S1E25 - Ordering at the Café

Objective & content

George and his mum Kate stop at a café after a busy morning in town. George asks the waiter Sam for a cake and some orange juice, but a plate of salad arrives, and Kate asks to change it. The episode teaches polite requests (Can I have a cake, please?) with Can we change this, please? and Excuse me when something goes wrong. The vocabulary is café words: menu, waiter, cake, juice, order, salad. Learners listen for what George orders and what arrives, then check their understanding with the in-app quiz.

Pedagogical guide

George asks the same question twice, first to his mother and then to the waiter, so pupils notice that English politeness sits in please and the question form, not in a different pronoun. German pupils tend to write Can I have please a cake?, so teach please at the end. French pupils may confuse menu with a set meal (la carte is the full list). Italian pupils should avoid Can I to have.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Warm-up: draw four items (cake, juice, sandwich, tea) and ask what pupils would choose, as single words.
2. (7 min) Teach the seven words; spend time on menu, waiter and order.
3. (7 min) First listen: what does George order, what arrives, and whose salad was it?
4. (10 min) Second listen: pupils note who asks whom and what they say, and notice that line 1 and line 2 are the same question.
5. (8 min) Grammar focus: build Can I have a / some ..., please? and correct Can I to have and Can I have please a cake; teach Excuse me.
6. (8 min) In pairs, draw a four-item picture menu; the waiter brings the wrong thing on purpose and the customer says Excuse me, can we change this, please?

Materials & prerequisites

The episode in the PLAY app (audio, slideshow, text and quiz), a student sheet and a teacher sheet with the answer key. Learners need I'd like style food words such as cake and juice, and the word please.

Curriculum alignment

Cycle 3 (6e), axis "The child and their close environment": ordering in a café and asking politely.