and explain why this is important to you.
Answer: A hobby which I've taken up recently is learning to play the bass guitar, also called the bass. The bass is basically the bottom four strings of a six-string guitar, but tuned one octave lower.
My hobby involves sitting down with a book called "Teach Yourself The Bass Guitar", and practising the exercises. I have a music stand in my office so I can practise the bass when I am having a break from the computer.
I haven't been learning the bass for very long, so I am not very good at it yet. I've been teaching myself for around four months, but I will need to practise much more before I can honestly say that I am at a reasonable standard.
As to who I do it with, when I practise the bass, I usually do it on my own. However, I sometimes play it with my husband, Brendan, who is an excellent musician and songwriter, and I try to play along with and sing some of the songs he has written. We have also been to one or two open mic nights. These are nights where anybody can show up and play a song or two. It's very informal but I still get nervous.
It's important to me to carry on with this hobby for several reasons. Firstly, I enjoy being able to play the bass and learning bass lines in songs. Another reason it is important to me is that it's something I can do with my husband, Brendan. Being able to play and sing together is really good fun. A third reason is that I find it a good antidote to my work, which involves concentrating hard at a computer when running the DailyStep English website. Playing the bass helps me to switch off.
Discussing money problems. Mike Gladstone is Radio South East's financial expert and he invites his listeners to discuss their financial worries and money problems on his radio show. Listen as people with different regional accents call in from all over the country. Can Mike give them any useful tips to help them out with their financial woes? You will learn loads of useful language for discussing financial issues with these lessons.
Describing symptoms of an illness, and visiting a doctor. Paul has all the symptoms of a cold but he is the kind of man who always fears that an illness is something much more serious than it really is. His friend Jenny tries to reassure him but Paul starts to panic. He describes all his symptoms and possible illnesses, and eventually visits the doctor. These 5 lessons will help you when you need to visit a doctor or pharmacist, and also teach you idioms and vocabulary related to illness.
These 5 lessons will teach you the correct language and intonation for using the telephone. You will learn how to sound both professional and friendly, and also how to make and change arrangements. Useful lessons for business and social life!
These 5 lessons will teach you how to describe people, and there is lots of vocabulary for describing face, hair and clothes. Useful revision for higher levels too!
In these 5 short conversations about different kinds of weather, you will learn how to talk about this important topic. British people love talking about the weather – in fact, I think it is the same all over the world!