Cultural Sharing through Food

Written by: 

Jesse Cancelmo IV

On November 14th 2019, Center for Language Education cohosted a featured cultural sharing event together with Zhicheng College. Aiming to incorporate elements of English outside the classroom, two teachers, Jesse Cancelmo IV and Tyler Horton showcased their affinity for Hot Dogs, namely one’s representative of their past. For Jesse, this was the “Chili Dog” and for Tyler, the “Colombian Hot Dog”.

Not only delving into the delectable delights, there was also elements of a historical perspective involved, with a PowerPoint presentation given by Jesse which focused on the history behind his favorite Hot Dog. This includes not only its homage to his home state of Texas, but interestingly enough, references to the animated “Sonic the Hedgehog” series. Providing both a historical as well as delicious context, Jesse was able to show the students how to actually make the dogs, with ingredients including three different kinds of sausages, condiments and buns.

Apart from English, food is one of the few true global languages, and this event underscored that. The students who participated enjoyed gaining cultural insight into American foods while exploring the English language outside the confines of a classroom.