習い事（ならいごと、naraigoto）
- lesson

The Japanese word 習い事 （ならいごと） refers to any kind of extracurricular activity, lesson, or class that someone takes for personal enjoyment, skill development, or enrichment outside of their regular school or work duties. It encompasses a wide variety of activities, from traditional arts like calligraphy and tea ceremony to modern pursuits like playing a musical instrument or learning a new language. 習い事 are generally undertaken on a regular basis, often weekly or monthly, and can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

⚫︎ピアノの習い事 Translation: Piano lessons ⚫︎子供は水泳の習い事に通っています。 Translation: The child goes to swimming lessons. ⚫︎週末は茶道の習い事に行きます。 Translation: I go to tea ceremony lessons on the weekend.

You can use 習い事 when talking about the activities someone is enrolled in outside of their primary obligations. It’s useful when discussing hobbies, skills, or classes. It is very common in everyday conversation. You can also use it to inquire about what someone does in their free time.

習い事 is typically written in hiragana as ならいごと or in kanji as 習い事. There are no other standard ways to write it, and the okurigana (suffix hiragana) is standard.

There aren't many direct synonyms for 習い事 that capture the same broad scope. However, depending on the specific activity, you might use: ⚫︎ レッスン (ressun) - Lesson ⚫︎ 教室 (kyoushitsu) - Classroom/Class ⚫︎ 講座 (kouza) - Course ⚫︎ 稽古 (keiko) - Practice, training (often used for traditional arts like martial arts or flower arrangement)

There aren't direct antonyms for 習い事 in the same way as words like "hot" and "cold." The opposite concept would be a lack of extracurricular activities or not taking lessons.

あなたはどんな習い事をしていますか？ ・Translation: What kind of lessons do you take? ・Explanation: This is a common way to ask someone about their hobbies or the activities they participate in outside of work or school.

私は英会話の習い事を始めました。 ・Translation: I started taking English conversation lessons. ・Explanation: This sentence explains that the speaker has begun attending English conversation classes as a 習い事.

The word 習い事 is a compound word. 習う （ならう） means "to learn" or "to practice," and 事 （こと） means "thing" or "matter." Therefore, 習い事 literally means "things to learn" or "matters to learn," which accurately reflects its meaning as extracurricular activities or lessons.