U.S. culture: learn about BREAKFAST in America!

Level: Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate (A2-B2)

Video: YES!

What do you have for breakfast during the week?

What about at the weekend?

Americans have all sorts of delicious things for breakfast.

In this short video lesson on U.S. culture, you’ll find out what Americans like to have for breakfast.

You’ll also learn some useful words for talking about this topic.

After watching the video, try our little quiz below to see how much you can remember.

Happy learning!

Vocabulary

Here are some useful words that appear in the video.

A store (US)

A shop where you can buy things such as food…

A buffet

A long table in a restaurant with lots of different food. You choose what you want then sit down to eat.

To pick

If you “pick” something, you choose it so you can have it.

To whisk

If you “whisk” food such as eggs, cream, etc. you use an electrical device (or a hand-held one) to mix the food.

To boil

If you “boil” water, you heat it until it is 100ºC.

Pastries

“Pastries” are food products that are made with ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk and butter. Later, they are baked (cooked in an oven).

Filling

Food that is “filling” makes you feel full, so you aren’t hungry any more.

An egg shell

The hard part of an egg that is outside it and that you don’t eat.

To crack an egg

If you “crack an egg”, you break it so it comes out of the shell and then you can cook it.

An egg yolk

The yellow part of the egg inside it.

Maple syrup

A sweet sauce made from the sap (the fluid part of a plant) of a maple tree.

To pick up

If you “pick something up” from a shop, you buy it from that shop.

A frying pan

A metal object that you can use to fry food (to cook it in hot oil).

To fold over

If you “fold over” an omelet (for example), you put one half of the omelet on top of the other half to make a semi-circle.

Blueberry

A small, round fruit that is blue or black. People often eat blueberries with cereal, yoghurt, pancakes…

Steamed milk

In order to create “steamed milk” you heat the milk with steam (water vapour). This creates a foam (a mass of round bubbles of air).

Video quiz 

You’re going to watch a video with someone talking about breakfast in the U.S. Watch it once and answer the questions below. [answers below]

1. What do Americans have for breakfast on a typical morning?

2. What does a continental (or American) breakfast consist of?

3. What are scrambled eggs?

4. What are omelets sometimes served with?

5. What does a “sunny side up egg” look like?

6. What are poached eggs cooked in?

7. What is a “latte” coffee?

Speaking

Now talk about this topic with a friend or classmate. Make notes and try to use as much of the new language as you can.

Video script

Hello, my name is Savannah and I’m a college student in the US and today we’re going to be talking about typical types of breakfast in the US.

On a typical morning, people will usually make a quick breakfast of coffee and something small maybe like toast, erm, or cereal. Some people may cook eggs for, erm,  breakfast, erm,  or have a breakfast sandwich. And this can either be something that they make at home or you could go to a store and pick it up.

One common, large breakfast, erm, is sometimes called a continental or American breakfast. And so, this is typically found at hotels or buffet style breakfast places. And it’s a mix of different foods, erm, so like different types of eggs, sausage, bacon, erm, maybe pastries, fruit, toast, and coffee. As well as sometimes like pancakes and waffles. It can either be served on a plate together, but other times, erm, and usually, it’s in a buffet line and you can go through and pick what foods you want.

Eggs are another very common, erm, type of breakfast in the US and they are a good source of protein and can be served a lot of ways. And so, one of the most common ways is scrambled eggs. And so, this is when eggs are whisked together with milk and then cooked in a frying pan as chunks. So, they’re moved around as they’re cooked. An omelet is also eggs that are whisked with milk, but they’re not moved when it’s being cooked and so when you serve it’s often folder over. And it can have other ingredients in it like tomatoes, cheese, onions, peppers, mushrooms, sausage – whatever you really like in it.

Sunny side up eggs are eggs that are fried without moving the egg, so this means that the yolk will still be runny, versus a hard-boiled egg which are eggs that are cooked in boiling water. And so, this makes the egg and the yolk hardened, and so you peel the egg before eating it, erm, and then you eat it without the, without the shell on it. And the last one that we’re going to be talking about is poached eggs. And so, these are eggs that are cracked into, erm, boiling water and then they cook in that boiling water.

Another common breakfast is pancakes and waffles with maple syrup. These are delicious foods that can be plain or have blueberries or chocolate chips in them or other fruit. They are often sweet and filling food that, that people can put maple syrup, butter, fruit, and different things as well as Nutella on top for different flavor.

A must-have for breakfast for many Americans is coffee. So, this coffee can be made at home or bought from stores like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or local coffee shops. Some people enjoy their coffees black, but most people like at least cream and sugar in their coffee. Lattes are also very popular to drink, and these are expresso with steamed milk on top. But there are many different ways that you have coffee or your espresso, erm, depending on what you like and the kinds of tastes that you like. So, people will drink it differently depending on their own style.

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Answers

1. What do Americans have for breakfast on a typical morning? Some coffee and toast, cereal, eggs or a sandwich.

2. What does a continental (or American) breakfast consist of? It consists of eggs, sausage, bacon, pastries, fruit, toast and coffee, and sometimes pancakes and waffles too.

3. What are scrambled eggs? Scrambled eggs are whisked eggs (with milk sometimes) that are cooked in a frying pan.

4. What are omelets sometimes served with? They are sometimes served with tomatoes, cheese, onions, peppers and mushrooms.

5. What does a “sunny side up egg” look like? It looks like a normal fried egg.

6. What are poached eggs cooked in? Poached eggs are cooked in boiling water.

7. What is a “latte” coffee? A “latte” is an expresso coffee with steamed milk on top. “Latte” means milk in Italian.