About an activity that we do habitually

Question

I have a question on this writing challenge

https://french.kwiziq.com/my-languages/french/exercises/judge/8/3366502?response=458725&page=11

I needed to translate this sentence : but my sister goes swimming every Saturday."

I answered

mais, ma soeœur fait la natation Samedis.

I once learnt (but I am not sure my memory is correct)

faire + activities = the activities you do regularly

aller + nager = occasionally

Am I wrong>?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Carine, 
It might be that your sentence was incorrect -
You could say -
Mais,  ma sœur fait de la natation le samedi.

Carine Yuen · Answer

thanks.

Bill Alexander · Answer

omg i said that and it wasn't the best answer so i felt bad :(
could you also say "fait de la natation chaque samedi", or is it just better as 'le samedi'

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Bill,
You can say 'chaque samedi' as featured in the following lesson:
https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/chaque-tous-les-duration-each-every-indefinite-adjectives
'Tous les samedis', or 'le samedi' are also correct....

Bill Alexander · Answer

Merci madame.

John Whittaker · Answer

Bonjour Cécile,My dictionary tells me that 'faire de la natation' is used in the context of swimming as a sport while 'aller nager' is more appropriate for swimming for pleasure. Is this correct?John

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi John,
What you say is correct, in so far as 'faire de la natation' is more of a sport than just going for a swim.
Without the full context it is hard to say for certain but we assume that if someone goes swimming every Saturday it's more a sport than a leisure activity .
For instance if you are in a resort and you go swimming you will probably say -
Je vais me baigner = I am going for a swim/dip 
even though you might actually swim.
so quite tricky ...
Hope this helps!