English Courses - Schools in Australia: Learn English Australia
Attend on of our English courses at our English schools in Australia and you will experience a country of great energy, a country of vast size, holding amazing natural wealth, breath-taking scenery and exotic plant and animal life. Endless miles of unspoilt beaches, tropical rainforest, mountain ranges, vast tracts of desert, and cosmopolitan cities all combine to make Australia a country of contrast. Learn English in Australia and you will not only greatly improve your English language skills; you will experience a young culture full of Australian vitality and energy.
Australia's biggest attractions are its natural beauty, its beaches, food, people and cosmopolitan cities. Join our English Courses in Australia and blend a European enthusiasm for art and food with a laid-back love of sport and the outdoors.
Have a taste of ancient culture and view the enormous variety of Aboriginal art. From jewellery and carvings, traditional paintings, and modern screen prints, to boomerangs, didgeridoos, weapons, ceramics, and recordings of traditional music. In whatever form it takes, the art of this amazing civilisation should not be missed.
In addition, don't miss Australia's coastline where the glistening waters invite you to swim or surf and the irresistible barrier reef demands to be explored.
English Schools Australia - History
Aboriginal settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James Cook took possession in the name of Great Britain. Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 with Queen Victoria as the head of state. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the British effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has transformed itself into an internationally competitive, advanced market economy. Long-term concerns include global pollution, particularly depletion of the ozone layer, and management and conservation of coastal areas, especially the Great Barrier Reef
English Courses Australia - Geography
 The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world's smallest continent but the sixth-largest country in the world. The population of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. The geography Australia is quite varied, It includes snow capped mountains, large deserts, and tropical, temperate forests.
Neighbouring countries include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the northeast, and New Zealand to the southeast.
English Schools Australia - Economy
Australia has an enviable Western-style capitalist economy with a per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies. Rising output in the domestic economy, robust business and consumer confidence, and rising exports of raw materials and agricultural products are fueling the economy. Some of the main reasons for Australia's economic strength are the emphasis on reforms, low inflation, and growing ties with China. The impact of drought, weak foreign demand, and strong import demand pushed the trade deficit up from $8 billion in 2002, to $18 billion in 2003, $13 billion in 2004, and nearly $17 billion in 2005. Housing prices probably peaked in 2005, diminishing the prospect that interest rates would be raised to prevent a speculative bubble.
English Courses Australia - Climate
The climate of Australia varies widely, but by far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid - 40% of the landmass is covered by sand dunes. Only the southeast and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate: part is tropical rainforests, part grasslands, and part desert.
Rainfall is highly variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Occasionally a dust storm will blanket a region or even several states and there are reports of the occasional large tornado. Rising levels of salinity and desertification in some areas is ravaging the landscape.
Australia's tropical/subtropical location and cold waters off the western coast make most of Western Australia a hot desert with aridity, a marked feature of greater part of the continent. These cold waters produce precious little moisture needed on the mainland. A 2005 study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented monsoons from reaching interior Australia.
English Schools Australia - Food
 Australia's first settlers brought with them the tastes of 18th century Great Britain. Their familiar dishes such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, Irish stew and steamed pudding were, for most of the year, very unsuitable for the harsh climate and conditions.
Over time, these eating habits have continually changed. During the Gold Rush of 1851, travellers and speculators came from all over the world. Among them thousands of Chinese began successful market gardens, greengrocer's shops and restaurants.
