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Beginners’ French: food and drink
Beginners’ French: food and drink

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1.1 Talking about food in French

Many French people place a great deal of importance on food – as the British often resort to talking about the weather, French people will fill the conversation with what they had for dinner the night before or what they are thinking of cooking that evening. Despite the growth in supermarkets, most French people still buy their bread from a local baker, and often visit markets to stock up on fresh, locally produced fruit, vegetables and meat. And although the pace of modern life has certainly affected how people eat, preparing food and taking time to enjoy it remain important.

Most regions boast an impressive diversity of dishes. From bouillabaisse (a fish soup from Provence) to choucroute (a dish of sauerkraut, sausages and pork, popular in Alsace), there are dozens of dishes and drinks to try when visiting a new region. Some regional specialities, such as foie gras or champagne , have become internationally famous.

Figure 1 Le foie gras du sud-ouest

Activité 1

Task 1

Can you work out what the following French food items are? Drag the English words against the French terms they correspond to.

Using the following two lists, match each numbered item with the correct letter.

  1. vegetables

  2. ice cream

  3. cheese

  4. red meat

  5. pineapple

  6. sea food

  7. white wine

  8. fish

  9. raw vegetables

  • a.l’ananas

  • b.le fromage

  • c.les crudités

  • d.les légumes

  • e.le poisson

  • f.la viande rouge

  • g.la glace

  • h.le vin blanc

  • i.les fruits de mer

The correct answers are:
  • 1 = d
  • 2 = g
  • 3 = b
  • 4 = f
  • 5 = a
  • 6 = i
  • 7 = h
  • 8 = e
  • 9 = c

Task 2

Claudette Dupont and her husband, Paul, have invited their friends the Lenoirs and the Khalifes for dinner on Saturday. Claudette has made a list of what her guests and her husband like to eat.

Read her notes and for each name, select the item(s) that person likes.

Described image
Figure 2

a. 

vegetables


b. 

ice cream


c. 

desserts


The correct answers are b and c.

a. 

cheese


b. 

vegetables


c. 

soups


The correct answers are b and c.

a. 

fish


b. 

sea food


c. 

white wine


The correct answers are a and b.

a. 

cheese


b. 

fruit


c. 

Italian food


The correct answers are a and c.

a. 

fish


b. 

white wine


c. 

red meat


The correct answers are b and c.

Activité 2

Task 1

We asked some French people what they like eating: Qu’est-ce que vous aimez manger ? Listen to the audio track, then select the correct answers below.

Download this audio clip.Audio player: Audio 1
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Audio 1
Interactive feature not available in single page view (see it in standard view).

a. 

True.


b. 

False.


The correct answer is a.

a. 

True.


b. 

False.


The correct answer is a.

a. 

True.


b. 

False.


The correct answer is b.

a. 

True.


b. 

False.


The correct answer is b.

a. 

True.


b. 

False.


The correct answer is a.