Tastes of Britain and America: Food and Language

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Tastes of Britain and America

What do you already know about British and American food?

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will know about traditional British and American dishes, use food vocabulary and quantifiers (some, any, much, many, a lot, a few, little), listen to real examples, and compare these cuisines with your own.

British Cuisine: Introduction

British food has a long history. It includes dishes like fish and chips, roast beef, and Shepherd’s pie.

American Cuisine: Introduction

American food is a mix of many cultures. Popular foods include burgers, hot dogs, and apple pie.

Food Vocabulary: British

Breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast. Lunch: sandwiches, salad. Dinner: roast beef, potatoes, peas, gravy.

Food Vocabulary: American

Breakfast: pancakes, cereal, orange juice. Lunch: hamburger, fries, salad. Dinner: steak, corn, mashed potatoes.

Compare Breakfasts

British breakfast is hot, with eggs and beans. American breakfast is sweet, with pancakes and syrup.

Compare Lunch

Lunch can be sandwiches or salad in both countries, but Americans eat more burgers and fries.

Reading: At the Restaurant

Read the menu: British: Fish and chips, Shepherd’s pie, Tea. American: Hamburger, Pizza, Lemonade. Which foods are British? Which are American?

Listen and Choose

Listen to a short text about British and American food. Tick (✔) the food you hear: roast beef, burger, pancakes, mashed potatoes, tea, apple pie.

Quantifiers: some, any, much, many

We use 'some' in positive sentences: I have some cheese. We use 'any' in questions and negatives: Do you have any bread? I don’t have any milk.

Quantifiers: much, many, a lot

Use 'much' for uncountable nouns: How much milk? Use 'many' for plural nouns: How many eggs? 'A lot of' is for both: She eats a lot of vegetables.

A little, a few, little, few

'A little' is for uncountable: a little sugar. 'A few' is for plurals: a few grapes. 'Little/few' means not much/many.

Quantifiers Examples

Countable Food

Uncountable Food

I drink a lot of tea. I eat some cheese. I do not eat much rice.

I have a few apples. I don’t have many eggs. He eats a lot of chips.

Practice: Fill the Gap

Complete: Do you have ______ milk? There are ______ apples. She eats ______ chips.

Practice: Make Sentences

Use the words and quantifiers to make sentences: Example: bread – much (A: How much bread do you eat?)

British Dishes

Famous dishes: Fish and chips, Shepherd’s pie, English breakfast, Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.

American Dishes

Famous dishes: Hamburger, Hot dog, Mac and cheese, Fried chicken, Apple pie.

British vs. American Cuisine

British food is more traditional and uses root vegetables and roasts. American food is a mix of styles and is often fast and varied.

Discussion

Which cuisine do you prefer? Why?

How is British or American food similar or different from your local food?

What is your favourite dish when you eat out? Explain.

Text

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.