Hobby Discovery: From Vlogs to Video Games

1. How to Ask About and State Hobbies

Before we dive into specific vocabulary, let's learn the fundamental questions and sentence structures for talking about hobbies. The most common way to ask someone about their hobbies is:

• Was machst du gern in deiner Freizeit? (What do you like to do in your free time?)
• Was sind deine Hobbys? (What are your hobbies?)

The video below introduces these key questions and some basic vocabulary.

When it's your turn to answer, there are two primary structures you can use. This is a very important distinction in German.

1. Using nouns: Meine Hobbys sind... (My hobbies are...)
2. Using verbs with gern: Ich [verb]e gern. (I like to [verb].)

The word gern is an adverb that means you do something with pleasure or enjoyment. It's an incredibly common and natural way to express that you like an activity. Let's see this in action.

2. Building Your Hobby Vocabulary

Now that you have the structures, you need the words. Your interests—video games, vlogs, and video editing—are very common in Germany, so there's a lot of specific vocabulary for them.

Let's start with a broad overview of common hobbies. Many are formed by taking the verb for the activity and turning it into a noun (e.g., schwimmen -> das Schwimmen).

Your Hobbies: Digital Media

Now, let's get specific. Given your interests, this vocabulary will be particularly useful.

Video Games (Videospiele)
The term am Computer spielen from the image above is a good start, but we can be more precise. The German word for video game is das Videospiel.

The following resource is a fantastic list of German gaming vocabulary. You don't need to memorize every word right now, but familiarizing yourself with these terms will be very helpful.

Vlogs and Video Editing
These hobbies are also very common. Here are the key phrases:

• Vlogs: The word Vlog is used in German (der Vlog). To say you watch them, you can use the verb schauen or ansehen.
  • Vlogs schauen (to watch vlogs)
• Video Editing: The noun is die Videobearbeitung. The verb phrase is Videos bearbeiten.
  • Videos bearbeiten (to edit videos)

The Lingoda article below contains a section on digital hobbies that confirms some of this vocabulary and adds other useful terms.

To support these digital activities, you use various electronic devices.

3. Putting It All Together

Now, let's combine the structures and the vocabulary. How would you state your hobbies?

Using the Meine Hobbys sind... structure:

Meine Hobbys sind Videospiele spielen und Vlogs schauen.

(Note: Here, the infinitives spielen and schauen function like nouns.)

Using the Ich ... gern structure, which is often more natural in conversation:

Ich spiele gern Videospiele. (I like to play video games.)

Ich schaue gern Vlogs. (I like to watch vlogs.)

Ich bearbeite gern Videos. (I like to edit videos.)

Conclusion

Great job today! You've learned how to talk about what you enjoy doing in your free time, focusing on vocabulary that is directly relevant to your personal interests. This is a crucial step in being able to introduce yourself and connect with people who share your passions.

Key Takeaways:

• To ask about hobbies, use Was sind deine Hobbys? or Was machst du gern in deiner Freizeit?.
• You can state your hobbies using two main structures:
  1. Meine Hobbys sind... + nouns/activities (e.g., Videospiele spielen).
  2. Ich [verb]e gern... (e.g., Ich spiele gern Videospiele.).
• You now have the specific German words for your interests: Videospiele spielen, Vlogs schauen, and Videos bearbeiten.

In our next lesson, we will dive deeper into expressing preferences. We've had a brief introduction to gern today, and next time we will explore it fully, and also learn how to use the verbs mögen and gefallen to give your opinions about things.

Bis bald