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Views #1293 | Intermediate (B1)

Belgium Dining

Chris talks with Adelina about eating a big meal with friends and family.

Ade: Now Chris, in our last conversation you told me you come from Belgium. And I would like to know, what kind of food do you eat in Belgium?

Chris: What kind of food, well we eat all kinds of food. I mean there’s no restrictions or anything. We have our fish, our meat, our wines, our fruits, our veggies, we eat all kinds of food.

Ade: Yeah, I know. But I mean what is popular about Belgium food?

Chris: Well if you talk about gastronomy, it’s a bit different in Belgium as I think it is in Spain. I mean in Belgium we really enjoy the tables. We don’t go out for dinner that often but when we go out we stay on a table for four hours. I mean it starts with little entrants, then it’s maybe a soup, then it’s the main dish, then it’s still an ice-cream or something. I mean it takes long so we really enjoy [0:01:00.4] and it goes slow. For example, at Christmas, for Christmas we meet at maybe 5:30, 6 o’clock and then we start already with aperitifs and it goes all night long, I think we eat from 6 o’clock in the afternoon till 12 o’clock at night.

Ade: Wow! So you must be fat people there in Belgium if you eat that much.

Chris: Well that’s why I just said, we don’t do it that often, but if we do it we really enjoy it and then of course next day or next few days you see people just don’t eat anything.

Answer these questions about the interview.
Audio Lessons about Phrases and Vocabulary

restriction

notesI mean there’s no restrictions or anything.

A restriction is something that is forbidden or not allowed. Notice the following:

  1. There is a restriction on owning more than two cars.
  2. He can't have a pet because there is a restriction at his apartment.

gastronomy

notesLet's talk about gastronomy.

Gastronomy refers to food or cooking. Notice the following:

  1. Chinese gastronomy is very complex.
  2. I'm interested in Turkish gastronomy.

go all night long

notesIt goes all night long.

To go all night long means until morning or very late. Notice the following:

  1. We went all night long.
  2. She doesn't need sleep, she can go all night long.

till

notesWe eat from 6 o’clock in the afternoon till 12 o’clock at night.

Till means the same as 'until' and is used mainly in spoken English. Notice the following:

  1. The movie goes till seven.
  2. Keep driving till you see a blue house.

veggies

notesWe have our fish, our meat, our wines, our fruits, our veggies.

Veggies is short for vegetables. Notice the following:

  1. You need to eat more veggies.
  2. Kids hate to eat their veggies.

Vocabulary Quiz

restrictions • gastronomy • all night long
till • veggies
  1. This plane ticket has some .
  2. Do not leave I get there.
  3. To be healthy, you should eat your .
  4. If you like , you like good food.
  5. She loves to stay out .

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Hello, and welcome to elllo. My name is Todd Beuckens. I've been an ESL teacher for 25 years. I created elllo to provide teachers and students free audio lessons and learning materials not usually found in commercial textbooks.
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