Hi Bob the Canadian here.
Sometimes as you learn English you want to be able to describe the things that you do
for fun.
In this video we’ll look at several words and phrases that you can use in English to
describe the things you would do for fun if you stayed in instead of going out for the
night.
But before we do, if this is your first time here, please subscribe by clicking the subscribe
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So, you don’t feel like going out.
One of the first things you might do if you stay home for the evening is watch television.
So we describe this in a number of ways now you can “Watch Television” you can “Watch
TV” you might “Watching Netflix” you might even be “Watching Youtube” and the
place you would do this is most likely in a room that in English we would call the “Living
room”.
Some people might call it the “Family room”.
Some people might call it the “Den”.
But it is the room in the house where you’ve most likely placed your television.
On your television you’ll watch things like “Television shows”.
A show come in a “series”.
So if you watch a television “series” it mean you’re watching a bunch of television
“shows” in succession.
Or you could be watching a Netflix “series”.
All of those would appropriate words to describe it.
You will most likely be sitting on your couch or sofa.
You may have a “comfortable chair” that you like to sit in.
You will have in your hand your “remote control” so that you can pause and go get
“snacks” which brings me to the last thing you will most likely if you’re staying in
for the evenings have some “snacks” and something to drink as you watch your television
show or a television series.
You may also be watching Netflix, and a new term, a new English term that’s just become
popular in the last few years is something called “binge watching”.
“Binge watching” is when you watch a whole bunch of “episodes” of a show back to
back, in succession.
So you might watch episode 1, 2, 3, and 4 in one night and that would be “binge watching”
that television show.
You might also be watching a film, you might be watching a movie or film.
We use those words interchangeably.
You may have rented a “blu-ray” or a “dvd”.
Or you might be streaming the video through something like Youtube or Google Play.
So those of the things, number one, those are the things you could do if you’re just
staying home to watch TV for the evening.
Number two, the second thing you could do, if you’re staying in for the evening.
Playing a video game.
So again you could do this in an number of different places in your home.
You might be playing a video game on your computer.
So you might be sitting at your desk in your home office and you may be playing a computer
game on your computer.
We use the terms “video game” and “computer game” kind of interchangeably.
They kind of mean the same thing.
So you may be sitting in your office playing a “computer game”.
You may also be in the same room where you watched television.
You may be in your “living room” or “family room”.
And you might be playing a video game on “console”.
So a “console” is something like a “playstation” or an “xbox” or a “nintendo wii”.
So you may be playing a video game at your computer in your office.
You may be playing a video game in your living room.
But you may also just be sitting somewhere comfortable on your smartphone and playing
a video game on your smartphone.
Video games in general have things like “levels”.
They have “characters” and so as you play your video game you try to get a “high score”
or a good “score”.
You try to not die in your video game, and that would be a video game where you’re
playing with a “character”.
Something like Mario Brothers.
But perhaps you’re playing something else like Candy Crush or Tetris.
And in those video games you’re simply trying to get further then you did the time previous.
So, the second thing you might do when you’re in for the evening is you might just sit down
somewhere comfortable and play a video game.
You might have snacks, you might have something to drink, but you certainly are just going
to find a comfortable place, pull out your smartphone or your laptop and play a video
game.
The third thing you might do if you stay in for the evening is read.
Reading is such an enjoyable activity for me.
Normally if I stay in for the night, it is my first choice of something to do.
I love reading books.
Another English word for book is “novel”.
So I like to sit down with a good book or novel and just read.
I have a really nice chair, a reading chair, where I like to do that.
A “reading chair”, there’s nothing special about it, it’s just the chair that I like
to sit in when I read.
If you chose to stay in for the evening, other English words for things you could read are,
“newspaper”.
A “newspaper” as you can see in the picture, is a print daily edition of the news.
You may also be reading a “magazine”.
Magazines generally come once a month.
And the last thing you might be, you may be reading a book on a “kindle” or some sort
of “e-book” reading device.
I have just recently started reading books as e-books.
I’m, I think I like real books better, but “e-books” as well are a way to stay in
for the evening and something fun to do, read a book.
The fourth thing you might do, if you’re staying in for the evening to have fun, is
to play a “board game” or to do a “puzzle”.
