Discovering Belgian Culinary Specialties in French

French Department HMSM
February 24, 2023
French Department HMSM
February 24, 2023
Violettes de Liege

Introduction
This intercultural activity takes place during our M3 French for French learners. In a neighbouring French-speaking city, Visé, the students, in teams, go on a hunt for Belgian specialties. They taste them, describe them using the framework and vocabulary they previously learned in French class, and present them in an Instagram Post. They also show the city in a VLOG in French, asking questions to the inhabitants to get as much information as possible..

Goal
This activity has several learning goals for students:

  • Understanding a cultural context: a local produce in a Belgian small size town and the social interactions that take place there.
  • Applying linguistic skills in a real-life situation when inquiring/interacting with the inhabitants.
  • Creating their own professional description based on their linguistic, and gastronomic knowledge and own gustative experience.
  • Create a vlog about the city of Visé to introduce it to tourists and to promote the Euregio.

Target audience
This activity is targeted towards French language learners (A2 level).

Activity set-up
As part of an advertisement for Visé, students are asked to do a VLOG to introduce this city to French tourists. They must convince them that this is a city to visit on their next holiday.
To do so, stdents are required to film and take pictures of specific places, to eat a lunch including a culinary speciality, taste it and describe it in an Instagram post shared online. Finally, the students also interview the inhabitants of Visé, record the interactions on audio and ask them specific questions about the town and its activities.

The students’ VLOG and pictures, published on social networks, aim to advertise the city on our borders, of the Euroregio and to illustrate how easy it can be to travel, discover new cities and specialities on the border.
In terms of outcomes: we believe that it reinforces our general emphasis on French as a professional tool for the hospitality industry and our students’ future career, on French as a mean to communicate and learn about other cultures (through social interaction) and, on French as an accessible language. Therefore, the more desirable outcome is to reinforce our student’s learning motivation.

Assessment
The M3 module where the activity takes place benefits from a continuous learning assessment, however, the activity counts as formative since it helps the students consolidate skills as well in terms of linguistic (inquiring / business interaction/ gastronomy and tourism vocabulary) and professional product (describing a dish, creating a VLOG, working in a group).

Author name and affiliation
Marine Pédéhour (marine.pedehour@zuyd.nl)
Clara Edouard (clara.edouard@zuyd.nl)
French Department, Hotel Management School Maastricht

Discovering Belgian Culinary Specialties in French

by | Feb 24, 2023 | Toolkit