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Rachel Hunt

BUT DON'T THEY SPEAK ENGLISH IN AUSTRALIA? - by Rachel Hunt. Rachel is an English woman who has been living and teaching in Australia since 1999.
When I announced in 1999 that I was going to emigrate to Australia to work as an ESL teacher, this was the most common response I got. And yes, they do speak English in Australia, so who are my students?
ESL students in Australia can be divided into two broad categories – those who plan to return home, and those who plan to stay. Students in the first group often enroll in a private language school for a period of anything up to about 6 months, then either head home or travel around before leaving. Many of these students are taking a break before or after going to university, or are between jobs. The majority of these students are from Japan, Korea and Europe, with a few South Americans and South East Asians as well.
The students who are planning to stay are often enrolled on English courses at universities or vocational colleges, or are sponsored by family or business. Many of these students are required to achieve a particular band score in IELTS for their place at university or their application for residency, which is why there is such a great demand for this in Australia. Students in this group tend to be mainly from China, India and Bangladesh.
And just to complete the picture, here’s some information from the 2006 Australian census (New South Wales). In the 2006 Census, English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 74.0% of persons usually resident in New South Wales. The most common languages other than English spoken at home were: Arabic 2.5%, Cantonese 2.0%, Mandarin 1.5%, Italian 1.3% and Greek 1.3%. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au ________________________________________

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