Cooking and Learning a Language
You must be wondering what is in cooking that can help in learning a language. If you are a food lover or an aspiring chef who is studying a language at the same time, then this article is for you. Marrying the activity of preparing food and learning a language may prove to be beneficial to you.
Cooking demonstrations, diet preparations, and baking secrets are getting popular on the internet. With the advent of Youtube, webinars and InstagramTV, access to informative videos has become more convenient and quick.
You can browse through hundreds of useful clips and can even save them for future reference. You can even subscribe to more than one channel and share your insights in the comment section.
These are just some of the benefits that consumers of learning can take advantage of. Because of the accessibility that the internet provides, all the more learners can leverage on cooking as a means to become better in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Here are the reasons why cooking can help improve your language skills.
1. Cooking is a task that is rich in vocabulary words.
From ingredients to equipment, to processes, to trends, cooking is opulent with terminology. Being able to touch different spices and tools could help one remember the terms easily. Being able to experience food preparation such as sifting, steaming, or double boiling could enhance the appreciation of the processes involved.
Cooking can help you match the objects you use in the kitchen with its name or label. For example, you remove the carrot skin with a peeler. You rub the chicken with lemon. Associating these tangible objects and their names can be effortlessly achieved when you are around the kitchen all the time.
Getting exposed to these terms may lead you from one discovery to another. For instance, when you are required to double boil a chocolate bar, it leads to an understanding as to why the bar has to be on top of another metal bowl. If the bar is placed in the first layer of a bowl, it may get burnt because of the direct heat. This discovery leads you to getting more exposed to other terms such as consistency, low fire, stirring, and many others.
As a language learner, you won’t run out of new concepts and vocabulary to use if you are cooking. Let’s have an exercise. Watch the video below and take down the words you come across for the first time.
2. Eating is a big part of human survival.
Whether you are in your locality, traveling abroad, in your own home, or somebody’s place, you will be eating. It is fundamental to your existence as a human being. Because of this, you may be compelled to secure your food, one way or another. A good way to do that is to learn cooking.
There may be times when you need to order at a restaurant or a hotel outside your country. At one point, to survive, you will be compelled to familiarize yourself with food choices around you. Learning to cook could prepare you for what you may encounter in speaking situations in the real world.
If you are knowledgeable in cooking, when looking at a menu, you could easily identify how a certain meal would taste like or look like. Steamed vegetables may taste bland as opposed to sauteed vegetables which are tasty.
You could intelligently make decisions when you are acquainted with components of dishes. For example, having beef steak for dinner might not be a good idea as it is difficult for the body to break it down for digestion. Knowing this, you may opt for something light like salad or soup.
Having more confidence in communicating with others and expressing yourself in dining events could be achieved with knowledge of food.
3. Food is a great human connector.
There is something about food that can instantly connect people regardless of race, lifestyle, or status in life. In networking events where food is present, the refreshments served could be potential conversation starters.
Food represents heritage, art, culture, history, and values. Interesting discussions, recommendations, invitations, and curiosity could take place even over a simple delight in food.
A language is a tool in relating to others and so is preparing food. When you have the experience and skills in cooking, you can confidently strike a question or share an insight. When you get this opportunity to talk to others about what you know, you will be more fluent and more responsive.
Food is a great human connector so use it to boost your relationship with other people and to develop your communication ability.
Let’s do this task. Click on the link below and watch how the people bond over
food.
Not Interested in Cooking
These are the three major reasons cooking can improve your language skills. This could be the start of getting busy in your kitchen tomorrow.
If you are not into food or cooking, you may want to reflect on your hobbies. You may be able to identify a potentially useful leisure pursuit and turn it into a source of language learning.
Learning a language does not have to be boring. You can incorporate an entirely different, but an interesting task to it.
