{"id":293,"date":"2024-02-26T12:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T03:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nicksenglish.com\/blog\/?p=293"},"modified":"2024-02-25T17:05:24","modified_gmt":"2024-02-25T08:05:24","slug":"english-tea-time-9-british-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nicksenglish.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/26\/english-tea-time-9-british-food\/","title":{"rendered":"English Tea Time #9 – British Food"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello there! Today, we’re going to talk about British food<\/strong>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently made a worksheet<\/a> about how people in Japan have a dim<\/em><\/strong> (low) view of British food. Generally speaking, it’s considered<\/em><\/strong> (thought of as) basic and plain. One of my students told me that she heard British people are more interested in having a full belly<\/em><\/strong> (stomach) than enjoying the taste of food. Personally, I can’t disagree. I’m very happy to stuff<\/em><\/strong> (fill) my face with something boring, like cheese on toast, if it fills my stomach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Childhood Food<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When I was a child, growing up in a small town in the southeast of England, a typical day’s menu was cornflakes for breakfast, baked beans on toast<\/a> for lunch, and a dinner which usually consisted<\/em><\/strong> (was made up) of potatoes, sausages and veggies<\/em><\/strong> (vegetables). My mum made every effort to vary<\/em><\/strong> (change up) our dinners with some ethnic<\/strong><\/em> (international) meals, such as pasta, curry, chicken fried rice or chilli con carne. We’d occasionally have English classics like macaroni and cheese, fish and chips, or shepherd’s pie<\/a>. And Sunday lunch was reserved for a traditional Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings<\/a>. Mmmm… I’m enjoying these memories! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s surprising that British food in Japan is only available in pubs. I’ve never seen an actual British restaurant here, which makes me a bit sad. Fortunately, I can still buy crisps and chocolate, two very important parts of an English diet! \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice here, that the word diet<\/em> doesn’t mean “lose weight”. As a noun, it simply means the kinds of food that a person regularly eats.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Topic of Food…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I made a social media post describing an American couple that still eat a 60-year old cake! Check it out! <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back to British English<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some common English phrases used to talk about English food:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Fancy a cuppa?<\/strong> (= Do you want a cup of tea?)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Shall we have a fry-up for breakfast?<\/strong> (= bacon, eggs, sausages, baked beans, toast)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. I’m craving some fish and chips.<\/strong><\/strong> (I really, really want fish and chips.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Let’s pop down the chippy.<\/strong><\/strong> (= Let’s go to the fish and chips shop.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Bangers and mash<\/strong> (= sausages with mashed potato)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. I could murder a curry<\/strong> (= I really, really want to eat curry)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. A \u2018butty<\/strong>\u2018 or \u2018sarnie<\/strong>\u2018 (= a sandwich)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Did you notice that (6) and (7) came up in English Tea Time #4<\/a> \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Motivation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The interview part of the Eiken<\/em> English test, a national test in Japan, was held this weekend and last. Since I made a bunch of practice videos for YouTube, I always get a lot of new subscribers over the test period. In fact, those videos have been watched over 1.5 million times! Incredible, I know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    What’s funny, though, is that those videos only get watched on the weekend of each test! People leave comments about being really nervous, or not doing very well. I try to reply nicely to them all, but sometimes I want to say, “Well, why didn’t you start practising earlier!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So my tip of the week is, if you’re planning to take an English test this year, please prepare in advance. It’s not Netflix. Binge-watching practice videos the day before the test isn’t the best strategy. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    binge-watching<\/em><\/strong> = watching episodes of a TV show in a row, back-to-back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    New Worksheets and Videos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Before I finish my cup of tea, I want to show you what I’ve made since the last newsletter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Worksheets:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n