Japanese Food Stall

Overview

Students practise ordering food and drinks in Japanese through a simulated food-stall experience. Building on familiar greetings, numbers and food vocabulary, they listen for key information, negotiate an order politely and create a short spoken interaction using culturally appropriate language.

Learning intentions

• WALT use polite Japanese to order food and drinks.
• WALT ask for information and respond to a customer in a familiar context.
• WALT identify key details in a short spoken or written menu.
• WALT use gesture, tone and turn-taking to support communication.

Success criteria

• I can greet someone and place an order using a complete sentence.
• I can ask and answer about price, quantity and preferences.
• I can use polite expressions such as おねがいします and ありがとうございます.
• I can understand the main details of a Japanese menu and respond appropriately.

Curriculum links

• Interacting: communicating with others in familiar contexts using gesture, actions and culturally appropriate language.
• Interacting: exchanging information and opinions in familiar contexts using culturally appropriate language.
• Understanding texts: responding to information and ideas in written, spoken and multimodal texts.
• Creating texts: creating a short spoken text for a familiar communicative purpose.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–7 min · Hook and retrieval. Open with the hook and retrieval slides showing an inviting Japanese food-stall image and the question “How could you order without using English?” Teacher elicits known greetings, numbers and food words; students silently note three words they recognise, then share with a partner.

2. 7–17 min · Language focus. Use the language teaching slides to model the following exchange, with students listening first and then repeating with gestures:

• いらっしゃいませ。
• こんにちは。ラーメンをください。
• はい。いくらですか。
• 五百円です。
• ありがとうございます。 Teacher highlights を for the item being ordered, ください for “please give me…”, and polite voice level and bowing. Students rehearse the exchange as a whole class, then in pairs, swapping customer and server roles.

3. 17–27 min · Menu detective. Distribute the Japanese menu and ordering practice sheet. Students work in pairs to match food and drink items to prices, identify the cheapest and most expensive choices, and underline the phrases they will need. Teacher checks understanding through quick questions such as “What does いくらですか mean?” and “Which word shows the item being requested?” Students may use the model exchange but should attempt the final question independently.

4. 27–40 min · Build an order. Return to the ordering challenge instructions. Each pair chooses a customer and server role and prepares a two- or three-turn dialogue using the menu. Customers must order at least one item, ask the price and respond politely; servers must greet the customer, state the price and close the interaction. Students rehearse once, then add one variation such as ordering two items, asking for water or saying けっこうです to decline an option. Teacher circulates, prompting students to use Japanese before English and recording examples of successful communication.

5. 40–54 min · Food-stall role-play rotation. Arrange pairs around the room as food stalls. Use the role-play rotation slides to display timing and expectations. Half the students begin as servers and half as customers; after three minutes, customers rotate to a new stall and roles switch. On each visit, customers use a different order from the menu. Servers listen for the item, price and polite closing. Students may use their worksheet as a support, but should gradually look up rather than read every line. Include a final “busy stall” round where customers must listen carefully and respond without repeating the full model.

6. 54–60 min · Perform and reflect. Invite two confident pairs to perform their exchange using the plenary and reflection slides. Class identifies one effective language choice and one cultural communication feature, such as greeting, bowing, respectful tone or turn-taking. Students complete the worksheet reflection: one phrase they can use independently, one phrase they still need to practise, and a confidence rating from 1–5.

Resources

• the complete Japanese food-stall lesson deck
• the Japanese menu and ordering practice sheet
• Projector or interactive whiteboard
• Board and markers
• Optional toy money or printed yen notes
• Food and drink picture cards or classroom objects
• Timer
• Clear desk spaces for food stalls

Assessment

• Listen during pair rehearsal and role-play for accurate use of おねがいします, ください, いくらですか and ありがとうございます.
• Use questioning during menu detective to check understanding of vocabulary, prices and sentence structure.
• Collect the worksheet reflection as an exit check, noting whether students can construct an order and identify an individual next step.

Differentiation

• Provide a dyslexia-friendly worksheet with a clear sans-serif font, generous spacing, high contrast, short instructions, furigana above unfamiliar kanji and food images beside vocabulary.
• Support learners with a colour-coded dialogue frame, romanisation where required, a reduced menu and permission to point, gesture or use the model before speaking.
• Pair students strategically and allow rehearsal with a quiet partner before public performance. Accept approximate pronunciation initially, then recast accurately without interrupting fluency.
• Challenge advanced learners to order multiple items, ask a follow-up question, calculate the total price or respond naturally when an item is unavailable.

Extension

• Students create a new menu item and write its name, price and a two-line order exchange in Japanese.
• Students record or perform a 30-second food-stall advertisement using polite language and one persuasive opinion.