A multilingual glossary of edible plants, fruits and seeds of the Maya Region.

Abstract

During my undergraduate studies, I have had to constantly ask myself how to design and give meaningful and effective classes. Teaching a foreign language is not an easy task and, in my own experience as a learner and as an English major, I have noticed how difficult it is for some students to get across their ideas due to the limitations of their vocabulary. Based on my own observations, this problem could stem from classes and material that might not be necessarily adapted to the students’ immediate environment, which could potentially make the learning of new concepts much more trying and stressful. Moreover, I have experienced first-hand how being able to describe and compare one’s culture to target cultures has helped my own learning process which is why I also think it is important to have a guide that helps us to better understand and transmit that knowledge. In order to overcome these difficulties and to make a contribution that will enhance the communication of one’s ideas, I believe that a glossary could be a creative way to begin to understand the environment that surrounds us. Furthermore, living and growing up in a cosmopolitan environment, I quickly learned that people’s culinary experience is not the same, but it was still surprising to realize that there were people who were not very familiarized with the local produce even though they had lived in the area for many years. This is why, among the multiple aspects of culture, I believe that food is one of the most relevant characteristics. Sibal (2018) talks about this relationship between food and culture by saying that “beyond merely nourishing the body, what we eat and with whom we eat can inspire and strengthen the bonds between individuals, communities and countries”.