Bonjour tout le monde!
From my previous blog on family, a colleague recommended that I explore French cuisines as it is a great way to get immersed in the French language. Auguste Escoffier school of culinary arts describes French culinary tradition as a celebrated and respected cuisines across the globe due to its depth of flavor, fresh ingredients, how they are prepared and its uniqueness ranging from the buttery layers of croissant, dipping slices of French toast and to the delicate sauces of classic coq au vin. Notwithstanding how the French culinary traditions serves as the foundation of many Western cooking techniques. Terminologies like “sauté,” “roux,” and “mise en place” come from the French culinary tradition hence I thought learning these basic words in French cuisines would enhance my understanding of the French language. Also, who doesn’t love a crusty baguette with butter? I mean learning the French cuisines would also help me know varieties of foods and ingredients which I can explore in my personal life as well. When I decided to explore on French foods, I was excited yet I got a little nervous because I was wondering where I should start from.
I explored French cooking tutorials on Coq au Vin and ratatouille on YouTube. I really enjoyed watching these video because it provided a step-by-step cooking methods in French. These videos helped me by improving my listening and pronunciation skills as I heard French natives using words and phrases which exposed me to some terms for ingredients, cooking methods, and kitchen tools. The visual display made the context easier for me to understand certain complex words. Also, it was a flexible and free session for me as I could pause, rewind or rewatch a step where I think I did not hear some words clearly. However, the ads were too much that it sometimes even distracts me from the main learning goal. One interesting thing I found when watching the cooking tutorials was that every recipe had its own cultural significance, and I was amazed how these traditions are still being used in modern society. This cultural depth enriched my language learning by connecting words to real-life practices and historical context.
I also listened to podcast on food in French: conversation for beginners. The podcast provided me with a real life conversations, which is very significant for developing listening skills and improving comprehension in everyday dialogue.
Below is a video on some of the words I familiarized myself with from the resources I used. enjoy! and let me know how well I did. merci!
