Natural English: Can You Understand This? Talking about Food in the UK and USA (with Subtitles)

warning this English lesson might make you hungry

and it's because we are going to talk about food today

and this is great English listing practice

and you're also going to learn some really

interesting facts

and differences between food in the UK

and food in the USA

we'll go through some very interesting

American breakfasts

we'll also talk about grocery shopping

the time that people eat in different countries

and lots of other interesting facts

and you're going to really learn lots of phrases

along the way so listen to this until the end

my name is Jack from to fluency

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so let's start with typical meal times

because a lot of people especially around Europe

think that people in the UK and people in the US

eat really early when it comes to dinner

now this is sometimes true however

most families that I know and a lot of my upbringing

we normally ate dinner around 6 to 7:00

now I would often come home from school

and get a big snack and then have dinner later

and I also know some people

who have dinner quite early

at five PM maybe six PM but generally speaking

it's around 6 or 6:30 it's probably the average time

now here is an interesting difference because in the UK

in northern England where I am from

dinner is often called tea

so you'll hear people say

what's for tea tonight? what's for tea tonight?

or what we having for tea?

what are we having for tea?

instead of what are we having for dinner

American schools start earlier than British schools

so in American schools you have to start at 8 am

in most places that I have known

and in the UK it's more around 9:00am

so often times

people in the US will have an earlier breakfast

they'll have to get up earlier

and have an earlier breakfast

and then the typical time for lunch in the UK and the USA

is around midday around 12:00

now from my experience

Americans tend to eat more snacks throughout the day

so they tend to snack more throughout the day

instead of just sticking to the meals that they have

breakfast lunch and dinner

so whenever people go out for the day

it's always where are the snacks

do we have enough snacks shall we get some snacks

and snacking is big in the US

it also happens in the UK and when I was growing up

it would often be tea and biscuits

when you get back from school

so something like that something sweet

something nice in between meal times

now breakfast is often called

the most important meal of the day

but it looks very different in the UK and the USA

so a typical British breakfast

would be cereal and milk for children

which is common as well in the USA

and some adults like to do this as well

but in the UK

people growing up would often have beans on toast

so

you will make toast and have some baked beans on there

and if it's the weekend or if you have more time

people often have eggs bacon

baked beans mushrooms

tomatoes and other things

which is called an English breakfast

an English breakfast

and people will often have toast with Marmite or jam

now Marmite is a very strange food item

that you put on toast or other things too

and it said that you either love it or you hate it

you either love it or hate it in the US in America

you would often have something like

pancakes and waffles with the syrup

now obviously this changes where you are and who you are

but pancakes and waffles is often very popular

especially with some type of syrup

you also see

people have bagels with something like cream cheese

which is a spreadable cheese bagels with cream cheese

you might have eggs and toast as well

so I know a lot of people who have eggs and toast

and like we said before

cereal is common and so is oatmeal

let's talk about lunch now

and there is one lunch item

that is very popular in the US

and I've never seen it anywhere else

in terms of popularity and it's this

a peanut butter and jelly sandwich

so think about peanut butter and jelly here means jam

jam and it's a sandwich

now listen to this fact

it's estimated that the average American

will eat nearly 3,000 3,000

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in their lifetime

now I imagine

a lot of these come when people are in school

because it's the classic sandwich for children

when they go to school

it's tasty for the child

although I'm not a massive fan of it

it is also easy to make and it is fairly affordable too

so it's a very simple solution for a child's meal

at lunchtime in the UK something like a sandwich

crisps and a drink is often packed in a lunch box

for either school or work so this is very common in the UK

where people will have a sandwich

maybe a chicken sandwich maybe a tuna sandwich

and they'd also have crisps and a drink

this is very common when it comes to school

and also when people pack their own lunch for work

if people are eating at home in the UK

is quite often to have soup and bread for lunch too

people in the UK

often like something a little bit lighter

when it comes to lunch

and if they're having something from a takeaway

or they're eating out

they'll like to get something like sausage rolls

or pasties or a pie okay

and this is often from somewhere called Greggs

now dinners are often fairly similar in the UK and the USA

but in the UK

it's often times you'll have roast dinners on a Sunday

fish and chips are still popular

something like Shepherd's pie is popular too

and also sausage and mash

in the US it's more common to have things like

macaroni and cheese which is called Mac and cheese

and things like barbecue ribs

or different types of barbecue

now here's a fun fact

in the USA portion sizes are much bigger

and when I first visited America

this is something that I noticed

that portion sizes are much

much bigger so

they often have massive servings

if you go to a restaurant

really big servings if you go to a restaurant

and it's quite daunting it's quite incredible

when you see this for the first time

now speaking about bigger

let's talk about grocery shopping

and also what's on a food label and eating out

so

UK supermarkets are much smaller than US supermarkets

and in the US you're going to a supermarket here

it is called a grocery store

and you'll be amazed at the size of it

and in the US

is also supermarkets that have anything you need

so there's one called Walmart

another one is target which is more of a store

but it's becoming more of a grocery store these days

and you can just buy massive food items too

so things come in bulk chip or crisp packets

are much bigger ketchup bottles are much bigger

people have bigger fridges in the US

like we talked about in the last podcast episode

so they can fill their fridge full of food

they have pantries

where they can fill their pantry full of food

