Australia

Aboriginal Dreamtime

Dreamtime is the basis of Aboriginal religion and culture. It is around 65,000 years old. It is the story of how the universe came to life, how human beings were created and how their Creator wanted humans to live in the world. Aboriginals believe that the land and the people were created by the Spirits. They made the rivers, the land, the hills, rocks, plants and animals. They believe that the Spirits gave them their hunting tools and each tribe its land, their totems and their Dreaming. The most famous one-piece -rock in the world, Uluru or Ayers Rock is a sacred place to the Aboriginal people. Some parts may not be visited, filmed or photographed out of respect for their culture. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Some fun facts about Australia

1.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Australia has the world's largest cattle station (ranch). It is almost the same size as Belgium. 2.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Over 90% of Australia is dry, flat and arid. Almost three-quarters of the land cannot support agriculture in any form. 3.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tasmania has the cleanest air in the world. 4.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Great Barrier Reef is the largest organic construction on earth. 5.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Great Barrier Reef has a mailbox. You can go out there and send a postcard, stamped with the only Great Barrier Reef stamp. 6.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Australian Alps, or Snowy Mountains as they are also known, receive more snow than Switzerland. 7.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There are 1500 species of Australian spiders 8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, and only some 20 million people. 9.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Australia was the second country to give women the right to vote. 10. Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards. 11. Australia's first police force was made up of the most well-behaved convicts. 12. If you visited one new beach in Australia every day, it would take over 27 years to see them all. 13. A kangaroo is only one centimetre long when it is born. 14. Canberra became capital city in 1908 as a compromise when Sydney and Melbourne both wanted to be the capital city and quarreled over it.

New South Wales Victoria Queensland South Australia Western Australia Tasmania

the cross of St George with lion and stars&nbsp;

Hello Friend What? Oh my! No problem! Thank you! See you later! Australia

G'day Mate Ay? Blimey! No worries! Ta! Hooroo! Oz

Guh-day Mayt Eye Bly-mee No Wuh-reez Tah Hoo-roo Awz

The flag: a blue field with the Union Jack in the upper left and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star underneath it. The other stars are a representation of the Southern Cross constellation. The Union Jack represents loyalty and the connection to the British Empire.

The Coat of Arms is officially called The Commonwealth Coat of Arms. There is a shield showing the six states of Australia and it is held by the typical Australian animals, the kangaroo and the emu. The seven-pointed Commonwealth Star above the crest also represents the states and territories.

The Australian Aboriginal Flag represents Aboriginal Australians. It is one of the official flags of Australia, and has special legal and political status. It is often shown together with the national flag. The symbolic meaning of the flag colours: Black – the Aboriginal people of Australia Yellow circle – the Sun, the giver of life and protector Red – the red earth, the red ochre used in ceremonies and Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual relation to the land.

Aboriginal houses mostly consisted of simple shelters made from branches, then covered with leafy branches or bark. If there weren’t any trees around, then bushes and leafy branches were used. In wet and cold conditions, closed shelters were made, with sticks bent over and meeting in the centre. These were between one to two metres high and this framework was covered with available materials – sheets of bark when available. In the desert they used layers of grass, twigs and leaves. In many regions of Australia shallow caves served as natural shelters from the weather. A bed of paperbark or leaves was used and sometimes the walls were covered with paintings. The women were the main food gatherers searching for seeds, vegetables, fruit. They used digging sticks and carried the food in wooden bowls. Men hunted kangaroos, lizards, snakes and small birds with boomerangs, throwing sticks and spears. Women are also responsible for taking care of the young children. At around six years of age, the male children join the men to learn hunting while the young girls remain with the women to learn food gathering. All their knowledge collected for over forty thousand years regarding the location of food and water were saved in the Dreaming stories and is regularly used during ceremonies in stories, songs, dances and art. In this way it can be passed on to the next generation.

