Bringing Korean cuisine to Europe

URL: http://www.newsflashenglish.com/150607Koreanfood2.htm

Ideas and Articles by David Robinson

15^th June 2007

THE ARTICLE

Bringing Korean cuisine to Europe

Recently Slovakia has seen a surge in new Korean businesses opening - like Kia, Samsung and LG. Last September another Korean entrepreneur Yooni Suh landed in Bratislava BBC news recently reported. “I wanted to go on a road trip and become an ambassador for Korean food.” He added, “For me it’s just a new world of opportunity.” Ten months later he’s set up a rival retailing store against supermarket giants like Tesco and Carrefour. Suh continues, “Koreans! Wherever they go in the world, they’ve got to have Korean food. What better place than Slovakia’s capital.” This has proved fruitful for the Korean expat who has opened a Western styled supermarket in Bratislava selling south East Asian food to expat’s and locals alike. “It’s about finding these communities and supplying them with food that they were never able to buy at reasonable prices.”

Since leaving London, where his family has been running a very profitable Korean food business for years, Suh is now distributing all things Korean around the region. These include mackerel, prawns and red pepper paste. He is preparing to open a restaurant in the city centre and a string of sushi-style oriental fast-food outlets in shopping centres. He is presently negotiating a Korean food supply deal with the Co-op, which has shops in every village. Suh discovered there is more to this than just the Korean expat community. “Since arriving here, I’ve realised Korean food can have a much wider audience. This is not just an oriental thing, it’s a health thing.” He adds, “It’s about providing choice. If you don’t have a choice you don’t have the freedom to eat what you want.” Suh’s business plan is to “take a street market and repackage it for Westerners.” This has involved cookery demonstrations and product labels translated into Slovak. He has already appointed agents in Prague, Budapest and Italy. He plans to conquer Europe with his Korean Food shops.

START

1. KOREAN FOOD: What do you know about Korean food? Have you ever been to a Korean supermarket? Have you eaten at a Korean restaurant? Go round the room swapping stories. Change partners often.

2. DICTATION: The teacher will read some of the article slowly and clearly. Students will write down what they hear. The teacher will repeat the passage slowly again. Self correct your work. Compare your work with your partner(s) and try to recreate the full text. Listen again to check, fill in spaces or correct mistakes. Be honest with yourself on the number of errors. Advise the teacher of your total no of errors. Less than 5 is very good. 10 are acceptable. Any more is room for improvement! More than 20 - we need to do some work!

3. READING: Get students to read the passage aloud. Swap readers every paragraph.

4. VOCABULARY: Students look through the article. Underline/highlight any vocabulary you don’t know. Look in dictionaries. Discuss and help each other out. The teacher will go through and explain any words or phrases you are stuck with!

5. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting (circle) and which are most boring (underline).

New Korean businesses / Bratislava / entrepreneur / ambassador / Korean food / opportunity / Korean expat community / street market / cookery demonstrations / Korean restaurants / fast food outlets / South East Asian food

Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. Put them into different categories.

6. ORIENTAL FOOD: With your partner think of 6 different oriental products e.g. rice you can buy in a supermarket. Discuss. Have you eaten any of these products?

1 4 2 5 3 6

7. TWO MINUTE DEBATE: With your partner debate which is better? a) Oriental food V Western food b) East/Central European food V Oriental food c) Oriental food V French food d) British food V Central/East European food e) Korean food V Chinese Food f) East/Central European food V Western food

8. KOREAN FOOD: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with Korean food. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

9. THREE SENTENCES: Choose six/nine of these words. Write three sentences using two/three words in each. Try to associate them with Korean food. Discuss with your partner. Spend five minutes on this exercise.

10. ORIENTAL MEALS: Change partners! With your new partner think of eight different types of oriental meal. List them below and discuss. Then re-list them with your top meal as (1) downwards to (8). Compare your results.

