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A Simple Tip for Explaining Traditional Foods in the Target Language (without translating!)

TRADITIONAL FOOD IS A GREAT WAY TO INCORPORATE CULTURE in our foreign language classrooms, but the more unfamiliar they are, the trickier they can be to explain without translating... well, actually not! Here's a SIMPLE TIP for explaining foods without resorting to using English in class (and therefore maintaining your 90% in the target language goal!):

How to Explain traditional foods in world language class without translating

WHAT YOU NEED:
*a photo(s) of the traditional food
*a map
*the main ingredients, either as photos or plastic food or a mix of both (or, the real ingredients!! even better!)

TO INTRODUCE THE FOOD, show a photo of the dish and name it. Then, point to your map to identify where it comes from (I love to have velcro on the back so we can stick pictures up on a large map!) and then show the main ingredients that make up the food. It's that SIMPLE!

A quick tip to talk about traditional foods in language class without translating

BY NAMING THE INGREDIENTS, you provide a mental impression of what the finished dish is comprised of, which, even for little kiddos, is usually enough for them to get the overall idea of the food without having to go into more detail. Remember, this tip is just for identifying a food! So, for example, if you are naming typical dishes of a variety of countries (or just talking about one country and identifying traditional dishes, this tip is perfect to allow you to stay in the target language :) )

FOR PHOTOS OF TRADITIONAL FOODS FROM SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES, visit my Pinterest board 'Recetas del mundo hispanohablante' here! And be sure not to miss our Kak'ik Guatemala Turkey Soup Printable Props!


I'd love to hear what foods/dishes you talk about in class-share in the comments below! :)


https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipMk0RMH8MFmOB_yJMuvVMH7xBx_qfLl8oqOQXbA

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