March 8, 2010 - 5:33am
A week
after a group of international students at Vancouver Island University learned
the word “snack” in Madelaine Hill’s Communications 1 course, they were finding
out how to make Rice Krispie squares from Hill’s husband.
Hill, her
teaching partner Therese Neufeld and
Tyler Campbell, an award-winning VIU Culinary Arts program graduate and cook on
campus, collaborated to provide a hands-on learning experience for a group of
students from Saudi Arabia, Finland, Korea, Japan, China and India.
The
students are learning English as they prepare for further studies at VIU. For
many of the students, the English Language Centre course also provided an
introduction to cooking.
“Measurements
are part of the benchmarks for language training so we thought it would be fun
to come and cook something,” Hill said.
Campbell
had no problem coming up with a main course — “real” mac and cheese, a much
more tasty alternative to the boxed just-add-water-and-stir dinners that many
students rely on.
“Keep
stirring. This is béchamel sauce,” Campbell told students as they put the
finishing touches on their pasta dishes at VIU’s food lab.
Saudi student Aziz Aljohani noted that his previous
cooking experience was restricted to “just eggs for breakfast.” He was pleased with the results of his first
culinary effort.
“Very
good, really delicious,” he said.
Mac and
cheese was a good introduction for the students, said Hill, because it’s
vegetarian and unlikely to conflict with dietary restrictions. The budding
chefs were encouraged to add vegetables to the pasta the next time they make
it.
The Rice
Krispie squares were simply a fun addition to the menu.
“This is
the first time we’ve come to the food lab,” Hill said and suggested the lesson
will be repeated for international students in future courses.
“It’s a
good way to introduce international students to other programs that are going
on. It helps integrate them to campus.”
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For more information on the English Language Centre, visit: viu.ca/esl
Tags: In the Community