1 5 2 6 3 7 4 8

With your partner discuss the following: Student A questions a) Which is your favourite and why? b) Which is the most unusual? c) Which one(s) have you never tried? d) Your question? Student B questions a) What business opportunities are there in your country for opening new Korean restaurants? b) Can food entrepreneurs operate successfully in your country? c) Is the Slovakian palate adventurous and ready to try new foods? d) Your question

11. SENTENCE STARTERS: With your partner(s), finish these sentence starters. Change partner(s) and talk about the sentences you made.

a) Korean food ___________________________________________________

b) South East Asian food ____________________________________________

c) The Co-op _____________________________________________________

d) Koreans! ______________________________________________________

e) Prawns ________________________________________________________

f) A street market ________________________________________________

g) Korean entrepreneur ____________________________________________

h) Sushi-style ___________________________________________________

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: After reading the article guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Recently Slovakia has seen a surge in new Chinese businesses	T / F
b.	Last September Yooni Suh landed in Bratislava	T / F
c.	Eleven months later he’s set up a rival shop against supermarkets	T / F
d.	Korean’s have got to have Korean food	T / F
e.	His family run a Korean car showroom in London	T / F
f.	He wants to open a restaurant in Bratislava	T / F
g.	Suh takes a street market and repackage it for East Europeans	T / F
h.	Suh plans to conquer the world with his Korean Food shops	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

a.	Surge	Option
b.	Trip	Shop
c.	Ambassador	Area
d.	Rival	Diplomat
e.	store	Successful
f.	Profitable	Journey
g.	Region	Representative
h.	Wider	Adversary
i.	Agents	Greater
j.	choice	Rise

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

a.	Recently Slovakia has seen a surge	all things Korean around the region
b.	Last September another Korean	Korean food
c.	Ten months later	and supplying them with food…
d.	They’ve got to have	Slovakia’s capital.
e.	What better place than	to conquer Europe…
f.	This has proved fruitful	entrepreneur Yooni Suh landed …
g.	It’s about finding these communities	prawns and red pepper paste
h.	Suh is now distributing	he’s set up a rival retailing store
i.	These include mackerel,	for the Korean expat
j.	He plans	in new Korean businesses opening…

GAP FILL: READING

Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Bringing Korean cuisine to Europe Recently Slovakia has seen a _____ in new Korean businesses opening - like Kia, Samsung and LG. Last September another Korean ____________ Yooni Suh landed in Bratislava BBC news recently reported. “I wanted to go on a road trip and become an __________ for Korean food.” He added, “For me it’s just a new world of ___________.” Ten months later he’s set up a rival retailing store against supermarket giants like Tesco and Carrefour. Suh continues, “Koreans! Wherever they go in the world, they’ve got to have ______ food. What better place than Slovakia’s capital.” This has proved ________ for the Korean expat who has opened a Western styled supermarket in Bratislava selling South East Asian food to _______ and locals alike. “It’s about finding these communities and supplying them with food that they were never able to buy at __________ prices.”

ambassador fruitful entrepreneur expat’s opportunity reasonable Korean surge

Since leaving London, where his family has been running a very profitable Korean food business for years, Suh is now distributing all ______ Korean around the region. These include mackerel, prawns and red pepper paste. He is preparing to open a restaurant in the city centre and a string of sushi-style oriental fast-food _______ in shopping centres. He is presently negotiating a Korean food supply ______ with the Co-op, which has shops in every village. Suh discovered there is more to this than just the Korean expat community. “Since arriving here, I’ve realised Korean food can have a much wider ________. This is not just an ________ thing, it’s a health thing.” He adds, “It’s about providing choice. If you don’t have a choice you don’t have the _______ to eat what you want.” Suh’s business plan is to “take a street market and repackage it for Westerners.” This has involved cookery demonstrations and product labels translated into Slovak. He has already appointed agents in Prague, Budapest and Italy. He plans to _______ Europe with his Korean Food shops.

string things deal oriental freedom audience outlets conquer

GAP FILL: LISTENING:

Listen and fill in the spaces.

Bringing Korean cuisine to Europe

Recently Slovakia ___________________ new Korean businesses opening - like Kia, Samsung and LG. Last September another Korean entrepreneur Yooni Suh landed in Bratislava BBC news recently reported. “I wanted to go on a road ___________________ ambassador for Korean food.” He added, “For me it’s just a new world of opportunity.” Ten months ___________________ rival retailing store against supermarket giants like Tesco and Carrefour. Suh continues, “Koreans! Wherever they go in the world, they’ve got to have Korean food. What better place than Slovakia’s capital.” This has proved fruitful for the Korean expat ________________________ styled supermarket in Bratislava selling South East Asian food to expat’s and locals alike. “It’s about finding these communities _______________________ food that they were ___________________ reasonable prices.”

