Food is not just a means of nutrition; it can be a vibrant part of a culture's identity. English cuisine, influenced by its history, boasts a range of interesting and sometimes puzzling food names (some even puzzling fluent English speakers).ÌýLet's explore the stories behind some of the most well-known English food names.
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Let's start with this classic British dish loved and known by many.
The term "bangers" refers to sausages, which earnt its name during World War II when rationing caused sausages to be cut with things like extra water (to go further).
The extra water made them pop and bang when cooked.Ìý"Mash" refers to the creamy mashed potatoes that go with them.
This traditional dish typically consists of a selection of cold ingredients, including cheese, cold meats, pickles, and bread.
The name originates from the idea that it was a meal enjoyed by ploughmen during their lunch break.
A dish made from leftover vegetables, usually leftovers from roast dinners. The name is said to come from the sound the vegetables make when they are fried—bubbling and squeaking in the pan.
You might be thinking this is a nice dessert of sorts, but you'd be sorely surprised if it was served to you. Black pudding is a sausage made up of animal fat/blood and mixed with other things like oats and spices. This mix usually means its black in color.Ìý
It's a very old dish with a written record of it as far back as 800 BC, Ìýsuspected to have come from the Romans.
Despite its odd name, it is a lot nicer than it sounds. It consists of sausages baked in a large Yorkshire pudding.
The dish's name is thought to originate from the sausages poking through the batter, like toads peering out of a hole.
While you might think the name suggests a Scottish origin, the Scotch Egg is actually an English creation. It is a hard-boiled egg coated in sausage meat and breadcrumbs, deep-fried until golden brown.
The term "Scotch" here refers to the process of coating the egg.
A dessert made with strawberries, whipped cream, and meringue. It’s thought that the dish was created at Eton College, a famous English school, when a pavlova dessert was accidentally dropped and mixed together.
The resulting mess became a beloved dessert and was aptly named Eton Mess.
A popular pub snack, pork skin/rind is cooked to become a crunchy treat. They were originally made to make sure there was no part wasted of the pig.
The name's origin is up for debate, but it could be due to the rind that would have been scratched/scraped off.
English cuisine may have some peculiar dish names, but behind each one is a story, tradition, or nod to history. Some dishes have come about from hard times, needing to be resourceful and others have just been created by sheer chance or experimentation.
Exploring the names of food allows us to delve deeper into the country's cultural heritage and culinary traditions. Next time you encounter an unfamiliar English food name, remember there might be a story behind it.
Have a think about what food names from your country sound nothing like the dish, and why that name is used. You might find some surprising similarities.
When you’re teaching English to young learners, you might find that there are a few students in your class who are struggling. But sometimes it can be hard to tell why. Is it because their language level is low? Or are they finding classroom work difficult because of a general cognitive difference, like dyslexia?Ìý
Taking English exams can be intimidating and challenging. Everyone has their own set of strengths and weaknesses, and it's common to make the same kinds of mistakes in an exam.
It’s possible to make use of this though, and improve your English from the mistakes you make. Today in our language learning blog, we discuss how we can use exam errors to perfect and improve your English.
Firstly, you want to establish what your weak and strong points are. Write these down somewhere each time and build up a record. It's essential to take note of the mistakes you make and try to see if there's a pattern.
Perhaps mistakes happen on:
These are only a few examples, but recognizing patterns or similarities can help you focus on areas that need improvement or extra attention.
Making mistakes in an exam can really impact a person's confidence, but if you can, look back and rationalize why that mistake was made. It can help your confidence in the future. Sometimes mistakes are made just because of a misinterpretation, perhaps a question wasn’t read correctly, and you realize you knew the answer after all.
Remember, the situation of being in an exam can be stressful and you may not think or respond in the way you normally would outside of the exam room, so don't be too hard on yourself.
Mistakes happen in the real world every day, and being able to look back at them and examine them critically is a valuable skill.
As we’ve already mentioned, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It can be a great idea to compare your mistakes with others; they may be making the same ones.
You can team up and try to tackle them together, or you may know someone whose strength is in your weak areas (and vice versa). It's helpful to team up and help each other. They might have some handy tips and techniques for you to try.
It's good to switch up techniques at times and your errors might be giving you some guidance on doing so. If you tend to make errors with your spoken English, consider study techniques that work on that – like using recall or incorporating music to strengthen your speech.
Perhaps memory is an issue, so using tools like flashcards can help you. Some techniques focus on and help improve some areas more than others, so there isn’t one solution for all. Make sure to experiment and see what works for you.
Perhaps an obvious one, but just repeating and practicing the questions/tasks you’ve gotten wrong in the exam is a good approach. By doing it over and over again, with some persistence, it ends up being retained in your long-term memory.
You may want to study variations of the questions you struggle with, as exams tend to alter their questions and you don’t want to be thrown off in an exam if they reword/change the question slightly.
The next time you review your exam results, remember these steps, look for patterns, examine your thought process and don’t be afraid to ask others for help. With enough practice, those errors should be things of the past.
In the era of the Great Resignation, there are lots of factors that influence whether or not someone chooses to stay with their company or decides to accept a job offer from a new employer.
Whilst fair pay remains a constant in this, feeling included, valued, and cared about by colleagues plays a significant role in the decision on whether to stay or go.
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