Subtitles section Play video
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Hi, I'm Liam.
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Welcome to Oxford Online English!
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In this lesson, you can learn how to talk about sport in English.
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Are you a sport fan?
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What sports do you like playing?
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Sport is a common topic in English conversation, so whether you like sport or not, it's good
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to have something to say and be able to ask some questions about sport.
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Before we start, a question: do you find it difficult to listen to English for long periods?
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No problem – use the English subtitles to help yourself understand!
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Turn them on now; just click the 'CC' button in the bottom right of your video player.
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On a smartphone, tap the settings button.
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Do you like sport?
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Yeah, I've always been really sporty.
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I played basketball and tennis at school and university, and recently I've got into cycling.
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What about you?
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I'm not that into sport, to be honest.
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I'm not that athletic, and I find most sports boring to watch.
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I go to the gym occasionally.
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It's hard to motivate yourself if you don't enjoy it.
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Do you like watching sport, too?
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Sometimes, though I'm not a fanatic.
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Football or tennis can be fun to watch, I think, but it's not a big part of my life.
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I like watching tennis, too!
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It's one of the only sports I'll make an effort to see.
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Do you like sport?
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Think about how you could answer.
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You could say something like: 'I've always been really sporty.'
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'I enjoy watching sport sometimes, but I'm not a fanatic.'
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'I'm not that into sport, to be honest.'
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Do you know what the words 'sporty' and 'fanatic' mean?
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'Sporty' describes someone who's really interested in sport, and who plays sport often.
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A 'fanatic' literally means someone who only cares about one thing.
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You can use it with an indirect meaning to describe someone who's really interested
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in something.
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So if you say, 'I enjoy some sports, though I'm not a fanatic', you mean that you
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like sport, but it's not the most important thing for you.
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Okay, you have three sentences.
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Which is closest to your opinion?
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These are good sentences to start talking, but remember that you should always add more
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detail if possible!
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Let's add some reasons or details to the three sentences you saw: 'I've always
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been really sporty.
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I played basketball and tennis at school and university, and recently I've got into cycling.'
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'I enjoy some sports, though I'm not a fanatic.
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Playing football or something like that can be fun, but I don't want to take it too
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seriously.'
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'I'm not that into sport, to be honest.
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I'm not very athletic and I find watching sport quite boring.'
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These are already much better.
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If you can add reasons or details when you speak, your speaking will sound better, too!
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Let's look at some useful words here:
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'Athletic' describes someone who's in good shape and who enjoys exercise and sport.
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If you say 'I'm not very athletic' you mean that you aren't very good at sport,
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and probably you don't really enjoy it, either.
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Another very useful phrase is 'I find…', as in 'I find watching sport quite boring'.
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This is a very good way to give your opinion about something.
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For example:
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'I find watching snooker weirdly fascinating.'
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'I find swimming very relaxing.'
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'I found volleyball much more difficult to play than I was expecting.'
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So, what about you?
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Do you like sport?
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Pause the video and make at least two sentences.
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Remember to add reasons and details.
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Okay?
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Next, we're going to look at how to talk in more detail about different kinds of sport
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that you do.
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So, what are you up to this weekend?
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We have a match on Saturday; no plans for Sunday yet.
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A match?
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You mean you're playing?
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Yeah, have I not told you before?
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I play 5-a-side football in a local league.
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We play most Saturdays.
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Where do you play?
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Indoors, actually, in a sports hall.
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That sounds fun.
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How did you get into that?
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I do it with some old friends from university.
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We played when we were students, and we've kept it going since then.
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Anyway, what about you?
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Any plans?
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I also have a big sporting weekend!
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It's the marathon.
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You're doing the marathon?!
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Not exactly – I'm doing a half.
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That's what, 21 kilometres?
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Yup.
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I didn't know you were so into running.
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I wasn't.
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I used to go jogging once a week or so, just around the park or whatever.
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Then, I decided I needed a challenge, so on impulse I signed up for the half marathon.
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So, you must have been training a lot?
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Quite a lot, yes.
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I've been running three or four times a week for the last two months.
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Are you confident?
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Yeah, I think it'll be fine.
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I've done training runs that are around 20K, so I don't think finishing will be
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a problem.
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Look at three sentences: Which two did you hear in the dialogue?
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You heard these two.
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Another question: here you have different sports with the verbs 'play', 'go',
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and 'do'.
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Can you think of three more sports you can use with each
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verb?
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Pause the video and think about your answers!
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You use 'play' with most ball sports.
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That means you play tennis, play cricket, play golf, play basketball, and play volleyball;
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you can also play badminton, which is not a ball sport.
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Use 'go' with activities ending in -ing.
