Unit 4: Hobbies- Daily English 889 – Taking Up a New Hobby

Eric: Who were you talking to on the phone?

Melissa: My mother. I was commiserating with her about Dad’s retirement.

Eric: Your father retired two months ago. That was a good thing, right?

Melissa: Well, it’s good that he doesn’t have to work anymore, but he’s driving my mother up the wall. He putters around the house and gets in her way. She retired last year, so she’s had a year to establish her new routine. He’s still kind of lost.

Eric: Why doesn’t he take up a hobby? That would give him something interesting to occupy his time.

Melissa: Believe me, my mother has tried to interest him in gardening, woodworking, and even scrapbooking, but nothing has worked.

Eric: Those sound too sedentary for somebody as active as your father. How about encouraging him to take up bird watching or golf?

Melissa: He wouldn’t be interested in those hobbies. I think he needs something more challenging, maybe playing chess or doing genealogy. Maybe he could even learn to play a musical instrument.

Eric: Maybe your Dad just needs time to find his footing again. Given time, he’ll figure out what he wants to do with his newfound free time.

Melissa: Maybe. But what does my mother do in the meantime?

Eric: She can take up a new hobby, too – out of the house!

Category: Entertainment + Sports

Eric starts off by saying, “Who were you talking to on the phone?” Melissa says, “My mother. I was commiserating with her about dad’s retirement.” “To commiserate” (commiserate) means to spend time talking with someone about his or her experience of sadness or problems. It’s to give someone sympathy, to say, “Oh, yes, I understand. Boy, that’s really difficult.” You are commiserating with them. Melissa was commiserating with her mother about her father’s retirement. “Retirement” is the period of time, usually when you’re older when you stop working full-time and, we hope, relax a little.

Eric says, “Your father retired two months ago. That was a good thing, right?” Melissa says, “Well, it’s good that he doesn’t have to work anymore, but he’s driving my mother up the wall.” “To drive someone up the wall” means to make them go crazy, to drive them crazy. Usually, we refer to people who are very annoying, or who cause you to get angry or upset, we may say those people are “driving you up the wall.” Melissa’s father is driving her mother up the wall. Why? She says that her father “putters around” the house and gets in her way. “To putter (putter) around” means to spend time doing things that aren’t very important, especially when you’re bored and you’re looking for something to do. Maybe you’ll go and you’ll clean your desk, or you’ll go outside and try to cut your grass a little bit here and there, but not really seriously, not with any sort of purpose. You’re basically wasting time. You’re puttering around.

Well, Melissa’s father is puttering around the house and getting in the way of his wife. Melissa says that her mother retired last year so she’s had a year to establish a new routine. “To establish a routine” means to get into the habit of doing certain things. When you retire, and you don’t have to go to work every day, you have to develop a new routine, a new set of habits that you will follow when you get up in the morning and through the rest of the day.

Melissa says that her father is still “kind of” lost, meaning he’s somewhat lost. Eric says, “Why doesn’t he take up a hobby?” “To take up” is a two-word phrasal verb which here means to begin doing some activity for the first time. Usually, we use this phrasal verb when we are starting some new activity for fun. An activity

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English as a Second Language Podcast www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 889 – Taking Up a New Hobby

that you do for fun for enjoyment, for pleasure is often called a “hobby” (hobby). A hobby could be something like golfing. A hobby could be collecting stamps, postage stamps. A hobby could be playing cards, playing cards with your friends every Tuesday. That might be something that is part of your hobby. “To take up a hobby” means to start a new hobby.

Eric said that taking up a hobby would give him something interesting “to occupy his time.” “To occupy your time” means to keep yourself busy, to keep yourself doing something so you don’t get bored. Melissa says, “Believe me,” meaning trust me, “my mother has tried to interest him in gardening, woodworking, and even scrapbooking, but nothing has worked.” These are three hobbies you could take up. The first is “gardening,” where you grow plants in a certain area, grow flowers or vegetables or something else. “Woodworking” refers to building things out of wood. We might also call it, if it were an occupation, “carpentry.” To make things out of wood is “woodworking.” “Scrapbooking” is creating informal books with photographs and other things to help you remember usually a certain time in your life or certain important events in your life. That’s called “scrapbooking” (scrapbooking).

