All languages are beautiful when they convey beautiful messages. And they do not need to use complicated words or structures for that.
In the following two texts Elisa, one of the students in the CAL group,
gives her opinion about food and "national pride", and Mark Brazaitis,
Peace Corps volunteer talks about soccer, or is it about something
different?
Elisa's opinion:
I hate people that always say their country is the best. I don’t agree with them, because I think that we can find good things in different places.
I like to try new dishes and can we say objectively which is the country with the best cooking in the world?
France has been recognized as a gastronomic reference for three centuries. Is this actually true?. That is true according to the results of a famous contest, organized by the famous chef Paul Bocusse. French chef, of course.
But, what does “the best cooking” mean?. If the best one is the healthiest, maybe other countries or diets could be the winners, for example, the Mediterranean diet or vegetarien diet, as well as the Japanese or Chinese food. And, if the best is the most popular cooking, I think that Italian food would be the winner.
A good meal needs variety and good ingredients, and the best and most sensitive chefs. Although the general opinion is that British food is bad, there is a famous young chef in the U.K, who tries to change that. His name is Jamie Oliver. J. Oliver says that everybody loves having a delicious meal, so people who can cook well, always have a lot of friends. Women love men who can cook, and men love women who can cook. Cooking is a very important skill.
For me, cooking is a very important skill too. In fact, it is not only the tastes of food, such us Proust’s cupcake, it is the memory that is coming back from those tastes. The food becomes a symbol of a happy time.
But, happiness doesn’t live in a country, it can be a citizen in the world. So, eating and being in love, cooking pasta or making sushi together; then, Italian food is the most exciting and Japanese food is the most delicious.
Eating and meeting friends are the times when Chinese or Moroccan or Indian food are the funniest.
Cooking with my children, eating with my family, my sisters and brothers, is when Spanish food is the best in the world.
Sometimes I believe that my mother’s paella is the best paella, but I know that’s not exactly like that. Perhaps that is why we love to think that happiness is very close to us, in some small things, we only have to compose the crumbs of our own cupcake.
Mark's poem: Soccer Until Dusk
You can also listen to the author reading his poem if you click here
What do YOU think? Remember you can insert your comments under each entry.
You may also click on the picture and go to the London Underground page, choose a poem that you like, and bring it to the class.
