Key Words of the Day
What’s your hobby? 你有什么爱好？我爱唱歌 I love singing。我爱打乒乓球 I love playing ping-pong. All in today’s Chinese Studio.

Y: 爱好 means hobby. Both 爱 and 好 are in the fourth falling tone. 爱好
A:  爱好 (ai hao), hobby.
Y: Now, how do you ask a person what his hobby is? Here's a handy pattern: 有什么爱好? 有, have, 什么, what, 爱好, hobby. You can ask about anybody's hobby, simply by putting the name in front, such as Allen, or Yajie, or just a pronoun. Here are some examples:

Conversation 1:

A: Hey, Yajie, 你有什么爱好 (ni you shen me ai hao)? What’s your hobby?
Y: 我爱唱歌。I love singing. 唱 (chang), the fourth tone, means to sing. 唱. G-e, 歌 (ge), the first flat tone, means a song .
A: Wo ai chang ge. So I guess I can use wo ai – I love – plus a hobby, to describe all the hobbies I love.
Y: Yes you’re right. Let’s continue with the new words. 乒乓球, ping-pong.  Table tennis P-ing, 乒 (ping), and p-ang, 乓 (pang), are both in the first flat tone, 乒乓. And then q-iu, 球 (qiu) means a ball, the second tone,  球.
A: 乒乓球. Then to play ping-pong is 打乒乓球. D-a, 打 (da), third tone, 打. Its original meaning is to beat. But it can also mean to play, as it does here. 我爱打乒乓球 (Wo ai da ping pang qiu), I love playing ping-pong.
Y: In addition to 爱, there's another verb, 喜欢, which is also common in daily life. 喜欢, like.  我喜欢打乒乓球, I like playing ping-pong.
A: Got it. 喜欢 (xi huan) is another word we often use when describing hobbies.
Y: Right. For instance: 我喜欢唱歌, I like singing.
A: Yajie, if I really like a hobby, can I use the “hen” that we have learned before in front of 喜欢 (xi huan)?
Y: Surely you can. You can use it in front of 爱 as well.
A: I see. That makes sense.

Conversation 2:

A: Yajie, I have something to confess to you. Actually, I don’t love playing ping-pong. I lied because I know you and many of our colleagues 喜欢 the game.
Y: Oh, 你不喜欢打乒乓球？That doesn’t matter, 没关系。We still like you, irrespective of whether you're a fan of ping-pong or not.
A: Thank you. I'm touched. Also, you've just helped me figure out how to say “I don't like something”, or “I don't love something”. I just have to put a 不 (bu), which means no or negative, in front. 不爱 (bu ai), don't love; 不喜欢 (bu xi huan), don't like.
Y: Bingo. You’re very smart.

Conversation 3:

A: Well, time's up. Today’s question is: Did we hit upon any of your hobbies on today's show?If yes, please tell us what your hobby is – in either Chinese character or Pinyin.
Y: Send us your answer to Chinese@crifm.com. Again: Chinese@crifm.com. That's all for now. I’m Yajie, 明天见.
A: And this is Allen. Zai Jian.

(Written by Wang Anjing)