On Friday, a group of students went on the XXXX Brewery Tour in Milton.
Not only did they get a tour of the brewery but were also given a lot of information about Queensland as well. After the tour was finished, they all went to the XXXX Ale House and had Nachos, hot chips and complimentary beers.
We have a great online community for all students to enjoy.
Not only do we have a blog, we have Facebook, Orkut, Youtube, Twitter and Flickr accounts. There really is something for everyone. These are great to keep up-to-date with news and events, but also to show your family and friends, what you have been up to in Australia. Why not have a look, you may find some photos of yourself!
The annual Brisbane Welcomes International Students event is one of the big events that should not be missed!
The afternoon is packed with live bands and entertainment, animals and activities, plus a TONNE of prizes to be won. Have a look below for some more information about the day.
Prizes to be won
• Laptop, 2x day trips for 2 people, book vouchers and cap package from QUT
• Hotel room including return launch transfers, buffet breakfast daily, dolphin feeding experience, desert safari tour and quad bike tour from Tangalooma
• 10 double passes to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
• Bike and equipment package from UQ
• And more!
Activities:
• Full size cricket pitch with games and competitions running by QLD Cricket
• Handball target – Brisbane Lions
• Mascots from some of Brisbane’s favourite sporting teams
• Interactive art activity by Queensland Art Gallery
• Live animal displays from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Geckoes Wildlife
• Live music and entertainment all day by local Brisbane bands and artists
Information sessions about key issues and items of interest for students including:
• Staying safe in Brisbane – QLD Police Service
• Staying healthy in Brisbane – Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland
• Visa and immigration advice – Department of Immigration and Citizenship
• Beach Safety – Surf Life Saving QLD
• Money matters – Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Other highlights
• Official opening by Lord Mayor
• Michael Kasprowicz in attendance (former Australian test cricketer)
• Ben Southall (winner of the Best Job in the World
• Special student offers
When: Saturday 6 March, 2010 Time: 10am – 2pm Location: Reddacliff Place (top of Queen Street Mall) Cost: FREE
A group of 5 students from our recently departed Japanese study tour group, decided to continue with General English after their initial program.
We are very sad to see you leave this week but you improved so much during your time here, that we know you will do really well in your future studies. Congratulations to you all!
Before the holiday for Australia Day, we had our own celebrations here at GV Brisbane.
We started off with a fashion show with prizes for best dressed and best australian outfit. Well done to our winners Yann and Nina and a special mention to the FCE class for their Australian tattoos. Well done everyone!
Then we had the great Australian food tasting competition. Each group of 3 were blindfolded and then given different types of food to taste. The first person to say the correct name was given a prize. When a group of teachers joined in, everyone was a little too eager to give them a teaspoon full of Vegemite.
Thank you to all who joined in and congratulations to our winners! Also, a big thank you to Ryoko for organising everything! Well done!
Today’s activity was to learn how to cook Poffertjes from Holland.
On the first batch that we made they were a little… unusual. That was just practice for the next group though, and from then on they were outstanding! Thanks to everyone who attended and also to Ryoko for organising everything.
Last week, a group of students got the chance to see some of Australia’s wildlife up close at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
The kangaroos were very popular, as always, and everyone took the opportunity to take as many photos as they could. If you would like to visit Lone Pine, keep an eye on the activity calendars to see when the next trip will be.
On Tuesday the 26th of January, Australians unite to celebrate this wonderful country of ours!
The fireworks at Southbank are always a big hit!
Tuesday will be a public holiday which means the school will be shut for the day. So, on Monday, we will be holding some activities in the afternoon to celebrate.
First we will be having an Australian food tasting competition which will be followed by a fashion parade! There will be plenty of prizes for the winners and the categories for the fashion parade are: Best Dressed and Best Australian Outfit. So put on your best Australian clothes and join in the fun on Monday afternoon from 2:00pm!
There are plenty of other events happening around the city on Australia Day so why not click here to find out more about what is happening in your area?
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)
It is time for us to say goodbye to the 29 AIIU & SEA students who have been studying at GV Brisbane for the last 4 weeks.
The AII & SEA students with their teachers, Sean and Mark
We are all very sad to see you go but we are sure you will have a great time at the different high schools that you will each be attending over the next 11 months. Congratulations for all your hard work on your English studies! Good luck!
The GV Work Shop is a series of sessions aimed at providing all the information that you need to find work in Brisbane.
GV Work Shop teacher, Matt, working through some points with the class
Today’s session will provide you with the necessary skills and techniques on how to respond to an advertisement. Don’t miss out on this valuable information!
Mount Cootha is Brisbane’s highest mountain and boasts some of the best views of the city. Yesterday, a group of students made the bus trip up the mountain to take in some fantastic views.
As the New Year begins we dropped in on Daniela’s new CAE class to ask the students about their first impressions of Global Village, of Brisbane and of Australia.
(Left to right): Ted (Korea), Fernando (Brazil), Greg (Switzerland), Daniela (GV Brisbane), Clara & Diego (Colombia), Jonathan (Venezuela), Mike (Korea) & Nina (Switzerland).
Here are some of the comments the students made about their first few days on the CAE course:
“I’m in Brisbane to improve my English and pass the CAE exam. I chose Australia because I wanted to have a new experience and a new adventure” – Greg, Switzerland.
