| Level | Topic | Speakers | Length |
| Intermediate | Baby Food | Man – Woman | 01:37 |
Pre-Listening Exercise
What kinds of foods are appropriate for babies and toddlers at different times in their lives?
- Parents should only give babies organic food, even if it is more expensive.
- Homemade baby food is healthier than store-bought baby food.
- Babies should start eating solid food earlier rather than later.
- Sugar should never be given to young children.
- Introducing a wide variety of foods early helps children become less picky eaters.
- Breastfeeding is always the best choice for babies.
- Parents should decide what a baby eats, not the baby.
- Cultural traditions are more important than medical advice when feeding babies.
- Vitamin supplements are necessary for all babies.
- What babies eat in the first two years strongly shapes their lifelong health.
Idioms
“be someone’s baby” = be a very special possession, goal, or project.
“Hey, don’t touch the car. That’s my brother’s baby, and he is very protective of it.”
“sleep like a baby” = sleep deeply and soundly
“Mark worked 16 hours yesterday, so he’s going to sleep like a baby tonight.”
Listening Exercise
A. Listen to the recording and answer the questions.
Post-Listening Exercise
What are some common, traditional foods in your country that people feed to their babies and children?
Online Investigation
Use the internet to discover what foods are given to babies in one or more of these countries. What cultural or environmental factors (e.g., climate, weather, geography, etc.) play a factor in what foods are available?
- Vietnam
- Japan
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Kenya
- Peru
- Australia
- France
- China
- Thailand
- Saudi Arabia