Since leaving London, where ___________________ running a very profitable Korean food business for years, Suh is now distributing all things Korean around the region. These include ____________________ red pepper paste. He is preparing to open a restaurant in the city centre and a string of sushi-style oriental fast-food outlets in shopping centres. He is presently negotiating a Korean food supply deal with the Co-op, __________________ every village. Suh discovered there is more to this than just the Korean expat community. “Since arriving here, I’ve realised Korean food can have a much wider audience. This _______________________ thing, it’s a health thing.” He adds, “It’s about providing choice. If you don’t have a choice you don’t have the freedom to eat what you want.” ________________________ to “take a street market and repackage it for Westerners.” This has involved cookery demonstrations and product labels translated into Slovak. He has already appointed agents in Prague, Budapest and Italy. He plans to conquer ______________________ Food shops.

DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a) Did the headline make you want to read the article?

b) Did anything in the article surprise you?

c) Do you like to try something new once in a while?

d) What was the last oriental restaurant you visited?

e) What is fusion food?

f) Have you ever eaten fusion food?

g) Have you ever eaten a Korean BBQ?

h) What’s the most famous Korean food?

i) Do Koreans eat a lot of seafood?

j) Have you ever eaten Korean food?

$---------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a) Did you like reading this article?

b) What do you think about what you read?

c) Do you know where any Korean shops are?

d) Do you know anywhere else where you can buy Korean food?

e) What’s the difference between Korean food and other oriental food?

f) Are you adventurous in your eating habits?

g) Where is your limit on eating exotic food?

h) Would you try Korean food if it is offered to you?

i) Do you eat healthy food?

j) Did you like this discussion?

AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.

1. What was the most interesting thing you heard?
2. Was there a question you didn’t like?
3. Was there something you totally disagreed with?
4. What did you like talking about?
5. Which was the most difficult question?

SPEAKING

PRESS: ROLE PLAY: FOOD:

With your partner or in groups of three / four discuss the following types of food/cuisine/food dishes:

	Findings
Your favourite local meal in a restaurant
Your favourite international cuisine
Your favourite home cooked meal by mum
The last international food product you bought
Any Korean food you bought recently
What you don’t like eating
Your theme

The teacher will select some students to discuss their situations in front of the class.

LANGUAGE: CORRECT WORD: Choose the correct words from a–d below and write them in the article.

Recently Slovakia has seen a (1) ____ in new Korean businesses opening - like Kia, Samsung and LG. Last (2) ____ another Korean entrepreneur Yooni Suh landed in Bratislava BBC news recently reported. “I wanted to go on a road trip and become an ambassador for (3) ____ food.” He added, “For me it’s just a new world of opportunity.” Ten months later he’s set up a rival retailing store against supermarket (4) ____ like Tesco and Carrefour. Suh continues, “Koreans! Wherever they go in the world, they’ve got to have Korean food. What better place than Slovakia’s capital.” This has proved (5) ____ for the Korean expat who has opened a Western styled supermarket in Bratislava selling South East Asian food to expat’s and locals alike. “It’s about finding these communities and (6) ____ them with food that they were never able to buy at reasonable prices.”

Since leaving London, where his family has been (7) ____ a very profitable Korean food business for years, Suh is now distributing all things Korean around the region. These include mackerel, prawns and red pepper paste. He is preparing to open a restaurant in the (8) ____ centre and a string of sushi-style oriental fast-food outlets in shopping centres. He is presently negotiating a Korean food supply deal with the Co-op, which has shops in every (9) ____. Suh discovered there is more to this than just the Korean expat community. “Since arriving here, I’ve realised Korean food can have a much wider audience. This is not just an oriental thing, it’s a health thing.” He adds, “It’s about providing choice. If you don’t have a choice you don’t have the freedom to (10) ____ what you want.” Suh’s business plan is to “take a (11) ____ market and repackage it for Westerners.” This has involved cookery demonstrations and product labels translated into Slovak. He has already appointed agents in Prague, Budapest and Italy. He plans to conquer (12) ____ with his Korean Food shops.

1.	(a)	surging	(b)	surge	(c)	surged	(d)	increase
2.	(a)	August	(b)	September	(c)	October	(d)	November
3.	(a)	Japanese	(b)	Malaysian	(c)	Chinese	(d)	Korean
4.	(a)	ogres	(b)	giant	(c)	giants	(d)	ogre
5.	(a)	fruity	(b)	fruitful	(c)	fruitiness	(d)	fruit
6.	(a)	supply	(b)	supplied	(c)	demand	(d)	supplying
7.	(a)	run	(b)	running	(c)	ran	(d)	walking
8.	(a)	old	(b)	town	(c)	city	(d)	village
9.	(a)	street	(b)	town	(c)	city	(d)	village
10.	(a)	eat	(b)	eating	(c)	ate	(d)	drink
11.	(a)	street	(b)	road