HOBBY です。 (desu.)

It's HOBBY.

HOBBY です。 (desu.)

This is a more natural response. You should be aware of this shortcut, but you’ll practice the full pattern for this lesson.

The pattern is

しゅみは (Shumi wa) HOBBY です。 (desu.)

My hobby is HOBBY.

しゅみは (Shumi wa) HOBBY です。 (desu.)

To use this pattern, simply replace the {HOBBY} placeholder with a hobby.

Note: this pattern requires a noun.

Imagine you like baseball. やきゅう (yakyū). や-きゅ-う. やきゅう.

Say

"My hobby is baseball."

Ready?

しゅみは　やきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

"My hobby is baseball."

しゅみは　やきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

Again, the key pattern is

しゅみは (Shumi wa) HOBBY です。 (desu.)

My hobby is HOBBY.

しゅみは (Shumi wa) HOBBY です。 (desu.)

Let's look at some examples.

Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers.

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

"My hobby is fishing."

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

しゅみは　やきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

"My hobby is baseball."

しゅみは　やきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

しゅみは　りょこうです。 (Shumi wa ryokō desu.)

"My hobby is traveling."

しゅみは　りょこうです。 (Shumi wa ryokō desu.)

しゅみは　まんがです。 (Shumi wa manga desu.)

"My hobby is manga."

しゅみは　まんがです。 (Shumi wa manga desu.)

りょうりが　すきです。 (Ryōri ga suki desu.)

"I like cooking."

りょうりが　すきです。 (Ryōri ga suki desu.)

Did you notice how the last speaker uses a different pattern?

りょうりが　すきです。 (Ryōri ga suki desu.)

"I like cooking."

First is りょうり, "cooking." りょ-う-り. りょうり.

After this is が (ga), the subject-marking particle. が. が.

It marks りょうり, "cooking," as the subject of the sentence.

Next is すき (suki), meaning, "like." す-き. すき.

すき is an adjective deriving from the verb すく, to like. すく. When used as an adjective, think of it as something like "nice" or "likeable," as in "Cooking is nice," but translating as "like."

Last is です. In this case, it's like the "is," as in "Cooking is nice." です.

All together, りょうりがすきです。This literally means, "Cooking is nice," but it translates as, "I like cooking."

りょうりが　すきです。 (Ryōri ga suki desu.)

This pattern is

HOBBY が　すきです。 (ga suki desu.)

I like HOBBY.

You should be aware of this pattern, but you won’t need it for this lesson.

Let's review the new words.

やきゅう (yakyū). "Baseball."

や-きゅ-う. やきゅう.

りょこう (ryokō). "Travelling."

りょ-こ-う. りょこう.

まんが (manga). "Manga."

ま-ん-が. まんが.

Let's review.

Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after me, focusing on pronunciation.

Ready?

Do you remember how to say "fishing"?

つり (tsuri).

And how to say "hobby"?

しゅみ (shumi).

Do you remember the topic-marking particle?

は　(wa).

And do you remember how Haruto says

"My hobby is fishing."

しゅみは　つりです。 (Shumi wa tsuri desu.)

Do you remember the question-marking particle?

か (ka).

And how to say "what?"

なん (nan).

Do you remember how Shin asks,

"What's your hobby?"

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

Do you remember how to say, "baseball?"

やきゅう (yakyū).

And how to say "travelling?"

りょこう (ryokō).

Do you remember how to say "manga?"

まんが (manga).

Let's practice.

Imagine you're Shin Ishikawa, and you like baseball, or やきゅう.

Respond to the question.

Ready?

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

しゅみはやきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

しゅみはやきゅうです。 (Shumi wa yakyū desu.)

Let's try another.

Imagine you're Ms. Nagaoka, and you like traveling, or りょこう.

Ready?

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

しゅみはりょこうです。 (Shumi wa ryokō desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

しゅみはりょこうです。 (Shumi wa ryokō desu.)

Let's try one more.

Imagine you're Mr. Kobayashi, and you like manga, or まんが.

Ready?

しゅみは　なんですか。 (Shumi wa nan desu ka.)

しゅみはまんがです。 (Shumi wa manga desu.)

Listen again and repeat.

しゅみはまんがです。 (Shumi wa manga desu.)

Well done! This is the end of the lesson and the Can Talk About Hobbies unit of this course.

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