ESL Cooking Listening

Listening is a difficult skill to master, especially when first learning English; the ESL cooking listening exercises on this page will help you practice listening. You can listen to and do the exercises on this page as many times as you need until you can manage them.

This page has four listening tasks for you to do. Each of the tasks has a recording of cooking vocabulary being spoken or used by a native English speaker. You can hear the words being used in a natural way so you can learn the correct pronunciation. Then after the recording in each exercise there are activities for you to do: either answering multiple choice questions or doing some writing. If you are unsure of how any if the cooking vocabulary should sound when being spoken you can go to the ESL cooking vocabulary page that has a recording of the words being pronounced by a native English speaker.

The four ESL cooking listening activities on this page are as follows:

• Identification of spoken word order.
• Identification of spoken definition.
• Listening comprehension passage.
• Dictation passage.

ESL Cities Listening Exercises

Exercise 1 – Identification of Spoken Word Order

In this ESL cooking listening task you need to listen to the following recording that has five groups of cooking words being spoken. You need to decide which option (A-D) in each question has the words in the same order as they are spoken in the groups from the recording. When you have finished you can use the get score button to see how well you did.

ESL Cooking Identification of Spoken Word Order

Listen to the recording of the five groups of five words each given above and decide which option (A-D) in the five questions in this test has the correct order.

1) Which is the correct order for group of words one?

    A) Food processor, Grow, Exotic, Stove, Chocolate
    B) Stove, Food processor, Chocolate, Grow, Exotic
    C) Chocolate, Exotic, Stove, Food processor, Grow
    D) Stove, Exotic, Chocolate, Grow, Food processor

2) Which is the correct order for group of words two?

    A) Deep fryer, Freezer, Collate, Oats, Bowl
    B) Oats, Deep fryer, Bowl, Freezer, Collate
    C) Bowl, Collate, Oats, Deep fryer, Freezer
    D) Oats, Collate, Bowl, Freezer, Deep fryer

3) Which is the correct order for group of words three?

    A) Sandwich, Roast, Well-balanced, Prominent, Sponge cake
    B) Prominent, Sandwich, Sponge cake, Roast, Well-balanced
    C) Sponge cake, Well-balanced, Prominent, Sandwich, Roast
    D) Prominent, Well-balanced, Sponge cake, Roast, Sandwich

4) Which is the correct order for group of words four?

    A) Chopping board, Watch, Substance, Menu, Indian
    B) Menu, Chopping board, Indian, Watch, Substance
    C) Indian, Substance, Menu, Chopping board, Watch
    D) Menu, Substance, Indian, Watch, Chopping board

5) Which is the correct order for group of words five?

    A) Counter, Involved, Mix, Assemble, Well-balanced
    B) Assemble, Counter, Well-balanced, Involved, Mix
    C) Well-balanced, Mix, Assemble, Counter, Involved
    D) Assemble, Mix, Well-balanced, Involved, Counter

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 2 – Identification of Spoken Definition

In the next ESL cooking listening task the recording has five definitions being spoken. In each of the questions you need to choose the option (A-D) that has the word that matches the spoken definition. Again you can use the get score button to see the correct answers when you have finished.

ESL Cooking Listening Identification of Vocabulary Meaning

Listen to the recording of the meanings of the five vocabulary words given above and decide which word out of the options (A-D) in each question matches the meaning.

1) What is the meaning of the first definition in the recording?

    A) Indian
    B) Consume
    C) Rice
    D) Decorate

2) What is the meaning of the second definition in the recording?

    A) Booklet
    B) Oats
    C) Convenient
    D) Reserved

3) What is the meaning of the third definition in the recording?

    A) Cup
    B) Knife
    C) Toaster
    D) Quantity

4) What is the meaning of the fourth definition in the recording?

    A) Roast
    B) Cooker
    C) Pick
    D) Cupboard

5) What is the meaning of the fifth definition in the recording?

    A) Gas
    B) Knife
    C) Boil
    D) Oven

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 3 – Listening Comprehension

For this ESL cooking listening exercise you need to listen to the following recording of a passage being read and then answer the questions about it. You can listen to the passage a few times if you cannot answer any of the questions so you can find the correct answer. At the end you can again use the get score button.

There is a link at the end of this page that you can click so you can see the full text of the passage. You can then read it and see how well you understood it from just the listening.

ESL Cooking Listening Comprehension

Listen to the recording of the passage about cooking above and answer the following five questions.

1) Why do people buy books containing recipes from different parts of the world?

    A) To remind them of happy holidays.
    B) Because they do not like British food.
    C) To use up old ingredients.
    D) Because they are bored with ready prepared super market meals.

2) What ingredients are often used in Scottish cooking?

    A) Peas and sweet corn
    B) Oats and fish
    C) Apples and nuts
    D) Turkey and tomatoes

3) If you purchase an icecream maker, what sort of book can you expect to receive?

    A) A soup book.
    B) A cake recipe book.
    C) An icecream recipe book.
    D) A book about chocolate cakes.

4) According to the above passage, how do some charities make money?

    A) By selling raffle tickets.
    B) By selling cakes.
    C) Having a Bouncy Castle.
    D) By creating a book of favourite recipes.

5) Why do you need a recipe book when you buy a pressure cooker?

    A) It tells you to be careful.
    B) It gives advice on cooking times and quantities of liquids.
    C) It tells you to take care, the cooker can explode.
    D) To give to your friends and get them to buy a cooker.

Score =

Correct answers:

Exercise 4 – Dictation

In the final ESL cooking task you need to listen to the recording and write down the passage exactly as it is spoken in the passage. You can listen several time if you need to. The recording has the passage spoken twice with the first time being at a slow speaking speed and the second time with pauses after every few words and the punctuation also spoken.

Again there is a link at the end of the page that you can use to show the full text of the passage. You should use this to check your written answer with the original.

Listening Comprehension Passage
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Dictation Passage
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