You ate what!?

In this C2 lesson plan, students will do a short listening and reading on strange foods from around the world. They will learn some advanced vocabulary for speaking about food and its production. They will also learn some common food idioms.

Opening discussion

The student discusses their favorite and least favorite foods.

Video: Americans taste exotic Asian food

Before watching the video, the student gets familiarized with vocabulary which will be used in the video. After watching the video, they try to name the delicacies mentioned in the video and remember their origin. Then, they discuss which of the foods in the video they would/wouldn’t try and why/why not. In a vocabulary check-up, the student spells out the new words and then uses some of them to complete sentences.

Vocabulary: words to express reaction to food

The student watches the video again and detects positive/negative reactions to food (e.g. ew and gross). After that, they classify some more reactions as positive or negative. Then, in a roleplay, they practice using these expressions to react to different exotic foods.

Reading: Delicacies or not?

Before reading about famous world delicacies, the student is introduced to new vocabulary through a matching exercise. While reading, the student’s task is to name each delicacy based on the description (escamoles, brain sandwiches, haggis, fried spider, and fermented shark).

Vocabulary: words to describe the food and the cooking process

The student sorts out the words based on whether they are used to describe the food or the process the food goes through (e.g. battered, stuffed, crispy, crunchy, etc.). Then, they learn about these words by matching them with their meanings and providing examples (e.g. which foods are battered/crispy/crunchy, etc.).

Food idioms

The student matches some food idioms with their food-unrelated meanings (e.g. a piece of cake, bread and butter, cheap as chips, etc.) and then fills in the gaps using these. After they have gained full comprehension of the idioms, they match them to situations.

Finally, they discuss different questions and try to use the food idioms in their answers.