Steve Irwin - nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter" was an Australian zookeeper, conservationist and television personality

Rupert Murdoch - an Australian born American media mogul

Iggy Azalea - real name: Amethyst Amelia Kelly , an Australian rapper

The content of this digital booklet was created by my 7th grade students ( 7.A) in the school year of 2017 / 2018 as part of the Erasmus + project " Going the extra mile" in my primary school "Đuro Ester" in Koprivnica, Croatia. Andreja Kerovec Letica, English language teacher at Primary school "Đuro Ester" in Koprivnica, Croatia, July 2018

budgerigar ( budgie) or common parakeet

wallaby - NOT a kangaroo, it is much smaller

Education

In Australia there is preschool education ( kindergarten), primary education (primary schools), followed by secondary education (high schools), tertiary education (universities, colleges, and vocational training ). Education in Australia is compulsory between the ages of five or six and fifteen, sixteen or seventeen, depending on the State or territory and date of birth. About 60% of Australian students go to government schools in primary and secondary education, and around 40% go to private or independent schools. The majority of universities are public, but there are student fees so students enter a student loan programme ( meaning: it is not free and the money you get for your university education - you have to pay it back).&nbsp; In Melbourne the school year starts in February and finishes in December. After each term there is a one week holiday. Summer holidays are long and they last from the middle of December till February. Students wear uniforms so they don´t have to think about what they are going to wear in the morning. They have summer,winter and sports uniforms. They proudly wear “the colours of their school as well as the Coat of arms of their school”. Every year they get a new teacher, so they have to get used to different learning ways. At the same time, generations of children are mixed each year so they get new friends all the time. Elementary school lasts 6 years, and beside their class teachers they get teachers from other subjects and languages (Chinese, Japanese, Italian).

The library occupies an important place in school life, there is even a school subject "Library". They don´t have textbooks but for each item they get printed texts and tasks. They leave their notebooks at school .They bring their "lunch boxes",diaries and the books which they have borrowed from the&nbsp;library from home. Each pupil has his own diary which he has to bring every day and it helps in the communication between their teachers and their parents. In the diary they record special dates and events at school etc. Their parents have to sign the diary as an evidence that they have information about the pupil´s day. There are farms in distant places in Australia ( the Outback) where children live and can´t go to school. They listen to the school program over the internet ( before internet it was over radio). This system is called School of the Air.

You can find out more about this topic under the following links: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WKlknzRcUU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WKlknzRcUU</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhX_peBP1z0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhX_peBP1z0</a>

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF AUSTRALIA - THE ABORIGINES

There are about 500 different Aboriginal peoples in Australia, each with their own language and territory. Archaeologists think that the Aborigines first came to the Australian continent around 45,000 years ago. Aborigines think that they have a special connection with everything&nbsp;that is natural and they see themselves as part of nature. THEIR LIFESTYLE - Nomadic The way indigenous people lived was very different to how we live today. They lived in small communities and survived by hunting and gathering.&nbsp;The men hunted animals for food and women and children collected fruit, plants and berries.&nbsp;Aboriginal communities only used the land for things that they needed - shelter, water, food, weapons. They never overused it or damaged it. European settlement had sad consequences for indigenous people. Settlers took away their land , brought them new diseases and involved them in violent conflicts that resulted in the death of a large number of the Aboriginal people. The small number of Aboriginal people who didn't die during these early years of colonization were also affected because the arrival of white settlers changed their lives forever. Australia has a mild climate so people often slept in the open. A camp fire gave warmth and comfort, and often people kept warm by sleeping between two small fires.

Apart from the holidays that most of the other countries in the world share with each other, like Christmas or New Year's Day, Australia has its own day. Every year on January 26th, Australians celebrate Australia Day (the day it became independent from the United Kingdom). This state holiday marks the first European settlement of Port Jackson in 1788. It is an opportunity for Australians to gather and celebrate their national holiday and culture. Labor Day varies across the state and territories and it is happening every year in almost all countries. ANZAC is a national day of memories of the fighters who were part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought in Gallipoli during the First World War. This holiday is celebrated in Australia on April 25th. November 11th is celebrated as the Day of Remembrance.The Queen's Birthday is an Australian public holiday but the date varies across states and territories. Australia celebrates this holiday because it is a constitutional monarchy, with the English monarch as head of state.&nbsp;

