Global Village Sunshine Coast

It’s so nice to see students still studying after classes have finished for the day.

The first two photos were taken on Level 2 in the self – study area.

The next three photos were taken in the computer room on level 3.

Before the upcoming IELTS Course start date on the 22nd of March, GV Byron Bay’s Director of Studies, Justin, has given us some helpful tips on the Listening component of the exam.

GV Byron Bay's Director of Studies, Justin

The IELTS Listening Test:

Key facts:

-          30 minutes to listen plus 10 minutes to transfer your answers onto the answer sheet.

-          Four sections

-          40 questions in total.

How to PREPARE for the test:

In the test you have to listen to a wide range of accents: Australian, New Zealand, British, American, Canadian etc. The best way to practise this is to listen to as many different sources of spoken English as you can. Easy ways to access a wider variety of accents is through watching things like the Australian Network, the BBC, CNN etc. Within the test, there will also be a variety of different situations in which people are speaking. For example, you might hear examples of radio shows, friends hanging out, lectures at University etc. A good way to prepare for this is to practise listening to different situations such as TV soap operas, lifestyle shows, radio shows, and other media which have less formal spoken English, as well as things like documentaries or the Discovery channel, which are usually more formal in their spoken form.

TOP TIPS TO FOLLOW DURING THE EXAM:

You have time to look through the questions at the very start of the exam. Make sure you get used to using your time in the most efficient way possible. PREDICT what kind of information you think you will hear, and also try and predict what kind of word or words you will need to use to answer the question.

Think about the form of the words, are they looking for adjectives, nouns, adverbs etc? Try and guess as much as possible BEFORE the listening starts.

Listen REALLY carefully to the introduction of each question. This will give you useful clues about the situation and the topic you are about to listen to.

At the end of the listening test, CHECK YOUR WORK carefully. You have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet. Make sure that you use this time wisely. Have a look at your answers. Do they fit grammatically? Is your spelling correct? Remember, spelling is important in the IELTS exam.

Have a look at this Listening task type as a quick example:

Listening task one:  table completion

You have to complete the table with words from the recording. You should write no more than three words or a number in each space.

Study the table carefully before doing the listening.

Strategy: Try and predict any possible answers. This will help you when listening to the key words in the test. Also have a close look at the parts of the table that are complete. These will help you predict the type of answer that is needed.

HINT: Always check the numbering to see whether it goes across or down the table.

There are several different listening task types. If you are interested in learning more about the exam and our courses come and see the Director of Studies in the office any time.

***Click here for the answers***

Are you always curious about some of the slang that Australians use? The Director of Studies at GV Brisbane, Mariana, has provided some helpful information this week on Australian slang.

GV Brisbane's Director of Studies, Mariana, with Edson from Brazil

Australian English is an accent that is full of lively colourful phrases. Some of the words and expressions used are taken from British slang (very informal vocabulary items).

Some words have a completely different meaning in Australia than they do in other English-speaking countries. Other words are indigenous to Australia and derived from Aboriginal terms, such as ‘boomerang’ and ‘kangaroo’. But the most characteristic aspect of the Australian accent is that common words and expressions have been shortened considerably, turning three- or four-syllable words into two-syllable ones.

It is important to notice that Australian slang exists primarily because Australians take the English language as a game to play, and they love to have fun with words.

Here are some of those everyday words and their shortened Aussie versions for you to use to sound more Australian, but more importantly, to understand natives when you talk to them! Use them whenever you can, and enjoy the language!

• Breakfast – Brekkie

• Afternoon – Arvo

• Australian – Aussie (pronounced ‘Ozzie’)

• Australia – Oz, as in Oz-tralia.

• Barbecue (BBQ) – Barbie

• Bring Your Own (meat and drinks) – BYO

• Aggressive – Aggro

• Motorcyclists – Bikies

• Chicken – Chook

• Delicatessen – Deli

• Eskimo box – Esky (Large insulated box for keeping beer etc. cold)

• Garbage collector – Garbo

• Journalist – Journo

• Mosquitoes – Mozzies

• Poker machine – Pokies (Slot machine or fruit machine with playing card pips. Found in clubs or casinos)

• Postman – Postie

• Registration (car registration) – Rego

• Kangaroo – Roo

• Member of the Salvation Army – Salvo

• Day off work pretending to be sick - Sickie

• Coffee or cigarette break – Smoko

• Sausage – Snag

• The television – Telly

• Thing - Thingo

• Truck driver – Trucky

• University – Uni

• Utility truck or vehicle – Ute

• Cold beer – Coldie

• Petrol Station – Servo

• Present – Prezzy

Are looking for ways to improve your English over the holiday break? Becky, the Director of Studies at our Noosa campus, has passed on some ideas that will help.

GV Noosa's Director of Studies, Becky chatting to some students

Students always ask me how they can improve their English over the holiday break. Here are some ideas.

Read
• Christmas cards.
• Newspapers – local papers are delivered free to every house. keep a ‘new vocabulary’ log-write and down every new word you read
• Magazines and junk mail (also free)
• Borrow a book or two from our library or join the local library – it is free!
• Read the subtitles on your favourite movies

Write
• Keep a holiday diary
• Christmas cards and/or happy new year cards
• Write on your facebook in English and impress your friends

Listen
• Movies- always great new films out at Christmas time
• Carol concerts- check your free local paper
• Christmas CDs

Speak
• Australians love to chat – start up a conversation with the person next to you on the bus/beach/supermarket queue/bus stop
• Sing Christmas songs with your friends
• Go to a Karaoke Bar
• Check out Website: www.volqld.org.au and join a volunteer group

Lastly, don’t forget the great interactive CD Rom that comes with your student text book. Catch up on all those lessons you missed!

Have a great holiday break everyone and remember: Use it or lose it!

