Learn 10 high-frequency expressions, including words for types of cuisine
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| Hi, everybody. My name is Alisha. Welcome to the 2000 core English words and phrases video series. |
| Each lesson will help you learn new words, practice, and review what you've learned. |
| Okay, let's get started. First is… |
| Maître d. |
| The maître d is one part of the staff at a restaurant. The maître d is usually kind of the reception staff. They are responsible for accepting guests when they come in and showing them to their seat, taking reservations, and so on. Here's an example: |
| "The maître d controls who gets in and who sits where." |
| Self-service. |
| Self-service refers to usually things like restaurants and gas stations where you are responsible for providing yourself with the service. So, at a restaurant, for example, after you order something, maybe on a digital menu, you have to go and get the item like a coffee, for example. At a gas station, you are responsible for pumping your own gas. These are self-service situations. Here's an example: |
| "Self-service restaurant." |
| Pitcher of water. |
| A pitcher of water is a large jug that is full of water, brought to the table for everyone at the table to use. The pitcher can be full of other things as well. You might be able to order a pitcher of tea or a pitcher of beer, perhaps, but a lot of restaurants will provide guests, especially groups of people, with a pitcher of water instead of a bunch of just small glasses that have to be refilled individually by the staff. Here's an example: |
| "I asked for a pitcher of water instead of individual drinks." |
| Order food. |
| The expression 'to order food' means to ask someone else for food at a restaurant or from a delivery app of some kind. So, we can order food, and this is separate from ordering drinks. Sometimes people will choose to do the two things separately. Here's an example: |
| "The woman is ordering food." |
| Western food. |
| Western food is kind of a broad category. Western food often refers to things that come from the USA, dishes that come from the USA. You might also have dishes that come from certain countries in Europe included in Western food as well. Here's an example: |
| "Steak and potato dishes are a great example of Western food." |
| Italian food. |
| Italian food refers to dishes that come from Italy. When we think about Italian food, we often think of things like pizza, pasta, and tomato sauces, so these are all very popular Italian dishes. Here's an example: |
| "Pastas, sauces, and flavorful cheeses are at the heart of real Italian food." |
| Chinese food. |
| Chinese food is food that comes from China. These are foods that are very common in the Chinese culture. So, some popular examples of these might be things like Kung Pao chicken or fried rice. Here's an example: |
| "He wants Chinese food, but she wants Italian." |
| Ethnic food. |
| Ethnic food is an expression that's used very broadly in American English to mean foods that come from countries from around the world. So, there kind of tend to be things that are maybe heavily spiced or that have stronger flavors or maybe very, very different flavors than what we might usually find in cooking in the USA. So, ethnic food can refer to lots and lots of different countries' foods and lots of different countries' food cultures. Here's an example: |
| "The best part of traveling is the access to a wide range of ethnic food." |
| Shrimp. |
| Shrimp is a very popular seafood. Many shrimp are very small, maybe the size of a thumb, but you might also find larger shrimp that are about this size. Typically, when we eat shrimp, we peel the shell off of them, cook them, and eat them maybe with some dip or as part of a pasta. Here's an example: |
| "Shrimp can be found in both fresh and salt water." |
| Salmon. |
| Salmon is a very popular type of fish. Although there is an 'L' in this word, we don't say 'salmon'; we say 'salmon,' so watch out for that. Salmon is very, very commonly eaten as a main course, and we might also serve it in pasta. Here's an example: |
| "Salmon are born in fresh water, move to salt water, then return to fresh to spawn." |
| Let's review. I'm going to describe a word or phrase in English. See if you can remember it. Then repeat after me, focusing on pronunciation. Ready? |
| Do you remember how to say the word for the member of restaurant staff that accepts guests and shows them to their seats? |
| Maître D. |
| And how to say the type of restaurant or perhaps gas station where you are responsible for providing your own service? |
| Self-service. |
| What about the expression for a large jug of something, in this case water, that can be brought to the table so you can share that drink with everyone? |
| Pitcher of water. |
| Do you remember how to say the expression for asking someone for food, like at a restaurant or on a delivery app? Order food. |
| Let's try the category or the name of food that typically comes from the USA or perhaps even parts of Europe. |
| Western food. |
| What about the expression for dishes that come from Italy? |
| Italian food. |
| Now let's see if you remember how to say the expression for dishes that come from China. |
| Chinese food. |
| Another one. What about the broad category of food that comes from many different countries, especially things that have strong flavors or very, very different flavors from our country's food? |
| Ethnic food. |
| Do you remember how to say the often thumb-sized creature that lives in the water that we can sometimes eat with pasta or even in dips? |
| Shrimp. |
| And finally, do you remember how to say the name of the very, very popular fish that goes from salt water to fresh water? |
| Salmon. |
| Well done! See you next time. Bye! |
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