Do you play a sport?
All of us have, at some point in our life, played at least one sport. Playing a sport can be fun and beneficial to our health as well, but not all of us play on a regular basis. However, whether you enjoy getting down in the dirt and playing a sport or relaxing in the couch and watching it, we can agree that all of us have a favourite sport, and all of us love talking about it.
Sometimes though, we all face problems when trying to accurately convey exactly what we’re trying to say.
Read on to learn exactly what to say, to make your partner understand why you love your favourite sport. Happy learning!
So, let’s start by taking a basic situation that all of us can relate to, and work from there.
*The Cricket World Cup has just started, and you are rooting* for your favourite team (Team India) to win*
Read on to find the overall flow, specific vocabulary, phrases, and expressions that can be used for an effective and fluent conversation on this topic. Right below is your guide to having an engaging conversation!
A conversation has specific phases that it goes through. Here is a quick look at what we suggest, to guarantee you a smooth conversation.
Content : What is it that you are going to talk about?
Use the wh questions along with the keywords to help you put together the content.
- What is your favourite sport? – Basketball, Football, Rugby etc.
- Why do you like the sport? – Fun to play, teamwork, relaxing etc.
- Who is your favourite sports player? – Christiano Ronaldo, Sachin Tendulkar etc.
- Why do you like him/her? – Style, technique, sportsmanship* etc.
- What sort of matches do you play/watch – College football, T20 cricket etc.
Choosing Contextual Vocabulary
Choosing contextual vocabulary to suit the scenario you’re talking about can be very important when it comes to giving depth and clarity to what you’re trying to say, as well as piquing* your partner’s attention. In this case, you’re talking about your favourite sport.
Listed below are a few words and phrases that could come in handy while elaborating on the sport you like. Additionally, the meanings of a few starred (*) words are given at the end of this article that you could also use!
- Player
- Rules
- Match
- Playing field
- Umpire*
- Team
- Teammates
- Equipment
- Practice
- Technique
- Speed
- Entertainment
- Tie
- Season*
- Tournament*
Similarly. given below are a few descriptive words and phrases that you could use to make your conversation more interesting!
- Close match*
- Quality entertainment
- Eventful season
- Top-notch* equipment
- Supportive teammates
- Efficient teamwork
- Unbiased* umpire
- Fair rules
- Talented players
- Even playing field
- Brilliant tournament
- Disappointing tie
- Skilled technique
- Decisive* winners
- Admirable sportsmanship
Organizing the Content : Putting it all together to create a comprehensive picture
Now that we know what to talk about and the words to use, let us put them in a logical order.
Initiate the conversation by bringing up the sport you like, this could be done in many ways. One such way is given below.
The Cricket World Cup has just started, it’s my favourite sport, I can’t wait to watch it!
Express your excitement over the sport – this could be why you brought the song into the conversation in the first place.
I’m so excited to watch India play, the team is in top form* this year.
Talk about why you liked the sport – here are 5 examples of things you could say
- I love the teamwork involved in football, it’s a great way to build team spirit.
- I love playing cricket, it reminds me of my childhood.
- There’s something about cricket that makes it really interesting to watch, you know?
- Playing basketball is great because it’s so much fun, it also acts as a stress buster* for me
- Golf is a really underrated sport, it requires so much skill and concentration, it’s difficult to play but rewarding.*
Tell your conversational partner why you think they should watch/play the sport, for example :-
- You’re always complaining because you don’t understand football references in conversations, well, the World Cup is starting, it’s the perfect opportunity for you to finally understand football.
- You should try basketball playing basketball, I think you’d be good at it.
- I heard you play tennis. You should try playing badminton, it would be a piece of cake* for you.
- You are quite fast at running, you should try playing cricket, I think you’d be good at it.
- You should watch the Cricket World Cup with me this year, it’ll be so much fun!
A model answer would be as follows :-
The Cricket World Cup has just started, it’s my favourite sport, I can’t wait to watch it! I’m so excited to watch India play, the team is in top form this year. here’s something about cricket that makes it really interesting to watch, you know? It’s also a great sport to play, it really gets my adrenaline* running. You should watch the Cricket World Cup with me this year, it’ll be so much fun!
Meaning of starred words
- Rooting – Supporting
- Pique – Arouse interest
- Umpire – An official who watches a game or match closely to enforce the rules.
- Season – The portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session.
- Tournament – A competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game.
- Close match – A match in which both teams had an almost equal chance of winning.
- Top-notch – First class
- Unbiased – Fair
- Decisive – Definite
- Top form – In good shape
- Stress buster – Something that relaxes you.
- Piece of cake – Very easy
- Adrenaline running – Excitement while playing a sport.
