ترکیب کردن همانند یک سرآشپز برای موفقیت انگلیسی

This is an All Ears English Podcast, Episode 163: “Mix it Up Like a Chef for English Success.” Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, where you’ll finally get real, native English conversation with your hosts, Lindsay McMahon, the ‘English Adventurer’ and Gabby Wallace, the ‘Language Angel’, from Boston, USA.

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In today’s episode, we’re gonna (going to) talk about five qualities that an excellent chef has and how you can use these qualities and apply them to your English learning.

Lindsay!

Hey, Gabby!

Hey, how are you?

I’m doing excellent today. You?

Great. Oh, I’m doing well. Thanks.

Do you know how to cook?

(Uh), yeah. (You know), that’s funny you asked because I do like to cook and I was just thinking the other day about cooking and being a chef and how that can be related to learning English.

Wow! Yeah.

(You know), learning languages is always on my mind, and I think it’s an interesting comparison to look at how a chef cooks food and compare that to how you, our audience, learns English.

Yeah.

There’s (there are) some interesting comparisons. We can learn from good chefs and their best practices.

Yeah, I think chefs are really artists, aren’t they?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. One thing I was thinking of is that chefs are not afraid to try new ingredients, to try new foods, to try mixing in new ingredients into their recipes – maybe a new spice or a new kind of food. And how we can compare that to learning English, is, a good English learner, someone who is really going to improve their language skills, someone who’s not afraid to try new materials, you mix it up. Maybe one day, you’re looking at a fashion article and the next day, you’re gonna (going to) read about science or you’re gonna (going to) listen to a TED talk online and then you listen to our podcasts. So you’re not afraid to mix it up and try different ingredients that will inform your language learning.

Right, so [crosstalk] thinking outside of the box.

Yeah. Yeah, and just constantly looking for new inspiration.

I like that. And…

Yeah.

…on the other hand, a chef who is just getting started in… (Uh-huh).

…the kitchen…

(Uh-huh).

…when the chef goes through culinary school… Yeah.

…(um), he or she learns how to use a recipe… (Uh).

…and learns to start with a recipe and I think this connects to our listeners because you need a foundation.

Of course, (you know), they’re able to taste what good food is.

And you have to start with the basic recipe, maybe where you’re not trying new ingredients, but you’re starting with something that’s very set and structured.

Yeah, so you’ve gotta (got to) know where you are in your skill building… Yeah.

…and work from there, so do you need (like) a structured course… (Um).

…(right), an A to Z course?

Right.

What do you need?

Right. Right. And then you said start with a recipe if you’re just starting out, if you’re just beginning, but then you can improvise and use ingredients that complement each other.

(Uh-huh).

And you can, you can go out and try new things on your own as you’re more and more confident learner or, or self-learner.

(Uh-huh). Exactly. What else do chefs do?

Right. Well, I think chefs, in general, have good taste.

I think they do too.

And I mean, I mean that in many ways. Of course, (you know), they’re able to taste what good food is.

Right.

And they also have good taste as far as fashion sense and presentation.

Or home decoration.

Oh, yeah. Definitely. And how they present themselves, but also how they present their plates.

Ooh.

The aesthetic or the, (uh), image, or the beauty, or the visual quality of the food is very important to a high-quality chef.

Right, that’s (real-), there’s some very strict rules as far as I know about how to plate food, right.

Yeah.

There’s some things you can’t put with something else.

I think you can study this for years and, (you know), it takes time to get it just right. It’s a piece of art. So how does this apply to your English learning? Well, you want to be able to present yourself well in English. Present yourself the way you want to be seen using the English language.

(Hm).

So use the vocabulary that fits you. Use the phrases that fit you.

Yeah.

Does that make sense?

Yeah, and maybe this also goes to how you present yourself physically in terms of the way you dress even. (You know)… Very interesting.

…you were just saying – Gabby and I were… It’s cultural.

Cultural.

Yeah.

We were just saying earlier, it also depends on what circles you run in, right.

(Uh-huh).

So we hang out in the circles of entrepreneurs here… Right.

…in Cambridge and we were saying that you can add a, a black blazer to a pair of jeans… Yeah.

…and you look professional and it works.

One of my friends just left her job at a company where she was used to wearing high heels and suits every day and she started working at a university and she said she learned on the first day, high heels are not required. Because in the university environment, women tend to wear flat shoes.

(Um)…

Yeah.

…you’re standing up more.

You’re standing up more. Yeah, that’s true.

Yeah, yeah.

It might be a little bit more business casual… Right.

…as opposed to business.

Not so showy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That’s a, a good example.

(Uh-huh). And the other things that chefs like to do is they like to share their skill and they love food, and they want you to love food.

Yeah.

So they want to share this. (You know), I have a roommate actually here in Cambridge who’s not really a chef, but she’s always worked in restaurants.

Oh, interesting.

So she – and she loves wine. She’s kind of a wine… Great.

…connoisseur. So she’s always – every time I go into the kitchen, she’s always got cheese out, “You want some cheese?” Oh, that’s nice.

“Do you want some strawberries?” She’s prepared for – she loves sharing.

Yeah.

She gets so much joy out of sharing food with a group.

Yeah, it’s not fun to cook a big meal just for yourself.

Totally.

It’s a lot more fun to share that with others.

(Uh-hm).

Share the experience. So sharing your English experience with as many people as you can and would like to.

Yeah, invite new people into your circle.

Yeah.

And that will equal more practice opportunities, but remember treat them as people, not as practice partners.

Yeah, exactly. Good point. Well, one last point that I think a good chef has is – a good chef will focus on quality. And quality takes time. It takes time to prepare, (uh), to find good food, good quality ingredients. It’s not fast food. We’re talking about high cuisine here.

(Uh-hm).

There are no short cuts to getting a wonderfully cooked meal. There’s no substituting on the quality of ingredients.

Right, because we know that you get out of something what you put into it.

That’s right. That’s right.

So…

So you have to put it in, the time, the effort, and good quality materials in order to have a good quality of English language. So, I hope you can see the connection here. We’re encouraging you to be a top-quality English speaker.

Yeah. Be selective about the … Yeah.

…materials that you choose.

Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. You have a lot of different options, especially online. But find, find the materials that fit the quality that you want and we hope that you’re going for a top quality. Right?

And All Ears English is top quality.

That’s right. That’s what we want to provide to you. (You know), we put a lot of effort into giving you the highest quality ingredients for your English learning. So we hope, we hope that you can see that. I think you do. I think that’s why you’re listening. So again, (you know), try new ingredients, start with a recipe, but improvise. Try to have great taste, share your English experience with your friends and go for top quality for a delicious English experience.

That is great. Thanks for listening guys.

Thanks guys. Talk to you soon.

If you wanna (want to) put your ears into English more often, be sure to subscribe to our podcast in iTunes on your computer or on your smartphone. Thanks so much for listening and see you next time.