Have you ever thought about learning a language through food? You might wonder what we’re talking about, but hear us out for a second. Foodies and language learners, gather round! We have something to tell you that we think you’re going to love…
Here at Memrise we decided to create a brand-new series of lessons for language learners based all around videos about food! We’ve all seen the countless, mouth-watering videos on TikTok and YouTube which show interesting recipes, cool places to eat and savvy food hacks, so we thought: why not use these videos to create a delicious set of culturally immersive language lessons?
Can you learn a language through food?
Here at Memrise we decided to create a brand-new series of lessons for language learners based all around videos about food! We’ve all seen the countless, mouth-watering videos on TikTok and YouTube which show interesting recipes, cool places to eat and savvy food hacks, so we thought: why not use these videos to create a delicious set of culturally immersive language lessons?
And what better time of year to learn with food than the festive season? Even for people who are kind of indifferent when it comes to food (who are these people?!), the importance of food over the holiday season can’t be understated. So many of us have built long standing traditions at this time of year that have often been passed down through the generations, many of which are based around food.
We can feel our mouths watering now, so, without further ado, here’s our pick of 8 different festive food lessons taken from our library for learners of Spanish, French, Italian and German:
- For Spanish learners
Find out how to whip up an entire Christmas menu in just 30 minutes. Start the clock… ¡vamos!
We’ve got your back with this lesson on mistakes NOT to make at a Spanish Christmas dinner table! - For French learners
Try making these adorable Christmas-tree-shaped pastries while building your French vocabulary
Settle down with this lesson based on a TikTok video about the perfect chocolat chaud - For Italian learners
Love pandoro, hate food waste? Find out how to transform pieces of leftover pandoro into a cake and practice your Italian at the same time!
Have a wholesome afternoon making these 'sweet snowflakes’, or just drool over the video! - For German learners
Christmas, but make it vegan: try making these super-simple vegan treats for the festive period
Build your German vocabulary while literally building a Hogwarts inspired gingerbread house!
The link between languages and food
So what inspired us to make these new lessons? Every country and culture on the planet has its own unique traditions when it comes to food, and these are often closely linked to language. In fact, if you think about it, food and languages are intrinsically connected, with food being an amazing way for people to express their cultural identity and to strengthen their sense of belonging. Cooking together is also one of the best ways that we can build social connections and communicate.
Sharing meals with friends and family helps us to engage in conversation and bond over the shared experience of the food we are eating (this actually gets us thinking about the amazing Spanish word ‘sobremesa’ which is untranslatable into English but means something like ‘the time taken after a meal to sit, chat and bond over the meal that has just been shared’ - a fun fact for you!).
For the true foodies out there, how many times a day do you think or talk about food? If you’re like us, it’s probably hundreds, and the words and phrases we use to talk about food can be very descriptive and evocative, no matter what language we’re speaking. As language learners, this rich vocabulary is the perfect learning opportunity!
Want seconds?
Enjoyed learning with our festive food lessons above and have room for more? Click the following links to access our full library of video-based language lessons about food for Spanish learners, French learners, Italian learners and German learners.
