How should I teach this collocation?

[englishhobby]

I am teaching English in Russia and I want to make clear the meaning of a collocation "go in for sport". I know that the idiom "to go in for" means "to like" or "to do as one's career" , so :

"I don't usually go in for sport".
Does that mean "I don't do any sports"? or does it sound more like "I don't like to do sports"? In what situation could one say "I don't go in for sport"?
Will the following conversation sound natural:
- Do you go in for sport? (=do you do any sport?)
- Yes, I do.
_ What sport do you go in for? (=what sport do do do?)
- Basketball.

Can I ask someone "Do you go in for sport" to find out what sport they do regulary? (Mind: I am interested in what sport they do, not in what sport they like!)
Thank you in advance. I bet this question of mine is crucial to thousands of Russian teachers, because many of them can't comprehense this collocation "go in for sport", but almost all Russian children are taught it at school as a way to say "I do (not like to do!) a sport activity(ies) regulary".:?:

 

[Tdol]

To me, it's more about liking, so the conversation isn't very natural-

A What sports do you do?
B I don't go in for sport much, but I do go swimming occasionally.

 

[ICAL_Pete]

I just did a quick concordance for "go in for" on the British National Corpus and it returned no results along with "sport" of any kind.

I think "go in for" is more along the lines of have an interest in and when dealing with sport we're more likely to say "do you like sport?" rather than "do you go in for sport".

By the way, "go in for" is a phrasal verb rather than an idiom.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

The only context I can imagine it being used in is when talking about a particular competition or event.

"I'm going to go in for the marathon this year."
"Are you going in for the long jump?"

 

[PG_Tips]

I would agree with previous posters. I don't think I've ever heard it used in relation to sport - other than to describe choice of participation. I think I may have heard it when referring to a subject's involvement in an experience (but not really sport), and in the past form. I'm not sure if this is correct, but...

A - Apparently, Tom's an avid trainspotter.
B - Really? I had no idea he went in for that sort of thing.

 

[billmcd]

I am teaching English in Russia and I want to make clear the meaning of a collocation "go in for sport". I know that the idiom "to go in for" means "to like" or "to do as one's career" , so :

"I don't usually go in for sport".
Does that mean "I don't do any sports"? or does it sound more like "I don't like to do sports"? In what situation could one say "I don't go in for sport"?
Will the following conversation sound natural:
- Do you go in for sport? (=do you do any sport?)
- Yes, I do.
_ What sport do you go in for? (=what sport do do do?)
- Basketball.

Can I ask someone "Do you go in for sport" to find out what sport they do regulary? (Mind: I am interested in what sport they do, not in what sport they like!)
Thank you in advance. I bet this question of mine is crucial to thousands of Russian teachers, because many of them can't comprehense this collocation "go in for sport", but almost all Russian children are taught it at school as a way to say "I do (not like to do!) a sport activity(ies) regulary".:?:

In AmE you would seldom/never hear "to go in for" with regard to sports or any activity for that matter. Rather, for sports you would hear "do you play/do you like/do you like to watch etc. or more recently "are you into sports/acting/language/music etc. etc.".

 

[jeanie143]

I am teaching English in Russia and I want to make clear the meaning of a collocation "go in for sport". I know that the idiom "to go in for" means "to like" or "to do as one's career" , so :

"I don't usually go in for sport".
Does that mean "I don't do any sports"? or does it sound more like "I don't like to do sports"? In what situation could one say "I don't go in for sport"?
Will the following conversation sound natural:
- Do you go in for sport? (=do you do any sport?)
- Yes, I do.
_ What sport do you go in for? (=what sport do do do?)
- Basketball.

Can I ask someone "Do you go in for sport" to find out what sport they do regulary? (Mind: I am interested in what sport they do, not in what sport they like!)
Thank you in advance. I bet this question of mine is crucial to thousands of Russian teachers, because many of them can't comprehense this collocation "go in for sport", but almost all Russian children are taught it at school as a way to say "I do (not like to do!) a sport activity(ies) regulary".:?:

The questions are perfectly okay. You do need to ask a second question using 'what',......?'
Have you tried using 'keen on' this is what the youngsters are using, also 'into', "Are you into sports? What sports are you into" "What do you play?"
English is always evolving.