Hey Good Lookin’,
Whatcha Got Cookin’?
Tout à Côté Cuisine in the L2 French Classroom
Organization of Session
• Justification for using cooking shows in L2 classrooms
• Sample activities (translated )
• Adaptations, variations, and uses
• The Five Cs: communication; cultures; connections;
comparisons; communities
• How to find cooking shows in your language
Video in the L2 Classroom
• Students love it
• Realia/authentic input
• Cultural information
• Real-life activity
• Easily accessed and plentiful on the Internet
Cooking shows in the L2 Classroom
• Authentic input: by native speakers, for native speakers
• Culture: Food and cooking
– Central to a society’s culture
– Leads easily to cultural comparisons
• Relatable: Students know and understand format
– Leads easily to cultural comparisons
• Available online
• Short (~25 minutes for a 50 minute period)
Cooking shows: Some caveats
• No subtitles
• Rapid speech (for native speakers, by native speakers)
• Lots of new, specific vocabulary
• Need computer, Internet, projector
– If not, students can watch on their own
On the bright side
• Students know and understand the format
• Cooking shows are visual and repetitive
• Recipes are summarized at the end
• Students at all levels can get something
– Beginners can at least name foods featured
– Proper pre-watching activities facilitate understanding
Cooking shows (Sample warm-up questions)
• Do you watch cooking shows? Which ones?
• What is the format?
– How many people?
– What are the activities?
– How many dishes are typically presented?
– How are they presented?
In French 301 (5th semester French, Purdue):
pre-watching: Vocabulary
un four: oven
éplucher: to peel
une mandoline: slicer/mandolin
enfourner: to put in an oven
l’huile de grain de raisin: grapeseed oil
figer: to thicken/to congeal
une cuillère à soupe: tablespoon
soulever: to lift
le cabillaud: cod
couper en dés: to dice
le céleri rave: celery root
hacher: to chop
les grattons de canard: bits of duck
mélanger: to mix
un fouet: whisk
cuire: to cook
Questions to consider while watching
• What foods do you see during the introduction?
• What are Julie’s, Christine’s, and Alexandre’s roles?
• What are the dishes and their ingredients?
• How are they prepared?
• What city do we visit with Christine?
• What food does Julie describe? How should it be kept? For
how long?
• Where is Alexandre’s restaurant? How does this region
influence the dishes, in your opinion?
Tout à côté Cuisine
• France 3: http://programmes.france3.fr/cote-cuisine/
• Hosted by journalist Julie Andrieu
– Segment focusing on a particular ingredient
• Different guest chef every episode
– Cutaway segment to chef’s home region/restaurant
• Assistant chosen from viewing public
– Cutaway segment featuring assistant’s home region
After watching
• Take questions from students
• Review answers to questions to consider while watching
• Ask students what they noted in the video
• Ask students would they like to eat the dish prepared
• Other questions…
Follow-up activities
• Oral evaluation: Group skit of a cooking show
– Students chose recipes
– Presented to classmates
• Composition: Compare American and French cooking
shows
– Students chose the American show
– Watched two additional episodes of Tout à côté Cuisine
Compositions: Cultural Comparisions
• Students compared Tout à côté Cuisine to Rachael Ray,
Paula Deen, Iron Chef, or The Barefoot Contessa (one used
Throwdown with Bobby Flay).
• Noted American emphasis on saving time and on cheap,
quick, easy dishes
– “A lot of ingredients are bought prepared”
• Noted the competitive air of many American shows
– “Because we prefer the action that comes from sports”
Adaptations and variations
• Beginners: Students answer in English; answer more simple
questions; more basic vocabulary; focus on one clip played
several times;
• Advanced: More sophisticated questions; less scaffolding;
finer details; concentrate on cultural comparisons while
watching
• Middle/High School: Prepare recipes together (if you
dare…)
• Younger learners: Start with L1 cooking show for scaffolding
Multiple screenings (if time)
• Play without sound first, ask students what they expect to
hear
• Play without image first, ask students what they expect to
see
• On subsequent screenings, questions become more specific,
more abstract
Cooking shows and grammar
• Imperatives and commands
• Ingredients provide a context for adjectives
• Actions provide a context for adverbs or verbs
• Verb tenses:
–
–
–
–
retelling what happened
imagining what happened next
imagining preparations that happened before the show
what participants might do/have done under certain
circumstances
Cooking shows and communication
• Gives students something to communicate about
• Real-life activity in L2; authentic input
• Context for other classroom activities
Cooking shows and cultures
• Gastronomy in the target culture or cultures
• Regional cuisine and the influence of geography
• Restaurant culture
Cooking shows and connections
• Target culture(s)
• Other disciplines
– culinary arts
– agriculture
– journalism
– television studies
– nutrition studies
Cooking shows and comparisons
• Between American and L2 cultures
• Between L2 regions, countries
• Between chefs, restaurants
• Between individual tastes
Cooking shows and communities
• Students can join communities interested in target culture
cuisine both home and abroad
• Easier integration in target culture with prior knowledge of
cuisine
In other words (languages…)
• http://www.rtl2.de/12.html German Die Kochsprofis
• http://www.ovguide.com/tv/new_dotch_cooking_show.htm
Japanese New Dotch Cooking Show
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeDuZpzKcPg
Chinese…not sure what the show is
• I had one in Spanish, but it disappeared… 
• Or find your own!
Sturm, J.L. “Hey Good Lookin’, Whatcha Got
Cookin? ‘Tout à Côté Cuisine’ in the L2
French classroom.” The French Review, 86, 2.
(December 2012)
Questions?
Merci! Gracias! Danke! Sпасибо! Grazie! Obrigada! 会話
衷心感谢