so everything is bigger in the US

including serving sizes grocery stores

and everything else

you can think about when it comes to

the size of food items

now eating out is a big part of American culture

and although people love to do this in the UK

what strikes me is what I notice

is that people prefer to eat out in the USA

more than the UK now

in England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland

the UK people tend to prefer to go to a pub

when they go out in the evening

so they'll often go to a pub

have some drinks and then sometimes get some pub food

but in the USA it's more likely

if you're going to go out and socialize

and meet up with friends

you're gonna go to a restaurant

now I'm sure you know this as well

but tipping culture is very different

in the UK tipping is optional

most restaurants had some type of service charge

so an extra charge especially if you're in a big group

but in the USA tipping is expected

it's one of those things you have to do

and most people tip between 15

and 20% of the total bill

so you have to take the bill

calculate what 20% is for example

and add this on to the bill because in the UK

waiters or servers

they earn a fixed wage so tips are just a bonus to them

in the USA

everyone has to rely on tips as a main income

because the wages are lower

so it's just one of those things where it's different

but it ends up being the same more or less

how much those servers get paid

now in American restaurants

the very service focused

and waiters check on you frequently

as soon as your food comes out

they'll say how is everything

how is everything and you can say in these situations

everything's great yeah

everything is fantastic

British restaurants take a more hands off approach

which means they don't check on you frequently

and they won't interrupt your meal often

a lot of drinks in the USA

are free when it comes to refills

so let's say that you have um Coca Cola or a lemonade

the server will come over and ask if you want some more

they'll always bring you water too

whereas in the UK that's not as common

and also you'll get free refills of coffee too

so you can always ask for more coffee

unless it's a cappuccino or an espresso type drink

here is a question for you

do you like waiters checking on you?

or do you prefer to eat in peace?

so do you like a waiter

who often comes over and ask you how things are

how's everything going

or do you prefer just get your food and eat in peace

and get someone's attention

if you need some help

before we talk about some famous quotes about food

and some idioms

let's now talk about fast food and takeaways

because both the UK and the USA love fast food

but the options are very different

now in the UK

you can think of fast food like fish and chip shops

also kebab shops so people love kebabs

in the UK there are also things like McDonald's and KFC

whereas in the US things like chick fil A

McDonald's and Taco Bell are very common

and these will have dry thru's

so in you in the UK often

if you go to get fish and chips

or you go to a kebab shop

you have to enter the shop

in the US people often go through the drive thru

and this is more common than going inside the uh

fast food store now

takeaway or take out has changed over the years

because a lot of people

use apps now to get food delivered

but in the UK Indian and Chinese

takeaways are probably the most popular

and in the past what

what you would do is you would call the restaurant

directly place your order

then

someone from that restaurant would deliver that order

and then you pay for the order

when it comes to you so

that was the most common way to order a takeaway

in the past this might have changed recently

with different apps that allow you to do this

and in the USA it's much more common now

just to use an app in order to get your food delivered

to get takeout however

you can still place an order at a restaurant

and pick it up this is common

if you want to do it on your way home from work

for example let's look at some famous quotes about food

now the first one is from Julia Child

and she said

people who love to eat are always the best people

now in the US this is often called a foodie

so somebody who loves food

and loves going out to eat and try new things

and try new restaurants these people are called foodies

foodies now I am not a foodie

I am not a foodie I enjoy that type of experience

and going out to eat and try new foods

but

I'm not somebody who makes this a big part of my life

back to the quote

people who love to eat are always the best people

this is saying like food is not just about survival

it's also about the enjoyment

culture and social connections

now do you enjoy trying new foods?

or do you like to stick to your favorites?

are you adventurous when it comes to new foods?

or do you like to just eat what you like?

quote No. 2 which I think goes back to ancient Greece

is this you are what you eat

you are what you eat

and this means that your diet affects your health

energy and even your mood as well

and if you eat well you feel better

and going back to fast food and junk food

if you eat junk food

you might feel tired and sluggish and unhealthy

now do you believe that food affects your mood

and what is something that you eat

that makes you feel alive and energetic

let's go on to the idioms now

and these are fun ones I'm sure you've heard number two

maybe No. 4

but No. 1 is an apple a day keeps the doctor away

an apple a day keeps the doctor away

and this means

eating healthy foods keeps you from getting sick

so you'll often hear an apple a day keeps a doctor away

No. 2 is it's a piece of cake

it's a piece of cake

which means that something is very easy

so if somebody asks you how was that test?

you can say ah

it was a piece of cake No. 3 is common in the US

and it's this when life gives you lemons

make lemonade and it means

to turn difficult situations into something positive

so when life gives you lemons

make lemonade No. 4 is

put all your eggs in one basket

and this means to risk everything on one thing

for example

I wouldn't invest all my money in that one company

don't put all your eggs in one basket

don't put all your eggs in one basket

and No. 5 is the proof is in the pudding

the proof is in the pudding

meaning that you have to experience something

to know if it's good or bad

an example might be he says he's really good at cooking

but the proof is in the pudding

let's see how the food tastes

okay so we have covered a lot in this lesson

the next thing to do is to check the description

for these idioms and key phrases

like this lesson and then also share it with a friend

and once you have done that

go back to previous lessons

and continue learning with me

okay thank you so much for being here bye for now