Today, influenced by the large number of immigrants from Mediterranean, Asian and other countries, the menus now reflect Australia's multicultural society. Still, when it comes to fair dinkum Aussie tucker, there are a few classic dishes that have stood the test of time and cannot be improved.
anzac biscuits - traditional biscuit/cookie dating back to World War I
bangers - sausages
bangers and mash - sausages and mashed potato
billy tea - bush tea boiled in a tin container
biscuits - cookies
booze - alcohol
bundy - Bundaberg rum, e.g. 'bundy and coke'
champers - champagne
chips - French fries
chook - chicken
cuppa - cup of tea or coffee
damper - bush bread
grog - alcohol
lamington - traditional small sponge cake squares covered in chocolate
icing and sprinkled with coconut
lollies - candy
middy - medium sized glass of beer
pavlova - traditional meringue dessert
sanga - sandwich
schooner - large glass of beer
snag - sausage
stubby - small bottle of beer
tinny - can of beer
tomato sauce - ketchup
tucker - food
VB - Victoria Bitter, brand of beer
Vegemite - spread for toast or sandwiches, made from yeast extract
XXXX - 'four ex', Queensland brand of beer
Australia - Interesting facts
Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. It's about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometre.
 Australia boasts over 10,000 beaches - more than any other nation.
Coober Pedy in South Australia is known as the opal capital of the world. Its population is made up of more than 40 nationalities and, with year-round extremes in temperature, more than 50 per cent of the population live in belowground 'dugouts'.
Kalgoorlie in Western Australia is not only Australia's largest producer of gold, but has the world's largest political electorate - covering a mammoth 2.2 million square kilometres.
The kangaroo is unique to Australia and one of the most easily recognised mammals. There are more kangaroos in Australia now than when Australia was first settled. Estimates suggest around 40 million.
Australia's 101 million sheep (mostly merinos), found on around 53,000 properties, produce more than 70 per cent of the world's wool.
With 27 million head of cattle, Australia is the world's largest exporter of beef.
Australia supports at least 25,000 species of plants, while Europe only supports 17,500.
The longest stretch of straight railway track in the world crosses the Nullarbor Plain. From Nurina in Western Australia to near Watson in South Australia, the track is dead straight for 478 kilometres.
The world's longest continuous fence known as the 'dingo fence' runs through central Queensland for 5,531 kilometres. It is 1.8 metres high and is designed to keep sheep safe from Australia's native dog.
Over one hundred million years ago, Australia was part of the giant continent Gondwana.
The Wet Tropics of Queensland contain thirteen different species of ancient flowering plants which have survived from the time when Australia was part of Gondwana.
Then name ' Australia ' comes from 'Terra Australis', which means the Southern Land.
Indigenous Australians believe that the creation took place in what they call "Dreamtime". Stories were passed orally down through the generations.
Although hunters have used throwing sticks in many parts of the world, the most famous of all such weapons is the boomerang, which may be the worlds' only returning throwing stick.
South of the Great Barrier Reef is Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.
The Tasmanian Wilderness, a World Heritage Area, is home to some of the world's oldest trees - some are up to two thousand years old. The Wilderness has one of the best preserved collections of Ice Age rock paintings.
The Federal Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901, with the British Monarch as the Head of State. ( Australia is a member of the Commonwealth).
Australia holds three island territories in the Pacific: Norfolk Island, Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands. Many of Norfolk Island's people are descended from the mutineers of the Bounty.
The national anthem of Australia is "Advance Australia Fair" was composed by a Scot. "Australians all let us rejoice. For we are young and free: We've golden soil and wealth for toil: Our home is girt by sea: Our lands abound in nature's gifts of beauty rich and rare: In history's page, let every stage Advance Australia Fair".
Place names in many areas of Australia remind us of places in England : Hackney, Kensington, Mortlake, Putney, Regent's Park, Bexley, Cheltenham, Epping, Guildford, Kent Town, Halifax, Liverpool, Newcastle Street, Ryde and Warwick.
The Woomera is a spear throwing holder that acts as an extension of the arm thus allowing greater power and range for the spear.
The Didgeridoo is a musical instrument whose sound is immediately recognisable. It first appeared 2,000 or more years ago and at the time of European arrival was used in the north western corner of Australia
The Combine Harvester (later called the'sunshine Harvester') - which both stripped and collected the grain was developed by Hugh Victor McKay of Drummartin, Victoria in 1882.