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Most of these are individual sports; you can go swimming, go cycling, go surfing, go climbing,
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or go hiking.
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You might be thinking: “what about 'boxing'?”
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Even though it ends with -ing, you say 'do boxing' – it's an exception.
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Use 'do' with other activities, mostly individual sports.
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You do yoga, do gymnastics, do judo, or do Pilates.
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There's one more question you heard in the dialogue: 'how did you get into that?'
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What does this mean?
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This question is asking how or why you started something.
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Now, think about some questions: what sports do you do?
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How did you get into it?
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Where and how often do you do them?
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Think about how you could answer these questions.
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Before you try, let's look at three examples.
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'I really enjoy playing cricket.
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I joined an online group and we meet in the park once a week for a game.'
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'I started doing judo about a year ago.
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I go to classes twice a week at a sport centre near my office.
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At first, I just wanted a new hobby, but I really like it and I think I'll start training
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more regularly.'
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'I like playing basketball.
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I've been playing since I was a kid, and now I play for a local team.
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We train three times a week and have matches once or twice a week, sometimes in our town,
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and sometimes in other cities.'
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OK, now it's your turn!
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Think about a sport or physical activity you do.
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Try to make a few sentences talking about it; say where you do it, how often, and how
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you started.
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Pause the video and do it now!
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How was that?
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Remember that you can always review a dialogue or a section if you need to.
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Let's move on to our next point.
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How was the game?
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Amazing!
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We crushed them!
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'Crushed them'?
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That sounds dramatic!
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It was great.
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There's no better feeling than winning.
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Wow…
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You're so competitive.
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Yes, true!
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I love it.
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Some people say that sport's about taking part, not winning, but I don't agree.
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That sounds a bit intense.
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I play a lot of tennis and badminton, but for me, it's more about the social side.
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Also, I just like the feeling of getting some physical activity after sitting in an office
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all day.
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Fair enough.
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Personally, I can't motivate myself to do any sport unless it's competitive.
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That's why I mostly just do team sports.
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I can't go jogging, or go to the gym, or anything like that.
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I just don't see the point.
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I don't know…
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I think if it gets too competitive, then it stops being fun.
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Personally, I play sport to hang out with my friends and relax.
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It's nice to win, but I don't care that much.
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Why do people do sport?
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How many different reasons can you think of?
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Some people do sport to socialize.
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Others love to compete.
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For some people, sport is just a way to get fit and stay healthy.
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What about you?
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Why do you do sport?
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In the dialogue, you heard some possible answers to this question.
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You can see some useful language here for giving your opinion about things.
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You can use these phrases to give your opinion about many different things.
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For example: 'There's no better feeling than when you're tired after a good game.'
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'For me, the most important thing is just spending time outdoors in the fresh air.'
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'I just like the feeling of pushing myself to the limit.'
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'Personally, I've always loved being in the water.'
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What about you?
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Can you describe why you do sport, and why you like the sports you like?
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Pause the video, and try to make two or three sentences.
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Use the language from this section if you can.
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Alright, so now you can say quite a lot about sport.
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Let's put everything together.
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To make a longer answer, you need to talk about your general attitude towards sport,
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talk about which sports you like, say where and how often you do sport, and who you do
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them with, and talk about why you do sport.
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Here's one example: 'I enjoy some sports, though I'm not a fanatic.
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Playing football or something like that can be fun, but I don't want to take it too
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seriously.
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I play 5-a-side football with some friends every Sunday.
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We rent a sports hall and play a 60-minute match.
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For me, the most important thing is the social side.
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I don't really care about the game, or who wins.
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I just like having a laugh with some good friends and getting a beer afterwards.'
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This example only uses language from the lesson.
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You can see how you can build an interesting, detailed answer using simple ideas.
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Let's do one more example, using original language and ideas: 'I don't really like
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sport that much, but fitness and staying healthy are important to me.
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That's why I go swimming and do some weight training regularly.
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I mostly just exercise by myself at the sports centre.
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Personally, I just do it because I feel I have to.
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I don't really enjoy it, although I don't mind it, either.
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I do like feeling healthy and fit, but exercising always feels more like work than something
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fun.'
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Okay, now it's your turn.
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Make a longer answer like the two you've just seen.
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Follow the same structure, and use the language from the lesson if you can.
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Don't forget that you can write your answer down if you want extra practice.
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Also, it's a good idea to practise your answer several times, until it's really
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fluent and comfortable.
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Then, if you're really serious, don't just make one answer!
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Make several answers, talking about different sports.
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Even better, make an answer from someone else's point of view.
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If you practise like this, your English will get better very fast!
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Thanks for watching!
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See you next time!