Sports

Sport is a very important part of Australian culture. The most popular sports in Australia are: rugby, swimming, cycling, soccer, dancing, basketball, hiking / bushwalking, tennis, cricket, athletics, netball. Australian football is a 18-player team game, played on a cricket or similar court, which must be 135-185 meters long and 110-150 meters wide. It has a slightly different ball from the one playing rugby or American football and Gaelic football, and uses some elements of football. It is an Australian national sport, and is the most popular sport in Australia alongside cricket, rugby league, rugby union and soccer. It came to Melbourne, where are the most famous clubs, and where&nbsp;Australian football is the most popular. Through the years, sport has expended through Australia and in 1989, AFL (AUSTRALIAN&nbsp;FOOTBALL LEAGUE) was formed. In the world, Australian football is most popular in Australia, but it is also played in South Africa, North America, Asia and Europe.&nbsp;

Dark Mofo, Hobart Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is one of Australia’s most interesting destinations, and Dark Mofo is its wild and winter festival. The 10-day June event attracts more than 400,000 admirers a year, showing ancient winter solstice rituals as well as much more modern culture, including everything from nude swims to fire-burning ceremonies on the longest night of the year.

Floriade, Canberra Each September and October you can visit Floriade, Australia’s biggest celebration of spring and the largest flower festival in the Southern Hemisphere. Each spring since 1988, Commonwealth Park on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin has bloomed with blossoms as far as the eye can see, and the best part? It’s absolutely free.

Fraser Island - The largest sand island in the world

12 Apostles on the Great Ocean Road

Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art - MONA

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Blue Mountains National Park ( The Three Sisters)

Vivid Sydney The world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas, it is also Australia’s largest annual event, bringing more than two million visitors to Sydney’s streets over three weeks each winter. The planet’s most talented light artists transform the Harbour City’s famous landmarks into beautiful pieces of art, illuminating buildings like the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge with amazing projections.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival There are three big comedy festivals in the world: one in Edinburgh, one in Montreal, and one in Australia. The planet’s top comics come to Melbourne for four weeks each March and April with around 770,000 visitors to thousands of performances across the city.

Adelaide Fringe Festival Edinburgh is the only city on earth that has a bigger fringe festival than Adelaide. Each February and March every corner of the city is converted into a venue for song, dance, comedy, magic, cabaret, theatre, or whatever one of the 5000 artists can think of.

Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay This Byron Bay institution is Australia’s biggest and best music festival. Held over three days in late July in the North Byron Parklands, Splendour has been attracting lineups packed with stars since 2001.

Henley-on-Todd Regatta, Alice Springs Alice Springs’ Todd River is a completely dry riverbed — but that doesn’t stop the locals from throwing a regatta each August, carrying boats by hand for the thousands of spectators that come to the Red Centre for this spectacle.

Cate Blanchett - actress

Nick Cave - singer and songwriter

Nick Vujičić- a Christian evangelist and motivational speaker who was born with tetra -amelia syndrome, a rare disorder where people are born without arms and legs.

The Outback

The Outback is a term used to describe the large interior area of Australia that is quite far away from the densely populated coastal areas. Not very many people live here because of the harsh conditions ( about 70% of the Outback is dry). This region stretches from the northern to southern Australian coastlines, and covers a number of climatic zones: from tropical and monsoonal climates in northern areas, arid areas in the ‘red centre’ and semi-arid and temperate climates in the southern regions. Its biggest city is Alice Springs. The bush is another expression used to describe land where people don't live. It is land that is a long way from cities, or forests. When used to describe the land, the bush means a wooded area, but not dense forest. When talking about people, the bush means any populated areas outside of the main metropolitan areas. This can include mining and farming areas.

Official languages: none, although the national language is mainly Australian English. Other languages are various indigenous languages, as well as Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Italian.

Currency Australian dollar (AUD)

Capital city: Canberra

Nickname for Australian people: Aussies

Another expression for "Australia" Down Under

National Day Australia Day is celebrated each year on 26 January

National Holidays: Australia has 12 public holidays a year, including New Year's Day, Australia Day and Anzac Day ( 25 April is a national day of commemoration for all Australians who have fought in wars)

National colours: green and gold

Famous Australian folk song: Waltzing Matilda <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvazMc5EfE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvazMc5EfE</a>