Patty, the Academic Director for GV Caloundra, has passed on some great study tips to help you get the most out of your time whilst at Global Village.

Patty, the Academic Director for GV Caloundra

Learning a second language can be fun and easy for some but difficult for others. For most of us it doesn’t happen over night and it takes lots of practice.

We all learn differently and have preferred ways of studying but one thing that would really help you improve your English is to keep a study journal. It’s an easy way to monitor your progress. It allows you to assess what works and doesn’t work for you and it makes you take responsibility for your learning.

I am sure you have your own ideas about how you like to study and the types of activities you enjoy doing and don’t enjoy doing.

It is important, however, to think about whether or not you have been successful doing these activities or if you should try something new, if you should use different strategies to help you reach your goal. If you are serious about trying to improve in a particular area you should set an achievable goal and then think about how you are going to do it.

If improving your listening is your goal then think about which area of ‘listening’ you are weakest in.  Do you need to improve; listening for specific information or general ideas? Once you have decided there are many different types of exercises you could do.

• A good website you can access is http://www.abc.net.au/news/btn/topics.html

(There are even lessons and questions provided if you are interested. This website would probably suit Pre-Intermediate to Intermediate students.)

• For something a little more challenging you can access the following website for IELTS – listening exercises http://www.ielts-exam.net

(This would be suitable for Intermediate to Advanced students.)

• Of course, there are fun ways to improve your listening like watching movies, DVDs, (but without subtitles because the purpose is to improve your listening not your reading) and downloading lyrics to popular songs and creating your own gap-fill exercises.

You can use the template below as a starting point. It can be as detailed as you choose it to be.

Remember we are here to help so ask your teacher for some advice!

Justin, the Director of Studies at GV Byron Bay, has passed on some tips to help when preparing for the IELTS exam. Here is some handy information about the speaking component of the exam.

Justin, GV Byron Bay's Director of Studies

IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is a globally recognised test of English communication. It can be used for University entry and emigration/ immigration around the English-speaking world and beyond. It measures your ability to communicate across the four language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking through authentic and challenging tasks. With over 700,000 people taking this test annually, it is one of the fastest growing English tests in the world, trusted and accepted by over 4,000 organisations and faculties worldwide.

How to Practice Phrasal verbs.

A phrasal verb is the combination of a basic verb and a preposition. When a basic verb and a preposition are put together and the meaning of the verb changes, we call that a phrasal verb.  To sound more natural and fluent when you speak English, it is a great idea to try to learn and use them.

Have a look at this example:

Pick = to choose

Up = the direction of moving vertical

Pick up = to get someone or something from a location

Notice how the meanings of “Pick” and “Up” are changed when they are put together.

How to practise for the Speaking test:

When you are studying a topic in English, try and learn all the phrasal verbs that go with it. We have lots of worksheets that we can give you in GIL, so please feel free to use them or ask your GIL teacher for some more.

A good way to study for the speaking test is to make a list of them. For example, if you are learning about crime, make a note of:

To beat someone up.

To get away with a crime

To make off with some cash

To break into a shop.

To get away with cheating

To hold up* a bank.

To tip off* the police.

Grammar point.

*These phrasal verbs can be separated. You can say:

He held up the bank.

He held the bank up.

He held it up.

But not: He held up it.

We hope this helps, and if you are interested in doing an IELTS course please come and speak to the Director of Studies at any time.

Mariana, the Director of Studies at GV Brisbane, has put together some valuable information to help students to understand Australians when they speak.

Mariana, GV Brisbane's Director of Studies

Tips to Understand Australians

We know that the Australian accent is slightly different from the one you are probably used to, either American or British English. As soon as non-English speakers arrive in Australia, they notice a difference in pronunciation, vocabulary that is used and expressions.

Here, at Global Village, we want you to feel comfortable with the Australian culture, lifestyle and traditions, so every week we’ll post some tips for you to improve your understanding of the Australian world. There will be notes on Aussie slang, expressions, pronunciation, and many more things!

Today, we’ll work on three sounds that are specific to the Aussie accent.

The first one is the diphthong (two vowel sounds) that you can find in the words mind, time, find, which is not /ai/, pronounced at the front of your mouth, but /ai/, pronounced at the back. Click below to hear the British pronunciation of mind, time and find:

Compare it to the Australian pronunciation of mind, time and find to notice the difference.

The other diphthong that changes significantly is the one you can find in words like mate, main, pay, make. Australians don’t pronounce /ei/ as British people do. Australians will say /ai/. So the traditional greeting in Australia “G’day mate!” will be pronounced /gdai mait/ and not /gdei meit/ as a British person would say.

Click below to hear the British pronunciation of the words mate, main, pay, and make:

and compare it to the Australian pronunciation of the words mate, main, pay, and make to notice the difference.

The last pronunciation tip for today is called “intrusive R”. Australians tend to link words with an inexistent R. This only happens if a word finishes in a vowel and the following word starts in a vowel also. For example, in the phrase

“Australia and New Zealand”,

vowel a followed by vowel a

Aussies would say “Australia_r_and New Zealand”. Click below to hear the Australian pronunciation of the “Australia and New Zealand”

The “r” that is added is very soft, and it means nothing at all. It’s just pronounced to link the words together.

We hope these tips will help you to sound Australian, and to understand Aussies better when you talk to them in the street!

Have a good day!

While the rest of us have been enjoying all the extra little activities the FCE students have been working hard trying to pass their exams.  So, I would like to say well done because I have seen their current test scores and they’re really good!

The FCE class is half way through it’s eight week course. At first, some of the students looked a little worried about  the process but now it’s nice to see their smiling faces and to hear them say, “It’s hard but it’s really good!”

Keep up the good work and I suppose it can’t be too bad if you can enjoy doing your practice tests outside.