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Heywire: This isn't English, it's Australian English!

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Heywire: This isn't English, it's Australian English!

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  9–10


Mara Zeissig had a hard time understanding what was going on when she first went to school in Australia after moving from Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In her Heywire audio story, explore the importance of language in our social interactions.

Could you write or record a similar story about yourself and/or your community?

The ABC's Heywire competition calls for stories from 16-22 year olds in regional Australia. Enter to get your story featured on the ABC and score an all-expenses-paid trip to the Heywire Regional Youth Summit in Canberra. More: https://www.abc.net.au/heywire/


Things to think about

  1. 1.Imagine that you have moved (perhaps once again) to a foreign country where you know only a little of the language. What sort of problems might you encounter? Write an email to your friends back home, describing how a typical day might turn out.
  2. 2.What sort of community was Mara used to living in before migrating to Australia? What differences in culture did Mara experience upon moving to Mt Gambier? Why did she feel 'lost and alone' even though there were people around? Why were Mara's English skills insufficient for her interactions with Australians? What made school a nightmare, despite everyone's friendliness?
  3. 3.What does Mara's story reveal about why a shared language is crucial in developing relationships? What does Mara imply when she says, 'This wasn't English, this was Australian English'? Can you identify other 'Australianisms' that might be bewildering for new migrants?
  4. 4.One of Mara's problems in adapting to life in Mt Gambier was that she didn't understand Australianisms such as 'fair dinkum'. There are several ABC Splash items that explore Australian English. Watch and listen to some of these to develop your understanding of its uniqueness. Useful search terms include 'English language', 'Australian English' and 'Australian identity'.



Date of broadcast: 31 May 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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