Oysters in the UAE
WORKSHEET
1. Suggested Use
Food and culture focus, followed by A2-level vocabulary and grammar activities.
2. Suggested Activities
A. Project-based learning
Students work in small groups to design a short menu feature or food promotion for a local product from their country. They include the product’s name and where it comes from, how it grows or is made, why it’s special or different and where people can eat or buy it. They use the video to help them organise their ideas. Students present their ideas as a magazine article, menu page, or short spoken ‘chef’s talk’ presentation.
B. Mediation task: Collaborating to construct meaning
Tell students to imagine that their technology has broken so they are unable to watch the video - they are only able to see the title of the video and the first scene. Put students into groups to discuss what they think they video would be about and what they would be expecting to see. Have them watch the video to confirm their ideas.
C. Pronunciation task: /s/ and /ʃ/ sounds
Write two columns on the board: /s/ and /ʃ/. Have students look through the videoscript and write down any words with these sounds. They then come to the board and sort the words from the list, e.g. special, baskets, chefs, oysters, surprise, fish, restaurants. Model, drill and practise the sounds.
3. Vocabulary
Farming & food
oysters
farm / farming
basket / baskets
grow / growing / grow well
water
food
seafood
restaurant
menu
chefs
diners
Adjectives
special
popular
fresh
local
cold
hot
dry
surprised
Verbs
eat
come from
need
use
hold
deliver
take out
expect
become
4. Grammar
Present simple:
The farm uses baskets that go under water; The oysters grow to full size in 12 to 18 months.
Passive:
They are now grown in the …
Present perfect:
Have you heard of these local oysters?
Past simple:
Chefs in Dubai were surprised at first; They thought oysters …
TRANSCRIPT
Oysters in the UAE
NARRATOR:
Oysters are a food people around the world eat on special occasions. But did you know they are now grown in the United Arab Emirates? Along the coast of Fujairah, Dibba Bay Oysters is the first oyster farm in the Middle East. Growing oysters in warm water is not common. Oysters usually need cold water. But these oysters are Pacific Cupped oysters. They can grow in both warm and cold waters. This is why they grow well in Fujairah’s hot waters. Even in the summer, when temperatures rise above 50 degrees Celsius, the oysters still grow.
The farm uses baskets that go under water. The baskets hold about one million oysters at a time. The oysters grow to full size in 12 to 18 months. In fact, because the water stays warm all year, the oysters grow faster than they do in colder places.
SOUNDBITE - Ramie Murray:
"They actually grow very well in the summer and their growth tails off in the winter, whereas here, they just grow continuously because we have the warm weather the whole year round."
NARRATOR:
The UAE is very dry and hot so most food comes from other countries. But delivering fresh food to chefs in just a few hours has made the Fujairah oysters very popular.
SOUNDBITE - Ramie Murray:
“We take them out of the water in the morning, and then in the afternoon they're with the hotels, they're with the chefs, they're in the restaurant."
NARRATOR:
Chefs in Dubai were surprised at first. They thought oysters could only come from colder areas like Europe.
SOUNDBITE - Carl Maunder:
"Someone came to me and said; 'Hey, have you heard of these local oysters?' And I was like; 'No.' And it was sort of out of the blue because, you know, this was in the summer time, it was very, very hot. And just the last thing I expected anybody to be producing or farming here in Dubai."
NARRATOR:
But now, Dibba Bay Oysters are on the menus of many restaurants in Dubai, including some of the best seafood spots. This local food is becoming a favourite for chefs and diners, bringing a unique taste of Fujairah to the table.