Newsagencies = little paper shops…it’s very British over here…you can get magazines and agendas and white-out here–all your teacher needs!

Bottle shops = the LCBO basically, the place where you can buy booze. It’s a bit like the U.S. here you can get booze in grocery stores too (some).

Milk bar = a convenience store. Eg. “Ce Mart” – do you think you are supposed to pronounce the E in that? Or is it an acronym spelt phonetically? I have one by my house and I always wonder…

Chemist = like Shoppers! It’s a pharmacy, but usually much more sparse than Shoppers…

Big W = the lesser version of Walmart. But kind of the only version in Australia…other than Target..which is Target, not Walmart at all really.

Coles, Safeway, IGA = supermarkets…you could’ve probably worked that out on your own.

I’ll stop now. But if I think anymore (or you do) post away.

The post Slang to Help You Get Around in Melbourne appeared first on Leading Out.

Here is an example of an Australian report card:

“In English, Sarah is having a rip snorter. Sure, she had a barry crocker on her recent exam, but if she doesn’t drop her bundle, she’ll be apples.”

Aussie Slang Translation:

rip snorter = doing great!

barry crocker = shocker! (not doing well)

doesn’t drop her bundle = manages to stay on task

she’ll be apples = it will all be okay.

Just kidding. This was written by a colleague (and friend) in an ongoing effort to teach me ‘Strine.

BUT, if you really want to know about the real genre of Aussie report card writing, let me know and I’ll post something on it that is true!

The post How to Write an Australian Report Card appeared first on Leading Out.

1. fairdinkum. I’m not kidding, this is a word. It means ‘authentic’. For example, “was $3.49 really the price of that mango?” “Fairdinkum!”
2. far out. This is not only said by surfers but middle-aged people, too. (Actually those two categories are not mutually exclusive, but you get the point.) This phrase has nothing to do with swimming or life-saving, as in, “did you get to that surfer before the shark?” “no, he was too far out” = incorrect. “Far Out” is said when you really can’t believe something.
3. shocking. This is not usually a good thing. It is something that disgusts you.
4. shits me to tears.  *Slightly* on the vulgar side, this is a literal term which you can probably work out for yourself…but maybe only use it amongst friends.
5. cracker. This is not a racial slur on white people in Australia as it is elsewhere. ‘Down under’ this refers to a good joke that made you ‘crack up’.
6. nice as. I once tried to reprimand a student for saying this as I thought he was swearing, but no…this is a phrase that probably comes form “good as gold”, except it’s been short-formed like most Australian terms! Now you can say “good as” “nice as” “fair as” “true as”…go ahead, try it!
7. came good. This means something went well, and yes, it is ungrammatical but don’t be a snob.
8. how’r’ya’going. This is not an inquiry as to your method of travel. It is synonymous with North American “how are you doin’”.
9. fine. Rarely used for anything other than a ‘description’ (!) of the weather, this vague term is widely accepted and means that it is not going to rain, and hence the weather will be fine. Slightly comforting, don’t get your knickers in twist, mate.
10. how are you travelling. Also not necessarily used for transportation purposes.
11. mateship. Has nothing to do with sailboats or yacht crews. It is the Australian term for ‘friendship’ (a word they almost never use).
12. tosser. Actually this is a bit of a tricky one. Don’t use it around children. IT really does refer to the sexual habit of masturbation (*sigh) but it is usually used to describe yuppies…*ouch.
13. wagging. Has nothing to do with tails or dogs in fact. It means to ‘skip class’ or ‘play hooky’. If you use any other term you will be stared at with cross eyes.
14. pigeon hole. This is a teacher’s mailbox in a staff room. If you use anything other than ‘pigeon hole’ you will be stared at and ignored, or told off.
15.  bin. Avoid the use of the word garbage at all costs especially if you are trying to get children to throw something out, as you are giving them good reason to ignore you. You throw ‘rubbish’ out in the ‘bin’ in Australia.
16. rubber. Much *safer* (tee-hee) than its usual school yard definition in Canada, this refers to an eraser
17. textas. Technically this should be spelt ‘texters’ but hey, you’ll never hear an ‘r’ pronounced in Australia so what’s the point. These are ‘markers’.
18. satday. Correct the children when they say this. They mean the same day as the one that comes after Friday, they are just forgetting the middle syllable.
19. nought. ‘zero’, I’m not a ‘maths’ teacher (they will correct you if you say ‘math’ but apparently ‘zero’ is not in fashion or correct.
20. ‘tea’. This is the equivalent of dinner in Canada. It is a full meal usually of ‘meat and three veg’, but more informal…you invite your friends around to ‘tea’ (it’s kind of like ‘country talk’) but you invite your guests to dinner.
21. ‘supper’ will leave you hungry. It is not a full meal, usually just wine and stand-around snacks (the kind of thing you have after you have had a quick dinner earlier in the night somewhere else).
22. ‘plate’. Hoo-hoo…tricky, very tricky. Ok, if someone invites you around and tells you to ‘bring a plate’, much the chagrin of many a Canuck this does not mean show up with a piece of china. It means bring a dish full of food as the nightly meal is going to be a potluck affair.
23. ‘mate.’ I put this in here because ‘yes, you’ve heard it’, but you really must understand how much to use it and how to use it. This is not as easy as it looks. Canadians usually come over tacking it on to “G’day” and they think they are ‘in the know’ but they look like ‘tossers’ (see #12). This is a term very close to Australians’ hearts. It means “friend”, “man” and “best buddy” all at once. So maybe just hold off until you ‘cotton on’ (a.k.a. ‘catch on’) to that one.
24. ‘footy’. If you are in Melbourne, this means AFL (Australian Football League–a.k.a. “Aussie Rules” to those who do not watch it…so watch your use of this because not watching footy is something you do not want to admit in a Victorian’s company. If you are in NSW, this could refer to rugby. And if you are elsewhere it could even refer to ‘football’ or ‘soccer’. It’s very contentious, but just go with ‘footy’ if you are talking about AFL and ‘soccer’ if you are talking about ‘football’ and if anyone tries to ‘hang shit’ on you (i.e. ‘make fun’ of you) tell them you are for Melbourne, ‘barrack’ for The Saints and they can ‘get stuffed’.
25. ‘Take the piss out of…’. To make fun of something.
 