Australia is an island, a country and a continent. It is the smallest continent in the world with 7.692.000 km² (2969898 square miles). It consists of Australia, the island Tasmania, New Guinea and smaller islands. Mostly many island countries belong to the Australian continent and today it all is called Oceania. The most northern part of Australia is on the equator,located on the islands of Kabara and on the southern part is the island of Tasmania. The mainland of Australia is mostly dry and flat. The most populated parts are coastal areas, but the inland has barely anyone living there because of the dry and harsh deserts. As well as deserts there are mountains&nbsp;(like Mount Kosciuszko, MacDonnell Ranges and Uluru). There are many rivers like Darling,Murray and Snowy river. There are not many sweet water reserves but there is a saltwater lake called Lake Eyre. Australia is under the influence of three climates: the tropical,subtropical and the cold climate. The common temperature for the coastal area is 27 Celsius. The main influence of the climates of this area has three factors: the tropical low pressure belt, the impact of the winds and the subpolar winds. During summer there are many storms, but during winter there is no rain. About 80% of Australia's surface has semiarid and arid climate with less than 250 mm precipitation per year. South Australia is the most populated area exposed to the southern ozone hole.

Australian English is sometimes difficult to understand, especially for students who study English as a second language. This is partially because Aussies like to abbreviate a lot of words and make them as short as possible. In the following link you can listen to the typical Aussie slang: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDb_WsAt_Z0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDb_WsAt_Z0</a>

How to sound like an Aussie 1. Skip letters at the ends&nbsp;of words.&nbsp;Australians skip the letters at the ends of many&nbsp;words. For example “what?” becomes “wha?”&nbsp;Meeting, going and trying change to meetin, goin&nbsp;and tryin. 2. Change letters at the ends of words.&nbsp;You must change the letters at the ends of some words. The words super, after, dinner and order&nbsp;become supah, aftah, dinnah and ordah. 3. Turn “oo” sounds into “ew” sounds. When words are spelled with “oo,” then you need to change the sound you make when you pronounce these words. The best examples of this are pool, school and cool. Australians change these words&nbsp;to pewl, skewl and kewl. How to do that? Follow the link and watch the video.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-wSFXWmaiA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-wSFXWmaiA</a>

Australia was discovered in 1790 by an explorer named James Cook. 40 000 years ago Aborigines lived all over Australia. It is believed that they are actually from Asia. Aboriginal people hunted,went fisching and used stone tools. Australia's Aboriginal people have the oldest continuous culture on Earth. At the time of the European settlement there were up to one million Aboriginal people living across the continent as hunters and gatherers. They were scattered in 500 different clans, or ‘nations’, speaking about 700 languages. European settlers ruined their peaceful life when at the end of 18th century they sent prisoners from British jails to Australia. Then after a few years more and more people started coming to Australia. With the time passing the new settlers started killing the Aboriginal people and committed other horrendous crimes so the number of them drastically fell. In 20th century there was a gold rush in Australia.At that time a lot of Asian people came to Australia. People only wanted to find gold and get rich so many of them ended up dead. In 1901 Australia became a free country and participed in both World Wars. The First World War had a devastating effect on Australia. There were less than three million men in 1914, and around 420,000 of them volunteered for service in the war. During the Second World War, Australian forces made a significant contribution to the Allied victory in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. In February of 1942, the largest single attack ever conducted by a foreign military power on Australia took place in Darwin. The Bombing of Darwin involved 260 enemy aircraft and targeted the town, port and airfields. The generation that fought in the war and survived came out of it with a sense of pride.

the Golden Wattle - national tree

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCQLmteikdM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCQLmteikdM</a> Australian National Anthem "Advance Australia Fair" Royal Anthem: God save the Queen

Opal - the national gemstone

Official animals: emu and red kangaroo

Current Prime Minister: Scott Morrison

English convicts in a penal colony in Australia

Why so many convicts? - Life in Britain was very hard. As new machines were invented, people were no longer needed to do farming jobs so they moved to the cities. The cities became overcrowded. Many people didn’t have a job and were very poor. People stole things to survive. Smaller crimes such as stealing things worth more than 1 shilling (a lot of money for a working person at that time), cutting down a tree in an orchard or stealing livestock were punishable by transportation.

Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia

It is one of the largest and most extensive aeromedical organisations in the world. It provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote and regional areas of Australia ( the Outback). It is a non-profit organisation which provides health care to people who live too far away from a hospital or general practice because of the huge distances of the Outback.&nbsp;

How this looks like watch under the following link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJi9Vau5ic">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsJi9Vau5ic</a>

Name

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