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OBJECTIVE: In the communicative component of this lesson the students will be taught how
to conduct a conversation in a restaurant wherein we learn how to place an order for food, how to
ask for more of something, how to ask for the bill etc. The cultural component also deals with
acquainting them with the diverse cuisines of the countries of Hispanic world. The grammatical
component of this lesson deals with the contextual learning of diverse and pertinent vocabulary
along with the usage of verbs like comer, almorzar, cenar etc.
SUMMARY: The student at the end of this lesson would have learnt the comprehensive manner
of conducting conversation in a restaurant. He/She would have learnt how to place order for
food, how to ask for a particular object, the various cuisines of the Hispanic world and the
!Hola, chicos y chicas! ?Cómo estáis? I know that in the last chapter we’ve learnt many things,
one of them being how to speak about our family, relations etc.
Of the many things that we do with family one that we enjoy, is eating out. Today, in this lesson,
we are going to learn how to have a conversation in a restaurant, i.e how to order for food, the
various courses of a meal, the various situations we come across in a restaurant etc. Let us look
So, friends, as you can see, this is a conversation between two friends, Rashmi and Abdul, in
which Abdul tells Rashmi that he is a bit sad as he wants to take his girl friend Zoya out to a
restaurant since it’s her birthday tomorrow. But as both of them are new to the city, they do not
know of any good restaurants. Rashmi then suggests a good restaurant ‘La Bodega’ where the
roast chicken is fantastic she says and Abdul is one happy guy now!
Chicos, am sure you also love going to restaurants, don’t you!? So, !vamonos!
BREAK 2
Friends, let us now look at another conversation between Rashmi and Juan. Rashmi is from India
and Juan, from Spain.
En la clase. ( In the class)
Juan: ¡Hola, Rashmi! ? Cómo estás? (Hello, Rashmi! How are you?)
Rashmi: ¡Hola, amigo! Yo bien, ¿pero por qué pareces triste? (Hello, friend! I’m fine, but why
do you seem sad)
Juan: No estoy triste, Rashmi, tengo mucha hambre. (I am not sad, Rashmi, I am hungry)
Rashmi: ¡Aah!...Pues, te invito a mi casa a comer. ¡Vamos! (Aah, well, I am inviting you to my
home for lunch. Let’s go!)
Juan: ¡ Qué bueno! Muchas gracias por invitarme, Rashmi.(How nice! Thank you so much!)
Rashmi: Juan, toma más verduras. ¿Te doy un poco más pan? (Juan, have some more vegetables.
Shall I give you some more bread?)
Juan: Gracias, Rashmi. Quiero más sopa. Sabes, uno de los platos más famosos de España es
Gazpacho. Es sopa fría. (Thank you, Rashmi. I want some more soup. Do you know, Gazpacho
is one of Spain’s most typical dishes. It is a cold soup)
Juan: Pues, tiene tomate, pepino, pimiento, ajo y algunos trozos de pan. Te digo la receta sencilla
en detalle. (Well, it has tomato, cucumber, capsicum, garlic and some pieces of bread. I’ll tell
you in detail a simple way to make it.)
Primero, lava las verduras bien. (First, wash the vegetables well.)
Luego córtalas en pequeños trozos. (Next, cut them into small pieces)
Pon el ajo, sal y los trozos de pan y mezcla. ¡Ya está! (Put garlic, salt and the chopped bread
pieces and blend. That’s it!)
Mira, tengo una foto de gazpacho en mi móvil. Así se ve. Delicioso, ? no? (Look, I have a
picture of Gazpacho in my mobile. This is how it looks. Delicious, isn’t it?)
Juan: Rashmi, tengo otras fotos de platos más típicos de varios otros países hispanoparlantes. ¿Te
interesa ver? ( So, Rashmi, I have a few more pictures of the most typical dishes of other Spanish
speaking countries too! Would you like to see?)
Rashmi: !Seguro, Juan! Me encanta saber de la cocina de diferentes países. (Sure, Juan. I love to
know about the cuisines of different countries)
An enchilada, Rashmi, is a flat bread made out of corn and filled with a variety of ingredients.
Like meat, cheese, beans, potatoes, vegetables. They are had with a chilli pepper sauce. La
comida mexicana es piquante pero riquísima! (Mexican food is spicy but very tasty!)
(Juan continuing)- Since food includes drinks too, let me introduce you to a very famous bebida
(drink) called El Mojito de Cuba.
Mojito tiene rón blanco, limón, azúcar y hojas de menta. (Mojito has White rum, lemon, sugar
and mint leaves in it). Parece buenísimo, ?no?
Rashmi: !Claro, Juan! !Quiero uno ya! ( Of course, Juan. I want one now!)
Juan: Jajaja…mira, Rashmi, te gustan huevos, ?verdad? Este plato se llama Huevos Rellenos.
(Hehehe…look, Rashmi, you like eggs, right? This dish is called Huevos Rellenos.)
Es plato típico de Argentina (This dish is typical of Argentina). Tiene huevos duros, cortados y
rellenados con mayonesa y mostazo ( It has hard boiled eggs filled with mayonnaise and
mustard). Delicioso, no? (Delicious, no?)
Ahora, mira, estos son Arepas. Son tortillas típicas de Argentina. Se comen con queso y avacado.
(Now, look, these are Arepas. They are flat breads, typical of Argentina. They are eaten with
cheese and avocado).
Rashmi: Juan, te doy muchas gracias por enseñarme estas fotos. ¡Es muy interesante saber de los
varios platos típicos de estos países. (Juan, I thank you very much, for showing these pictures to
me. It is very interesting to know the typical dishes of these countries. )
Juan: De nada, Rashmi. ! Gracias a ti por la comida deliciosa! (You’re welcome, Rashmi. I thank
you for the delicious lunch)
BREAK 3
Un día, a las 5 de la tarde, después de la clase. (One day,at 5pm, after the class)
Rashmi: Juan, ¿vamos a tomar café? Hay una cafetería buena aquí cerca.( Juan, shall we have a
coffee? There is a good cafetería nearby here.)