PS. Do NOT use the word “root” or wear any “Roots” clothing. It is slang for having casual sex. That is, you do not “root” for a football club, or you are sleeping with all of their players. You ‘barrack’ for a football club. I’d avoid “cheer”, too, because you sound like a ‘wanker’ (another term to avoid around kids—see #12). (It’s insane but just see how much you use ‘root’ when you are having your first football conversation and trying to be polite (=opposite effect!)!

PPS. The most effective ‘maths’ teachers in Melbourne will ‘do sums’ revolving around footy scores with their students on Monday morning—because all of the kids will have spent the weekend watching the games!

PPPS. Get a scarf, get a football club and move to Melbourne!

The post Australian Slang: 25 Essential Words and Phrases appeared first on Leading Out.

Although there is plenty to visit every holiday within Australia, I have been “keen” (Aussie, for ‘excited’) to see Asia since so many of my ESL students are from this continent.

I currently don’t teach any Vietnamese students, but in our language class, we are always sharing the words we know in other languages, so I’m excited to return and show the kids my ability to count to 10 and to ask for the bill!

Learning a new language is a big “plus” on my list when you travel.

The Vietnamese that I have met so far are great language teachers, and everytime I try out a few words from my Lonely Planet Vietnamese phrase book (an awesome purchase!) I get huge smiles. Of course, I learned yesterday that it’s probably because everytime I try to say “hello” (“sin jao”) we are saying “rice wine”–sort of an odd greeting…!

I’m stll working on the whole “6 tones thing”, but I love the way my phrase book sorts out the pronunciation…I just get a bit confused because of how Aussies would say some vowel combinations vs. my inner Canadian self.

Of course, my phrasebook fits in my pocket, so I can keep checking where the tone marker is meant to happen. I was first sold on the phrasebook when we travelled around Italy for 5 weeks. We met a girl who kept it on her constantly, and by the end of her trip, her Italian had become so good, we didn’t know how we would survive without her language ability (in the south).

Like Italian, Vietnamese “makes sense” as a language. Once you work out a few rules, you can have great success. And as I’ve already said, the locals are realy appreciative and patient so you can get plenty of practice speaking.

The other reason I really wanted to see Vietnam, was the photos my sister-in-law showed after her trip. The colours on the streets, let along the ocean are way better than even the National Geographic cliche will hold.

We’ve just come back from the Mekong River. Tonight we head to Mui Ne for some ocean resort love.

Better run to catch my bus! I love being a teacher today!!!

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