So for instance if you were to play a “board game” you would most likely play either
at the “kitchen table”, which is usually the largest table in the house, and works
well for “board games”.
Or you might play a game of “cards” at a special table called a “card table”.
Either way, this requires that there’s other people.
And it’s really a fun way to stay in for the evening.
You may play games like, “monopoly”.
You may play games like, “bridge”.
You may be playing games like, “scrabble”.
By the way if you haven’t played “scrabble” you should play scrabble and try to only do
English words.
It’s a really great way to practice your English.
This is a fun way to stay in for the evening.
It has the added benefit of that it doesn’t cost any money.
And as with everything else I’ve mentioned so far.
It’s usually fun to have some “snacks” while you’re playing and something to go
along with it.
So staying in, if you have enough people in your home or apartment.
It sometimes can be fun to stay in and play a game.
The fifth thing that you might do if you’re staying in for the evening is listening to
some music.
Perhaps you just wanna kick back, which means to relax, perhaps you just want to kick back
and listen to some music.
You may do that in a number of ways.
You may have a “stereo system” with “speakers”.
Or you may have a “radio” with “speakers”.
And perhaps you have a room in your house where you have this “sound system” and
you just play music and you sit back and you listen to the music with your eyes closed.
Maybe you sing along, but you just enjoy listening to the music.
A second way that you may listen to the music is perhaps you have a smartphone and you have
“headphones” or “earbuds”.
And you just plug yourself in, put your headphones on, or put your earbuds in, and play some
music.
In English, we use words like, listen to a “song”.
Listen to a “playlist”.
You may listen a collection of music.
People who are older like myself, you may listen to an “album” which is a collection
of music from the same “artist”.
You may listen to “singers” or you may listen to music from a “band”.
So there’s a variety of ways to describe music in English, but generally if you’re
staying in for the evening just to have an enjoyable evening in and you like music you
will most likely listen to some of your favourite music in one of your favourite places to sit
in the house.
A sixth thing that you might do if you’re staying in for the evening is “crossword
puzzles” or “sudokus” or other kinds of small puzzles that you do by yourself.
“Crossword puzzles” a lot of times come in a newspaper.
Sometimes people cut them out and keep them around.
You may also buy small books that have a number of “crosswords puzzles” “word searches”
or “sudokus”.
Now if your learning English “crossword puzzles” and “word searches” are also
good ways to practice your English words.
You can use a crossword to get a hint.
A crossword puzzles gives you a hint so that you can figure what word goes horizontally
or vertically into the puzzle.
A “word search” gives you the list of words and you need circle the words in this
huge box of letters.
So it’s extremely difficult to find them.
The seventh and last thing that you might do if you are staying in for the evening to
have fun is just connecting with someone else.
You might sit down at your desk and write a letter using a pen and paper.
You might decide that you haven’t sent a letter to a friend who lives in another country
for a long time.
And you might sit down and you might say, “Dear John, it’s been a while, I hope
things are going well.”
If you’re more modern you might sit down at your computer and you may read an email
or two from a friend and you might decide to send an email to a friend.
This is much faster, sometimes I think that letters are are more interesting way to communicate,
because you need to wait.
Email is very, very rapid.
You might “text” a friend.
You might take out your smartphone and “text” a friend.
You may just go on the internet and go on “social media” sites like Facebook and
just check to see who’s up to what.
What friend is doing what, and maybe you will “instant message” them via Facebook or
“direct message” them via other platforms.
So you might spend the evening in even though you’re not being social, you may spend the
evening in socializing in certain way by writing a letter or email or text to someone.
So that’s the video on things you can do if you’re staying in for fun.
Please remember if you liked this video to give me a thumbs up, that would be awesome.
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This a video in a series, so I’m going to do a series of five videos of things you can
do for fun.
So look for those coming up in the next few weeks.
I’ll try to do one a week.
Bob the Canadian here.
Learn English with Bob the Canadian.
I really hope you enjoyed this video and have a great day.
Hi Bob the Canadian here.
It’s just a little too bright outside to shoot a video, so I’m going to head up into
upstairs of the barn.
We’re gonna talk about fun things to do when you’re staying in for the night.