“I feel at home in Brisbane. The weather is perfect and the people are really welcoming” – Fernando, Brazil.
“I can meet a lot of freinds from various countries at GV and it’s very calm and peaceful in Australia and I love the surroundings” – Mike, Korea.
“I am really impressed with the beautiful atmosphere in Brisbane and at school. I think that is what helps you to improve your English the most” – Clara, Colombia.
“I think it is good that our class is so small so that everyone can ask questions at any time” – Nina, Switzerland.
Great to have you all on the CAE course, everyone, best of luck with your studies!
Yesterday, Chloe’s option class decided to sing some karaoke in the kitchen. At 2:00pm there was a break while everyone enjoyed making pancakes, but soon enough the songs were back on again!
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!
On Friday, we had the student Christmas party at Southbank Parklands.
At 1o:30, classes finished and the entire student body walked to Southbank. With the temperature at around 30 degrees, the shady areas quickly filled with students trying to cool down. Soon enough everyone was out playing tug-o-war and various other games, including a hilarious game involving water balloons! Of course the soccer ball also came out at various stages of the day, as well.
Thank you to all the students and staff that helped on the day! Another big thank you to Robyn and Ryoko for all their time and effort into making the day such a great success. Well done everyone!
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.
(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!
Santa (Peter), Mrs Clause (Robyn) and an elf (Yoon Mi) visited all GV Brisbane classes today to give some information on the upcoming student Christmas party this Friday.
For any of you who missed the details, here they are again.
All students must be in class at 9:00am on Friday morning. A teacher will come to the classes and give each student an arm band. This arm band will allow you to access the food and drinks while at Southbank. At 10:30, each class will travel to Southbank to begin the fun and games. There will be having plenty of games, a barbecue, drinks and presents from Santa!
If you do not have an wrist band, you CANNOT have any food or drinks, so please make sure you arrive on time so that you don’t miss out.
If you have any questions or need any further information, please see Robyn.
Sit back, relax and enjoy a trip through the City’s most spectacular lit suburbs this Christmas season by taking a Brisbane City Council bus tour of the “4KQ Christmas Lights”.
The bus tours leave from Indooroopilly, Chermside, Garden City, Carindale and Ann Street in the city.
Date: Thursday 17th of December 2009 – Tuesday 22 December 2009
Time: 6:45pm
Where: Anzac Square, Ann Street, Brisbane CBD
Also departs from Indooroopilly, Chermside, Garden City and Carindale.
Look! Two of Santa’s Elves have come to GV Brisbane to help put up the Christmas decorations around the school!
Today was the day to decorate your classrooms and the rest of the campus for Christmas. With the help of two of Santa’s elves (Robyn and Yoon Mi), everything looks great! Well done everyone!
Looking for a share room? This one might be the one for you.
Details below:
Roma Parklands, 10 minutes walk to GV
Share master bedroom with en-suite bathroom $125 per week
Bond is four weeks rent – refundable upon departure Available 15th December – See Robyn for more details
Wednesday’s activity was going to be Touch Rugby but we changed it to soccer instead. Even though it was nice and hot, there was still a great turnout.
Around 25 students walked to the Botanical Gardens yesterday to join in on the fun. The group was split into 4 teams and had 10-minute long games. Thanks to all who attended!
The most recent Out & About class was one of the most successful so far. The students had many different tasks to complete but they all seemed to have a great time, which you can see by the video below.
The Out & About class on their way to the Botanical Gardens
One of their tasks was to discover the spirit of Brisbane. Here is what some of the students decided.
Romero
The spirit of Brisbane is its multiculturalism. The picture shows us a little Korean boy in a school choir where almost all of the students are Australians.
And the little boy shows how we can mix cultures in peace and harmony to make the world a better place to live.
Diego
In my opinion the people who live here are the spirit of Brisbane. White, black, yellow, Africans, Americans, Asians, Australians, they are all part of a huge crowd that keeps this city moving every day. It’s always good to see a lot of different cultures living together and in peace.
Murilo
I think the spirit of Brisbane is sport. A lot of people go to work by bike and the offices have showers, so those people can take a shower before they start work. For me it’s amazing because in Brazil, people don’t think about this. Why not have a shower in the offices?
This photo also represents my life in Brisbane. I ride 20km every day to come to school and to go back. Besides that, I work for a bike taxi every weekend. So cycling is half of my life here.
Bruno
For me, Adelaide Street represents Brisbane because I use it every day. Whenever I have a commitment in the CBD, at some point I pass by this street. Sometimes I take this street to carry my clients on my taxi bike when I’m working. For these reasons I’ll never forget this street.
Morgane
For me, the Brisbane River represents all of Brisbane because it goes through the city and it’s like a highway on water in the city. The city has been developed around this river and we can visit all of the city by CityCat, public transport on the water. We can join all the important places in Brisbane by the river and beautiful roads and pedestrians bridges have been built to across it, like the Victoria Bridge, the Story Bridge and recently the Kurilpa Bridge.
Ye Jin
I think that Queen Street Mall represents Brisbane because the Queen Street Mall is very famous and many people come and go here. Around the Queen Street Mall, we can see different people. People singing, talking to each other etc. Also the Queen Street Mall is located in the middle of city. So I think that Queen Street Mall represents Brisbane.
If you missed the slideshow of the Out & About class on Friday, you can see it below:
Thank you to everyone in Out & About for all your hard work!
