Let’s Talk About Food!

Say It Better! Series. C1 Advanced Season. Episode 4

Earlier in our series, we have focused on the following topics:

• The world of Cinema and Theatre
• Health matters, and
• Work time.

Are you new to our series? Have a go and widen your English language range in both speaking and written expression. 

Today we are going to cover another topic.  Let’s read and find out more about it.

“Have a good square meal tonight!”, the teacher waved goodbye to her students. They stared at her, wondering what she meant by “a square meal”. “Look up this expression once you get home tonight”, she said. “This is going to be the password for our following lesson”, she smilingly added. 

As teachers, we can’t miss any single chance of whetting our learners’ appetite to learn new beautiful expressions. English is an utterly amazing language, is it? 

This is what has helped me come up with the theme for the fourth episode, Let’s Talk About Food! By the way, the teacher I’ve mentioned above is me 😉

Why don’t you go the extra mile and pack yourself with all you need in terms of food-related language range?  Let’s learn today’s sophisticated vocabulary to have a sound preparation for C1 Advanced Cambridge exam. Be it a culinary question you could be asked in the speaking test, or a food-related exam question in the writing paper, etc, I am sure you will rock it once you master what I’ve prepared for you.

In case you need to brush up on the topic of work, go over our previous episode called Let’s Talk About Work. 

Are you ready for a new episode? Roll up your sleeves!

FOOD Matters

Topic vocabulary

Download the PDF. Translate and/or write the definition of the words in the list. Make sure while looking them up in the dictionary, you look for today’s episode-related meaning. 

Word formation

Download the PDF and complete the table with the missing words. 

APPETITE n., CELEBRATORY adj., COOK v., DELICATESSEN n., DIETER n., DINE v., DRINK v., EAT v., FAMISHED adj., FATTENING adj., HUNGER n., STARVATION n., TOOTH n., UNDERNOURISHED adj.

Speaking paper

Step One: Read the questions. Make changes to the answers provided. Use the TOPIC language.

Step Two: Write your own answer. Use the TOPIC language as much as possible.

Step Three (optional): Record yourself while answering the questions. Send your answers to your English teacher for assessment and feedback.

Part 1

Question:  “Do you have a favourite restaurant? Why do you like going there?”

Answer:  “Of course I do. Once I’ve found out they serve the kind of dishes I am crazy about, I often have dinner there. Besides, there is a wide variety of both vegetable and meat dishes. I’d say this restaurant could easily please anyone’s palate. Namely, me! I simply don’t eat whatever food. I am sure I’d prefer to stay hungry then eat anything. Pizzas are great. So many dressings! Well, that’s why I like going to this restaurant. Wait, forgot to mention that its owner runs a pastry shop as well. So many pleasant smells once you open the door! A quick glance at the counter will be enough to make you want to eat. I’m sure someone who loves eating sweet food will definitely find a great bite.”

Part 4

Question: “It is normally said that cooking for friends and relatives is much more enjoyable than cooking for yourself. Do you agree?”

Answer:  “Well, it depends. If someone loves cooking, then, regardless of who you are cooking for, you will enjoy it. Besides, I’d also add that preparing food for special events when guests are coming means one must have culinary skills. It’s way more difficult, the right amount of ingredients, not to mention all the big recipients and utensils you must have. To tell the truth, I wouldn’t take on this cooking responsibility. By the way, there is one more thing to consider. The guests ought to be entertained so that they have a pleasant experience at your place. It’s not everything about eating, is it? In a nutshell, if someone’s got all these, this is surely going to be an enjoyable experience for the host.”

Besides adding and changing some food-related vocabulary, the above answer would also need some discourse markers. Why don’t you try and change the ones in bold? If you require any help, read through this article on discourse markers.

Reading and Use of English quiz

Part 1

Decide which answer best fits the gap.

Almost all children from famine-stricken areas are suffering from … .

a. malnutrition

b. undernourishment

c. famish

d. poverty

Part 2

Think of the words which fit the gap.

Going for a walk in the morning can easily work … an appetite for breakfast.

Part 3

Use the word given in CAPITALS to form a word that fits the gap.

The … seemed quite entertained as he was dining out on the story of how he had first tried eating deep-fried grasshoppers stuffed into corn tortillas, a dish considered a real delicacy in Mexico and all around the world. DINE

Part 4

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word. You must use between three and six words.

Despite feeling famished, once we saw how filthy the restaurant kitchen was, we didn’t feel hungry any longer.

LOST

Despite feeling famished, we ________________ as we saw how filthy the restaurant kitchen floor was.

Topic word cloud

The word clouds are a priceless learning tool. Make sure they are there for you, within easy eye-reach, in your cosy study corner. Check the one below. It’s got all the FOOD-related expressions, (phrasal) verbs, adjectives and nouns listed in the topic vocabulary PDF.

If I were a waiter, I would ask you, “Would you care for some more?” 🙂

Whether you are a fussy eater or someone who eats absolutely anything as long as it is edible, I hope this article has whetted your appetite to read more about food. If so, check out this article Fussy eaters and healthy appetites (Words and phrases to describe the way we eat). It’s got some more appetizing words for you.

Have you learnt the word that defines you as an eater?

Stay tuned for more words of advice and handy material!