Cooking with Americans, or following an American recipe, brings special words: chop, dice, simmer, preheat, a cup, a tablespoon, 350 degrees. Learners often translate from their own kitchen language and say "cut the onion very small small" or "cook it on small fire." Americans say "dice the onion" and "simmer it on low heat." American recipes also use cups and Fahrenheit, not grams and Celsius, which surprises many learners. This episode teaches cooking verbs, measurements and tasting language, then puts them in an invented kitchen scene with every line decoded. In this episode: • Cutting and preparing • Cooking verbs • Measurements • Tasting language • The scene • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: chop — cut into pieces, not too neat. "Chop the carrots." dice (DYCE) — cut into small squares. "Dice the onion." mince — cut into very, very small pieces. "Mince the garlic." slice — cut into thin, flat pieces. "Slice the bread." peel — take off the skin. "Peel the potatoes." grate — rub on a grater to make thin bits. "Grate some cheese." rinse — wash quickly with water. "Rinse the rice." preheat the oven — heat the oven before you cook. "Preheat the oven to 350." stir — move food around with a spoon. "Stir the sauce." whisk — mix fast with a fork or whisk. "Whisk the eggs." mix — put things together. "Mix the flour and sugar." boil — cook in very hot, bubbling water. "Boil the pasta." bring to a boil — heat until it bubbles. "Bring the water to a boil." simmer — cook gently, with small bubbles. "Let it simmer for ten minutes." Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.