Hambaagu

[tabular_rasa]

So, the 5th graders are on the chapter in Eigo Noto about foods. The text comes with a page of flashcards in the back for the kids to cut out, and included is both a card for what the Japanese call hanbaagaa and for what they call hanbaagu-- with and without buns, respectively

Comments

[k0dama]

In NY we call that a patty, or formally, a hamburger patty.

[k0dama]

and you can define it too, like chicken patty, beef patty, veggie patty...

Fish patty, turkey patty, and pork patty are plausible, but I have never heard of or seen such things being sold in the supermarket.

[sabishii_kirito]

I agree with Salisbury steak, but I am also from Indiana.

[sabishii_kirito]

Oh, and wikipedia agrees that hamburg is Salisbury:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_steak

If it's on the internet, it must be right!

[lizoraveriam]

I suggested that we call the bun hamburger a cheeseburger (cause it's got cheese on there) and the patty a hamburger. I'd talked with my teachers about the options, Western-style hamburger vs Japanese-style hamburger, steak, etc. etc. etc., and pretty much everyone decided to go with the least complicated option.

[ginapagott]

Yeah, we usually do "hamburg steak" despite the fact that I'd never seen one until I went to a Big Boy's at midyear.

I don't know if it's better for the kids to learn how to say the things they eat or how to say the things English-speakers eat. Honestly, there are so many food words I don't know after 6 years of Japanese because all we learned in year one in college was American foods...

[marasca]

Seems like it would be more useful for them to learn 1. things they would encounter if they travel abroad, and/or 2. things they'll see people eat in movies or TV shows.

My elementary school students and JTEs (pre-Eigo Nooto) had a hard time understanding that for most real Japanese foods we called them by their Japanese name. Edamame is edamame, not green soy beans, and mochi is mochi, not sweet and sticky rice ball or whatever. I suppose once in a while if you were talking to an English speaker you might want to be able to explain what some unknown Japanese food is, but it would be a lot more useful to be able to order off a menu.

[krillia]

Takoyaki. I try so very hard to tactfully explain that "octopus balls" are not a good thing to call them.

[marasca]

Bwahahaha!

Glad I didn't run into that one, I don't think I could have kept a straight face.

[krillia]

I'd use hamburg steak. You're right, at least in the part of America where I come from it's entirely rare to see such a thing, but that's as close as I can think of.

For me, and most of the English speakers I know, both the terms 'Salisbury steak' and 'hamburg steak' (also: 'pepper steak') bring to mind the type of beef dish where a piece of meat is pulverized with a pointed meat tenderizer, so it's nearly in pieces, but still a coherent unit. However, sometimes you just have to go with the best you can, and since we don't really have a word for a ground beef patty, I'd just go with hamburg steak.