Juan: Claro, Rashmi, ¿cómo no? Vamos ( Ofcourse, Rashmi! Why not? Lets go.)
Rashmi: Para mí, un café grande. ¿Para ti, Juan?(For me, a large coffee. For you, Juan)
Rashmi: ?De verdad? Dime, por favor. (Really? Please tell me.)
Rashmi: Juan, en España, ? a qué hora desayunan? ( Juan, what time is breakfast had in Spain?)
Juan: ¡Claro! Mi madre y sus amigas meriendan todos los días a las 6 de la tarde.( Of course! My
mother and her friends snack everyday at 6 in the evening).
BREAK 4
So, finally our friends Abdul and Zoya land up at the restaurant “La Bodega”.
Camarero: Buenas tardes, Señores. ? Cuántos son, Ustedes? ( Waiter: Good evening, Sir and
Mam)
Abdul: Queremos una mesa para dos, por favor. ( We want a table for two, please)
Camarero: Muy bien. Pasen por favor. ( Very good. This way, please)
Camarero: Aquí tienen el menú, Señor ¿Qué van a tomar de primero?( Here is the menú, Sir.
What will you have for the appetizers)
Abdul: Yo, de primero, quiero sopa de tomate. ¿Y tú, Zoya?( For appetizers, I’ll have tomato
soup. And you, Zoya?)
Zoya: Para mí, sopa de pollo y ensalada mixta.( I’ll have chicken soup and mixed salad)
Camarero: ¿Y de segundo? ¿Qué desean?( And for the main/second course? What will you like
to have?)
Abdul: Yo quiero chuletas de cordero y pescado frito con tomates (I want pork chops and fried
fish with tomatoes). ¿ Para ti, Zoya? ( For you, Zoya?)
Zoya: Pues, para mí, pollo asado (roast chicken), mi plato favorito. (Well, I’ll have roast
chicken,my favorite dish)
Camarero: ¿Qué quieren para beber? ( what will you like to have to drink)
Abdul: Yo, de beber, una cerveza, por favor.( For me to drink, a beer, please)
Zoya: Señor camarero, ¿me trae otro cuchillo, por favor? Y un poco más de vino.(Sir, can you
please bring me another knife?)
Abdul: Bueno, ¿nos trae unas servilletas más, por favor? ( Well, can you please bring us some
more tissues?)
Camarero: Sí, claro! Ahora les traigo. ( Of course. I’ll get them right away)
Zoya: Pues, para mí, tarta de chocolate con fresas y crema.( Well, for me, chocolate cake with
strawberrys and cream)
Abdul: Nos trae la cuenta, por favor. (Please get us the bill)
Camarero: 80 euros.
Zoya: Abdul, pago yo, por favor. Te invito a esta cena. (Abdul, I will please pay. This dinner is
one me)
Abdul: Vale, a tu gusto, mi amor! La comida es fantástica. Muchas gracias. (Ok, as you like it,
my love! The food is fantastic. Thank you, Sir)
Camarero: Gracias a ustedes. !Hasta pronto!( Thanks to you, Sir and Mam, See you son)
Friends, I know this is a slightly long conversation, but we’ll see there are so many things to
learn from here. Let’s go , as they say in Spanish, ‘ paso a paso’ step by step.
And the first step in this fun process is the Menu. This is how a Menú typically looks like in the
Hispanic world.
We must note that the context in a restaurant is considered Formal and so we use the 3rd person
singular/plural forms of the verb.
? Qué desea/n
? Qué le/les doy?
¿De primero/de segundo/de postre?
To offer the clients something:
?Alguna cosa de postre?
?Les traigo más …?
CONCLUSION: So, my dear chicos y chicas, to conclude, we have in this lesson today, learnt
how to place an order for food in a restaurant, the various situations that might arise there for eg:
to ask for extra food, cutlery etc and vocabulary related to the same. The lesson facilitates the
learning of the various and diverse cuisines of the Spanish speaking worlds along with their food
habits. I am sure you’ve thoroughly enjoyed this lesson.
I’ll come back in the next lesson with many more interesting concepts! !Hasta pronto!
FAQs
1. What are the expressions that are generally used to appreciate food?
Ans: The expressions that are generally used to appreciate food are “ Qué rico”, “Qué bueno” ,
“Está buenísimo”, “Está delicioso” etc. Please remember that one has to say these expressions
with a lot of emotion.
Ans: Since it is a cold soup, it is typically had during summers but it also depends on one’s
personal preferences.
Sí claro. ………..
No, me pone dos barras de pan y dos botellas de vino tino. ………..
Adiós. ………..
ANS:
6,12,11, 1, 8,13, 5, 14, 7, 10, 4, 3, 2, 9, 16, 15
GLOSSARY
REFERENCES:
WEBSITES: www.aprenderespañol.org
www.studyspanish.com
http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/
a. cenan
b. desayunan
c. comen
d. meriendan
a. la cuenta
b. la carta
c. el camarero
d. el cuchillo
a. Fideos
b. Gazpacho
c. Mojito
d. Sangría
a. la cena
b. el desayuno
c. el almuerzo
d. el postre
a. salada
b. blanda
c. fría
d. rica
a. vino
b. sangría
c. mojito
d. gazpacho
a. el postre
b. el primero
c. el segundo
c. la cuenta
a. mucho más
b. un poco más
c. nada más
d. ninguno
b. café Espresso
d. café cortado
a. México
b. Venezuela
c. Cuba
d. Argentina