درسنامه واژه ها

Cooking – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation Cooking. I have the text here of the conversation and I’ve made some notes about some words or groups of words that you may have had difficulty understanding. So I’ll be explaining those as they relate to this conversation.

And as I always say at the beginning that there are three different words that you might hear a lot in our conversations. One of those words is like. So you probably know that the word like means to have positive feelings for someone or something. But you can also hear like used a lot where it doesn’t really have a meaning. It’s just a filler word.

The next word is y’know, y’know, which is actually two words put together, you and know. So sometimes when we’re speaking really fast, you know sounds like y’know. We just combine them very quickly sometimes when we’re speaking. And the third word is yeah. Yeah is a slang word for yes. Alright, so let’s begin.

In the very beginning, I say, “You were cooking down in Southern California, right?” So Southern California, California is a state here in the United States and it’s on the western, west coast, the western coast of the United States. And it’s such a big state that many times people will talk about Northern California and Southern California because it’s such a large state. It’s a very long state.

And then next, AJ says, “My foray into cooking is already ended.” So foray means effort or attempt, attempt or effort.

And then AJ says, “I guess I was doing it on and off for a month or two.” So when he says he was doing it on and off, what he meant by that is that he was not doing it consistently. He was not doing it all the time.

And then I say, “I kind of figured it wouldn’t.” So figured means thought. I kind of thought it wouldn’t.

And then AJ says, “While Tomoe and I were in Southern California and visiting Indiana.” So Tomoe, this is the name of AJ’s wife. She’s from Japan. And Indiana, this is the name of a state here in the United States and it’s…it’s one of the states that’s in the middle part of the country and it’s actually where AJ’s got some family living, his mother, his sister, an aunt, uncle.

So then AJ says, “I just lost all my motivation for cooking.” So motivation here means interest.

And then I say, “I don’t like cooking, period.” So what I mean when I say period is at all. I don’t like cooking at all, ever.

And then AJ says, “They enjoy it as kind of an art form or as a hobby.” So a hobby is a pleasurable activity, something done for fun. So, for example, it could be collecting something like some people, maybe when they’re younger, they collect stamps. That would be considered a hobby. They enjoy doing it. It’s a fun activity.

And then AJ says, “I guess I’m utilitarian in that way.” So utilitarian means practical.

And then I say, “His dad is a gourmet cook.” So gourmet cook means a high quality cook.

And then AJ says, “I hate to blame my parents.” So when he says I hate to blame, he’s saying I don’t like to criticize my parents.

And then AJ says, “She certainly didn’t seem like she was into cooking at all.” So when he says she wasn’t into cooking at all, he’s saying she didn’t seem as though she liked cooking at all.

And then AJ says, “He barbecued once or twice a week.” So when someone barbecues, it means to cook on a grill, usually outside, on a grill outside. And typically it’s meat that’s being cooked, but it can be vegetables also.

And then AJ says, “Very basic, plain, Midwestern food.” So Midwestern food, the Midwest means the middle part of the United States.

And then I say, “Yep.” So yep is slang for yes.

And then AJ says, “That section of America.” So section means part.

And then AJ says, “They’re just known for eating very bland food.” So bland means plain, not a lot of taste.

And then I say, “My mom was a very functional cook.” So functional here means basic.”

And then I say, “Even if there were more restaurants, we probably wouldn’t have eaten out because of a money issue.” So money issue means not having lots of money.

And then I say, “We grew up eating decently.” So decently means adequately or it was okay but nothing great.

And then I say, “But she wasn’t passionate about it by any means.” So when I say she wasn’t passionate about it by any means, I’m saying she didn’t love it at all.

And then I say, “And so that probably carried over to me.” So carried over to me means affected me. It probably affected me.

And then I say, “I vaguely remember having some interest.” So vaguely means sort of. I sort of remember having some interest.

And then I say, “Joe would scoff at that, for sure.” So scoff means make fun of.

And then I say, “Because it’s not made from scratch.” So if something is made from scratch, it means that everything is made fresh. There’s no prepared ingredients.

And then I say, “My mom just didn’t have a lot of patience to teach me how to cook.” So patience means, here, it means calmness.

And then AJ says, “There’s the love of maybe, I don’t want to say fine dining, but the love of food.” So fine dining is usually referred to as an expensive, fancy restaurant.

And then AJ says, “They always had that utilitarian mindset towards food.” So mindset means thinking. That utilitarian thinking towards food.

And then AJ says, “But the actual cooking part of it’s just never really grabbed me.” So never really grabbed me means, grabbed means interested, it never really interested me.

And then I say, “I couldn’t drill into his head enough, no, it’s not that I’m afraid.” So drill into his head enough means I couldn’t get him to understand.

And then AJ says, “From an intellectual point of view at least, theoretically, I recognize that it’s a very, very valuable skill.” So what whole sentence means is, or that phrase, that group of words, it means that mentally, I know that it’s an important skill to have.

And then AJ says, “They’re usually cutting costs.” So cutting costs, this means decreasing costs or lessening or reducing costs.

And then AJ says, “I just seem to have a mental block against it.” So mental block against it means I can’t get interested to do it.

And then AJ says, “I’m starting to enjoy it some with Tomoe but as soon as she left, boom, it’s gone.” So when he says boom, what he means by that is suddenly, it’s gone.

And then AJ says, “We’re going to be getting a kid hopefully soon.” So when he says we’re going to be getting a kid he’s talking about he and Tomoe are in the process of adopting a child.

And then I say, “I do like making things like guacamole.” So guacamole, I believe it is from, originally from the country Mexico and it’s, it’s an avocado-based food. So it’s mostly avocado. There’s some other things in it as well.

And then I say, “What’s something else I just made.”

And AJ says, “Gazpacho.” So gazpacho is, originally it comes from the country Spain and it’s a cold vegetable soup.

And then I say, “There’s something with the fire.” So what I mean by that is there’s something about cooking over a fire I don’t like.

And then AJ says, “You’ve been doing raw things.” So what he means is you’ve been making uncooked foods, foods that are not cooked. Raw means not cooked.

And then I say, “Mixing things up, I can do that.” So what I mean by mixing things up is like, for example, guacamole, the avocado-based food, it has avocados as well as garlic, lemon juice and some other things. You put all those things in a bowl and then mix it up. Mix everything together.

And then AJ says, “Without so much wheat, for example, which has been genetically modified.” So wheat, this is a plant that’s used in things such as bread, beer, to name a couple of things. And genetically modified means that parts of the plant have been changed by humans.

And then AJ says, “So I started getting into that and the health aspects of it.” So aspects means parts. And when he says he started getting into that means he started getting interested in it.

And then I say, “I’d be curious to hear about that.” So curious here means interested.

Alright, that is the end of our vocabulary lesson for the conversation Cooking and I’ll be right back with the commentary.