Vocabulary

 

shout	cuisine	shepherd
pie	theme	dumpling
slip (2)	decade	go over (2)
stare	indicate	minced meat
blank	deficient	blank look
stew	eggplant	aubergine
roast	moron	relate (2)
grasp	repeat	master (2)
feat	starter	to head over
grin	tender	compare
feast	native	tongue (2)
fry	brandy	pomegranate
chop	stuff (2)	yum-yum/yummy
pupil

 
 
 
 

 

 
 

British Food

The next class activity was a reading a text. The theme: British cuisine.
“Okay, what are some examples of English foods?” I asked the class . . .
“I know!” Natela replied. “Fish and chips!”
“Shepherd’s pie!” Grigol nearly shouted.
“Yorkshire pudding!” answered Tamari.
“What’s Yorkshire pudding?” asked Simoni.
“Uh . . . well . . . I don’t really know,” said Tamari.

“Alright then, let’s read the text and find out . . .”
 

Reading Text on Food

After reading and answering the questions, we had a general discussion on food. The students got up and mingled, asking each other various question on slips of paper.

When they had finished, we went over them as a class.

“Okay, Elene. Have foods and eating habits changed over the past decades?”
“Oh, yes,” she replied. “Before people ate traditional Georgian foods; but now you see more fast food restaurants and people are eating more pizza, chips and hamburgers.”
“I see. Okay, Eduard, what are your favorite foods?”
“Well I like minced meat dumplings and cheese pies. My grandmother makes the best!”
 

Vano

“That’s great, Edward. Alright. Vano. So tell us more about traditional Georgian cuisine.”
Vano just stared at me.
“What are some Georgian foods?”
He continued giving me a blank look.
“What’s your favorite food?”

“Roasted lamb and stuffed eggplant!” cried out Irine.

Evidently, Vano had been misplaced into the upper-intermediate level English by the head teacher, I thought.

But according to his records, Vano had previous taken beginner…elementary…pre-intermediate…and intermediate English over the past two years.

In the teachers’ room, his former instructors described him as having not said anything in class.

So then we must be dealing with someone who is mentally deficient — a moron.

The next lesson, I asked Vano what his job was.

“Vano is a neuro-surgeon,” Natela translated for him when he answered. In Georgian.

And it showed on his paper test results: Vano always had the top scores in class, in the 90’s. And his written answers indicated a mastery of the English language.

He repeated this feat on the final exam: 97%.
 

Last Day: Feast Time!

On the last day of the course, the entire class headed over to the Riverside Restaurant in the city center.

We seated ourselves on a large table and ordered some starters.

While I and the rest of the class had soups and salad, Vano ordered a large glass of beer.

The other students chatted with one another in their mother tongue.

“How do you like the soup?” asked Vano, who sat opposite of me.
I just sat there . . . looking straight at him, now grinning.
“How is your soup!?!” he asked me, once again.
“Uh . . . well . . . it . . . it is wonderful. I like it . . . very much,” I replied.
“Yes, the chicken is quite tender, isn’t it?” he said.
“Yeah . . . it certainly is.”

Now we looked at the menu for the main course. The other students discussed what they would have with each other — in Georgian.

“Teacher, you ought to get the roasted pork,” suggest Vano, with a cup of red wine in his hand. “The meat is very tender!”

And so I did.

“So how do you compare Nottingham with Tbilisi?” he asked me.
“I like Tbilisi better,” I replied. “The landscape and culture here is fascinating.”

The main courses arrived and everyone began feasting.

 
 
Afterwards, the students sat back and continued chatted with each other in their native tongue — except Vano.

He took a bottle of a local brandy and filled two small glasses, then handed one of them to me.

“Sorry, I don’t drink,” I told him.

Vano drank his entire cup . . . and then proceeded to do the same with mine.

“So which do you like better, English or Georgian cuisine?” he asked me. Then continued. “I prefer Georgian meals. My mother makes great stuffed aubergines. She fries and chops eggplants. Then adds onions, garlic, tomato, potato, pomegranate, bell peppers and fresh green cilantro.

Mmm! Yum-yum!

And my aunt cooks fantastic beef stew . . . ”

By the time, we left the restaurant at ten p.m., Vano had finished the entire bottle of brandy.

And had been speaking to me, only.

Entirely in English.

Non-stop.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

The Following Monday

On Monday, in my other class, an elementary-level one, I related what had happened that Friday night.

“Instead of textbooks, you should bring champagne, mai tai and piña colada to class,” suggested Ana, the star pupil.

 
 

Questions

 
Fish and Chips. What was the setting, in the beginning? Where was this place? Who were the characters?

Goulash. The main theme of the lesson that day was writing about Facebook and other social media. True or false? What was the main activity in that class on that day? What was the theme?

Tortilla. What did they talk about before the reading? Were the Georgian students familiar with British foods? What did they talk about after the reading?

Sauerkraut, Kimchee. All the students were very vocal (talkative). Is this right or wrong?

Pierogi (Dumplings). Was Vano’s English at the level elementary? Was he an idiot? How did he do on exams?

Stuffed Cabbage, Peppers. After class on the last day, everyone went home. Is this correct or incorrect? What did the class do on the last day of class? Why did they do this?

Pickled Herring. What happened at the restaurant? Was the teacher very surprised?

Noodles. What happened the following Monday?
 
 
 
Appetizer, Starter. I know people who studied a foreign language for many years — but still can’t speak it. True or false?

Soup. Do you know very smart or successful persons who are very quiet and seldom speak?

Salad. What is the level of drinking among your friends and colleagues?

Main Course. Do people change after they have been drinking alcohol?

Vegetables, Starch, Meat. What is the social attitude or culture surrounding beer, wine and spirits?

Dessert. Will things change in the future or will things stay the same?