A2 reading: Learning to cook at forty

Until last year, James couldn't cook at all. He is forty-one and lives alone. For dinner he usually ate pizza from the supermarket or ordered food on his phone. He knew that this wasn't healthy, and it was expensive too.

In January he saw an advert for a cooking class at a college near his home. The class was every Tuesday evening for ten weeks. "I was a bit worried," James says. "I thought everyone in the class was a good cook, and I didn't even know how to boil an egg."

But he was wrong. There were eight people in the class, and most of them were beginners like him. The teacher, Maria, was patient and funny. In the first lesson they learnt to cut vegetables safely and make a simple soup. In the next lessons they made pasta sauce, fish with rice, and a chicken curry.

At the end of every class, everyone ate together. James enjoyed this part the most. "We talked and laughed a lot," he says. "Two people from the class are now good friends of mine."

Now James cooks at home four or five times a week. He buys fresh vegetables at the market on Saturday, and on Sunday he makes food for the next few days and puts it in the fridge. He spends much less money than before, and he has lost six kilos.

His favourite dish is the curry. Last month he made it for his parents. "My mother couldn't believe it," he says. "She asked me, 'Did you really make this, or did you buy it?'"