Pronunciation ChallengeHow we fell in love with sushi | BBC Ideas

“Sushi is something very exclusive. It is not like a McDonald’s, not like a hot dog, not like a French fry. It’s very high-class cooking in Japan.” - Nobu Matsuhisa


How’s it going, everyone? Welcome back to the Pronunciation Challenge. My name is Hubert and thank you for tuning into my weekly episodes on Voicetube.

Today, I’ll be talking about my favorite food, sushi! If I could afford it, I’d probably be eating this everyday!

You know, I was actually a late bloomer when it came to appreciating good sushi. (means I didn’t appreciate sushi until much later compared to others) I think I was about 16 years old when I first had sushi and everything had to be cooked! The thought of eating raw fish was so disgusting to me and I had to take baby steps to get to where I’m at today. Now, I can eat most sushi. The only thing I absolutely refuse to eat is eel. This baffles (to confuse or frustrate completely) many people but something about the texture really bothers me. I can never get over it. Perhaps one day, just not anytime soon.

Enough about me! Let’s get back to the video. Sushi is generally loved by many but do we know the origins (how it came to be) of sushi and why do we love it so much? Watch the video to find out and come back to me for the featured sentence! After that, let’s talk some more about sushi!


Today’s featured sentence:

“The conveyor belt concept used in many restaurants adds a certain level of novelty, as do the chopsticks—although according to many Japanese, sushi is best eaten with the fingers.”


I’ll say that again.



“The conveyor belt concept used in many restaurants adds a certain level of novelty, as do the chopsticks—although according to many Japanese, sushi is best eaten with the fingers.”



Ok, now time for the Pronunciation Tips.




For the first word, we have

Restaurant

three syllables.

This should be a word many people should be familiar with but are you pronouncing it correctly? Of course, we have to take regional accents into account but I’m going to go with the North American accent.

The first syllable is “RES” which has a short E sound. Ok, this is where it gets interesting. For the second syllable, “TAU”, I sort of combine that with the third syllable to form “STR-AANT”. So, the first part is “STR” and then slides into “AANT”. Restaurant. English is confusing, I know.


Next word.

Novelty

Three syllables

“NO” sounds like you’re saying the word “ALL” but with an “N” in front. “VEL” sounds more like “VULL” like you’re “FULL” but use a “V” instead. “TY” sounds like “TEA”, like the beverage you drink. Novelty.


And our last one would be,

Eaten

Two syllables.

I’m choosing some simple words today but let’s try and sound more native shall we?! For this word, you might be saying “EATEN”. Drop the “T” entirely in this and simply say,

“EE-EN”. Eaten. Again, this is the North American pronunciation.



Moving onto Vocabulary!



The first word is:

1. Conveyor belt

Definition

a continuous moving strip or surface that is used for transporting objects from one place to another

Used in a sentence you could say,

“My favorite type of sushi would definitely be the convenient conveyor belt sushi!”


Next word,

2. Concept

Definition

a principle or idea

Used in a sentence you could say,

“The concept of time has been explored and discussed over many centuries.”


And lastly,

3. Novelty

Definition:

the quality of being new and unusual

“The novelty of Netflix’s Squid Game has taken the world by storm.”


Now that I think about it, the first sushi roll I ever ate was the California Roll! It either contained a crab stick or some form of cooked crab. It’s funny how my taste buds have evolved (to develop gradually) with my traveling experiences. What we consider tasty food seems to be influenced by where we spend our time or where we grew up. After leaving Toronto, I realized how bland (unseasoned, mild-tasting) my food choices were. You know what I love now? I love Uni (Sea Urchin) and anything with Uni in it. Are you guys hungry yet? I certainly am after talking about sushi. Where are some of your favorite places to go to for sushi in Taipei? Actually, not just Taipei but Taiwan in general! I’d love to know and visit each one given the opportunity one day!


Ok, guys, that is it for today’s Pronunciation Challenge. If you want to drop by my instagram and say hi, it is hughtran_. Next episode, I’ll be presenting a video about how to love your work! It was actually inspired by this episode because of the famous sushi chef, Jiro Ono! I’m looking forward to presenting the next episode to you guys! Thanks for tuning in and see you again soon!

The conveyor belt concept used in many restaurants adds a certain level of novelty, as do the chopsticks - although according to many Japanese, sushi is best eaten with the fingers.

Day 48

The conveyer belt concept used in many restaurants adds a certain level of novelty, as do the chopsticks—although according to many Japanese, sushi is best eaten with the fingers.