US culture: learn about free-time activities in the USA!
What do you do in your free time?
Do you go out with friends?
Go to the cinema?
Play games?
In America, young people like to do lots of fun things. In this short video lesson on US culture, you’ll find out about some of the things Americans like to do in their free time.
You’ll also learn some useful words for talking about this topic. After watching the video, try our little quiz below to see how much you can remember. Happy learning!
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate (A2-B2)
Video: YES!
Vocabulary
Here are some useful words that appear in the video.
Huge
Something “huge” is very big, popular or important: “This building is huge.”
High school
“High school” is a school for children between the ages of 15 and 18 (more or less): “She left high school last year.”
DC
“DC” (Washington DC) is the capital of the USA. It’s next to the states of Maryland and Virginia.
Kickball (also known as “soccer baseball”)
“Kickball” is a game that’s similar to baseball, but you kick the ball instead of hitting it with a bat.
Dodgeball
“Dodgeball” is a team sport in which players throw balls and try to hit opponents, while trying not to get hit themselves.
A mimosa (cocktail)
A “mimosa” is a drink with champagne (or another type of sparkling wine) and orange juice.
To grab (a pizza)
If you “grab” a pizza (for example), you order one and then eat it. Literally, if you “grab” something, you take it quickly: “Are you hungry? We’re going to grab something to eat.”
To go out
If you “go out” with friends, you go to bars, cafés, pubs, etc.: “I went out with my friends on Friday night.”
To walk around
If you “walk around” an area, you walk in that place with no particular purpose: “We walked around the city centre for about two hours.”
Video quiz
You’re going to watch a video with someone talking about free-time activities in the US. Watch it once and answer the questions below. [answers below]
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What does the speaker say that people do after their club or sports activity?
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When do people usually have brunch?
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When is movie night during the week?
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What type of international food does Bridget like?
Speaking
Now talk about this topic with a friend or classmate. Make notes and try to use as much of the new language as you can.
Video script
Hi everyone, my name’s Bridget, and today we’re going to be talking about free time activities in the United States.
Clubs and sports
First off, a huge thing that people do is clubs. Clubs and sports are huge in America. In high school people do clubs like baseball, softball, swimming (and normally that’s affiliated with their school), and then when you get older there are also different types of leagues that you can join. I know here in DC you can join a kickball league or dodgeball league, and normally what happens afterwards is you go out with the friends that you’ve made from your sports teams and you go out and get some drinks, which is really fun.
Brunch
Something really unique that I find that America has is the word brunch. Brunch is in the middle of breakfast and lunch. It meets in between, and normally what that means is that you meet up with friends around 10am or 11am and you have either breakfast foods or lunch foods. Either one is OK, but really what you’re there for is the mimosas, which is orange juice and champagne together. There you have a lot of fun with your friends, and that is a huge thing that most people do on Sundays here in America!
Movie nights and Pizza!
Other fun things us Americans like to do are movie nights. We love movies, we watch movies all the time with our friends, and normally on a Friday night you can see friends texting each other and saying, “Hey! You want to grab a pizza?” and they’ll order food and come over and watch a movie together.
Night out on the town
Last, but not least, a lot of people love to go out on a night in the town together. So, I know for me, my favorite thing is to go out to Italian food with friends and then we’ll walk around the city of DC and go to clubs and have a good time.
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Answers
Video quiz
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What does the speaker say that people do after their club or sports activity? They go out with their friends for a drink.
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When do people usually have brunch? They usually have brunch around 10am or 11am.
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When is movie night during the week? It’s normally on a Friday night.
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What type of international food does Bridget like? She likes Italian food.