The 'Ute' - A vehicle with the cabin of a car and the rear of a small truck was designed by Lewis Brandt at the Ford Motor Company in Geelong, Victoria in1934.
The Electric Drill - was patented by Melbourne inventor Arthur James in 1889.
 The 'Australian Crawl' - the style of 'over arm' or 'freestyle' swimming stroke now familiar in competition swimming. It evolved from the 'trudgen' stroke used by some swimmers in Sydney in the early 1900s. The new stroke was soon referred to worldwide as 'the Australian Crawl' and its most famous exponent (and quite possibly the inventor of its characteristic version) was Fanny Durack. In 1912, one of the greatest ever sporting achievements by an Australian occurred. Fanny, using an Australian crawl, was not only the first woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, in the process she cut four seconds of the men's world record.
Learn English Australia - Advice
At our English schools and courses in Australia our advice can really be summed up with one simple word - practice! What kind of study materials you use is not quite as important as how or how often you use them. Your hard work and determination will be one of the biggest factors in successful language learning.
The English school and course you choose in Australia is going to be the core of your English study, so make sure you choose a English language course that gives you structured lessons and lots of opportunity to practice your new language skills. Our English courses at our English schools in Australia, will give you the perfect opportunity to study, learn, and practice English in a supportive, well planned and friendly environments.
You must work at your new English language skills every day. Ideally, you should study English an extra hour or more every day. If you can get at least an extra half-hour of study time, that's pretty good too. Try to at least get a little review and study, learn and practice English every single day.
If you attend one of our English courses in Australia and you learn English everyday, you will have a good basic knowledge of the English language in a reasonable amount of time. Your knowledge and ability will increase and improve depending upon what other tools you use and what kind of experiences you have using the English language.
Grammar book. A good old-fashioned grammar book may be boring but they are a great way to really get to grips with the details of the language.
Phrase Book
These are extremely helpful books that you can carry with you. They can be useful for practicing pronunciation, or for quickly finding a lot of more commonly used phrases, words and idioms. Phrase books are always a nice supplement to learn English and they are convenient and cheap.
Dictionary. Absolutely necessary in the long run. You must have a dictionary if you wish to expand your vocabulary, and you will need one in order to take full advantage of many of the English language learning tips set out here. Make sure you get one that translates both ways e.g. Spanish to English AND English to Spanish. It is also helpful to find a dictionary that contains idioms - the phrases particular to the language which you are studying - as well as phrases that are commonly used in the English language, but may be difficult to translate.
Flashcards
A simple English language learning tip, but a very effective way to review, refresh your memory and expand your vocabulary. There are pre-made flashcards that can be purchased, or for extra help, you can create your own. Keep them with you at all times, in your pocket or in your car, and look at them for a quick review or language lesson at every opportunity. They are very convenient.
Talk to yourself
 It may be obvious, but the best way to learn English in Australia is to speak English in Australia! This convenient method can be use at all times, as you can even talk to yourself. Even if you are in public and don't feel comfortable talking to yourself out loud, you can make it your habit to practice English by thinking English. Throughout the day, think of the English words for everything you pass - objects in your house, things you pass when you are traveling, things you use at work or school, etc. Learn basic English phrases like - 'it is cold today' or 'it is sunny today' and use whichever is appropriate when you first look out the window. By putting this tip into use on a regular basis, the vocabulary and phrases will become more routine and automatic.
Practice with friends
Taking it even further than talking to yourself, you can practice with your friends. Even if they don't speak English, talk to the people you know by using your new language. Warn them in advance that you are practicing your new knowledge and they'll know what's coming. Even a simple 'good morning' or'see you later' in English will make those phrases more natural to you. Your friends may even begin to learn a few words and join in the fun too!
Listen to music
Listen to English music. You'll hear the English language used in a real context and this will help you pick out the rhythm and pronunciation even better. This method will also give you a further understanding of, and appreciation for, the culture and customs of the people. Music in English might be easier to find than others, but Amazon or eBay and many other global websites will enable you to find music in English and many different languages.
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