Eric says that these hobbies that Melissa’s mother has tried to interest her father in sound too “sedentary” for somebody as active as her father. He is talking about activities being “sedentary” (sedentary). That means to be without a lot of physical activity, not very active just sitting in a chair on a couch. Eric says, “How about encouraging him to take up bird watching or golf?”

“Bird watching” is a hobby where people go and look at birds try to identify different kinds of birds that are out in the world. “Golf” is a game that you play with a small white ball and metal or wooden sticks, which are called “clubs.” You try to get the ball into a little round hole. Famous golfers would include people like Tiger Woods. That’s the game he plays, golf.

Melissa says, “He wouldn’t be interested in those hobbies. I think he needs something more challenging” – more difficult – “maybe playing chess or doing genealogy.” “Chess” (chess) is a game that you play on a board where you have two players – one player tries to move the chess pieces around in order to defeat the other player. The board usually has white and black squares and each side of the board has these little pieces that you move around and try to capture the other person’s pieces. That’s chess. “Genealogy” (genealogy) is when you study your ancestors, when you figure out who your grandfather, your great- grandfather, your great-great-grandfather, your great-great-great grandfather, were. You try to figure out who all those people were.

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English as a Second Language Podcast www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 889 – Taking Up a New Hobby

Melissa says, “Maybe he could even learn to play a musical instrument.” A musical instrument would be something like a guitar or a piano or a violin. Those are all musical instruments, things that we use to make music. Eric says, “Maybe your dad just needs to find his footing again.” “To find your footing” (footing) means simply to know what you want, to feel comfortable in a certain situation. Sometimes, it takes a while when people retire to adjust, to change their life, to change their thinking so that they are comfortable in the new situation.

Eric says, “Given time” – if he has enough time – “he’ll figure out” – he’ll discover – “what he wants to do with his newfound free time.” “Newfound” – one word – means recently obtained, something you just got. We often use that in describing freedom, or free time – my newfound freedom. I just ended a relationship with my girlfriend. I have newfound freedom! Of course, you also don’t have a girlfriend, but the idea is that it’s something positive. My newfound free time, free time that I didn’t have just a few days ago or weeks ago and now I have.

Melissa says, “Maybe, but what does my mother do in the meantime?” – until that happens. Eric says, “She can take up a new hobby too – out of the house,” meaning until Melissa’s father finds a new hobby, a new routine, Melissa’s mother should take up a new hobby that would require her to leave the house so she wasn’t in the house with her husband.

Now let’s listen to the dialog this time, at a normal speed.
[start of dialog]
Eric: Who were you talking to on the phone?
Melissa: My mother. I was commiserating with her about Dad’s retirement. Eric: Your father retired two months ago. That was a good thing, right?

Melissa: Well, it’s good that he doesn’t have to work anymore, but he’s driving my mother up the wall. He putters around the house and gets in her way. She retired last year, so she’s had a year to establish her new routine. He’s still kind of lost.

Eric: Why doesn’t he take up a hobby? That would give him something interesting to occupy his time.

Melissa: Believe me, my mother has tried to interest him in gardening, woodworking, and even scrapbooking, but nothing has worked.

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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

English as a Second Language Podcast www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 889 – Taking Up a New Hobby

Eric: Those sound too sedentary for somebody as active as your father. How about encouraging him to take up bird watching or golf?

Melissa: He wouldn’t be interested in those hobbies. I think he needs something more challenging, maybe playing chess or doing genealogy. Maybe he could even learn to play a musical instrument.

Eric: Maybe your Dad just needs time to find his footing again. Given time, he’ll figure out what he wants to do with his newfound free time.

Melissa: Maybe. But what does my mother do in the meantime?

Eric: She can take up a new hobby, too – out of the house!

[end of dialog]