Monash College magazine - Edition 1 Edition 1 | Page 22

M C Aussie words and customs What surprised you most about the use of English in Australia? CRIKEY Andres Felipe Betancur, Colombia “Crikey. I still don’t understand what crikey is!” 20 When deciding to study in Australia, the first thing many students think is: ‘Will my English be good enough?’ Learning to speak, write and think in another language can be challenging. We have a range of English language courses, taught by patient and experienced teachers who are here to help you. Even with good English skills there are always things that surprise you about countries you visit. We asked our students from Monash English and the Shanghai Ocean University study tour group what surprised them the most about Australia… mate! Reem Alyousif, Saudi Arabia “I didn’t understand the word ‘mate’. I thought they said ‘Mike’. I was like, I am not Mike?” ...zy Can (Vicky) Wei, China “Australians use many ‘zy’ at the end of their words, like mozzy instead of mosquitos.” M C What surprised you about life in Australia? KEEP LEFT Idrees Alsolbi, Saudi Arabia “They drive on the different side of the road, so I was very confused by the ‘keep left’ and ‘keep right’ signs.” Eriko Matsunaga, Japan “Australians like to have their meals outdoors. For me, I think it is too cold to have meals outdoors in Melbourne. In Japan we eat indoors.” Anoos Sadayo, Saudi Arabia “Cultural events are celebrated well here in Australia, which I think is very good. You see celebrations all the time at Federation Square.” 21 arvo? Janice Fu, Shanghai Ocean Uni, China “What surprised me the most is Australian English. It’s quite unique both in speaking and writing. Like ‘Maccas’ is McDonald’s and ‘arvo’ is afternoon.” Kanye Xue, Shanghai Ocean Uni, China “Most people here have really short working hours, which surprised me most.” Ahmed Aldhuwaghi, Saudi Arabia “I find the Australian footy very special. It’s like American football, but Aussies play it on an oval.” Yuyan (Luna) Song, China “Melbourne is bigger than I thought, but transport is good. I can get free trams in the city.” zeed au vs. us Hui (Kevin) Zhu, China “I was really surprised at the pronunciation of ‘z’. It is zed not zee.” Tuan Hong (Henry) Vu, Vietnam “Australian English spelling is different. In Vietnam we use American spelling like mom vs mum.” Guochen (Ben) Li, China “There is a big Chinese community in Australia. You can get all types of goods and food here.” Beta Leong, Shanghai Ocean Uni, China “The frequency of drinking coffee!” Suphachok, Thailand “The chillies are not hot enough!”