Learning the language


The whole world communicates in English. The opportunity to perfect your English is a real bonus with your move to Australia. If you do not speak English already, you can learn it after your arrival at courses arranged especially for new immigrants.


About 140 different languages are spoken in Australia within the various ethnic communities. Some of these communities, like Italians and Greeks, are long-established and settled. Others, like Portuguese, Russian and Vietnamese are more recent or are growing rapidly.


While there are many Chinese speakers living in and moving to Australia, you will need English to communicate within Australian society. Activities such as doing business, voting, being part of your children’s education and even shopping all require a knowledge of English.

Many courses are available


The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs supports Settlement English courses for some immigrants including most permanent visa holders, and also some temporary visa holders such as family members or spouses and some business skills visas. The program is known as the Adult Migrant English Program (or AMEP) and allows up to 510 hours of English tuition, or the time it takes to reach functional English across a range of skills.


Some courses are taught during the day, while others are conducted after business hours and even on the weekends.


Courses run for AMEP students are also available for a fee to people not eligible for the AMEP. They are generally cheaper than courses available through the private language (ELICOS) schools.

There are many advantages


Learning a new language is not as difficult as it may seem, especially since you will be living in the country where it is spoken and you will use it every day. It is also something the whole family can do together, helping and learning from each other.


Learning English can even be quite a lot of fun, and will give you an insight into the people, customs and history of your new home.


Because English is spoken so widely around the world you will find it useful not only in your dealing with Australians but also with people of many other nations. Fluency in English gives you a worldwide business advantage and enables your family to settle happily in their new surroundings.

English Language for Overseas Students

The education export industry earns $5 billion per annum for Australia, making it more lucrative than wheat, wool or meat. Half of this income goes directly into tuition fees, while the remainder goes towards living expenses. Family and friends visit students bringing in further revenue, although there are no accurate statistics on how much these visits contribute to the economy.

Currently, 43,000 people are employed in Australia to meet the direct needs of the export education industry. In the last decade 800,000 overseas students came to Australia for their education.

There are a number of reasons for choosing to study in Australia. Apart from the good weather, friendly hosts, and excellent quality in education, Australia is the only country with financial protection for students on a student visa. It also has generous working rights that allow students to support themselves while away from home and loved ones. A result of being so popular is that Australia is the number three destination for overseas students after the United States and the United Kingdom and the number one country with the highest per capita ratio of citizens as overseas students.


Most students choose to do English language courses before going on to further education or returning home. To service this demand there are 190 English language colleges in the country. Some of these are attached to universities but most are privately run. To ensure high standards, all colleges and university based centres are inspected and accredited under the National English Accreditation Scheme (NEAS). Teachers must have a university degree, specific English language teacher training, and either a diploma in education or a year’s worth of experience teaching. Taking the NEAS requirements as a basis, one third of these colleges formed a professional association, English Australia, to push the standards even higher.


The worldwide demand to learn English is so great that it outstrips supply. Consequently English language teacher training flourishes in Australia. There are eleven institutions in New South Wales alone involved in teacher training for the ELT industry. Nine of these are universities but the two private enterprises will shortly be joined by Milton Language Centre in North Sydney. To keep costs down some institutions are establishing them-selves overseas to train teachers especially in East Asia. Australian Educ-ation International (AEI) is also planning to enter the ELT teacher training field, starting with Thailand.


The industry is so buoyant that many overseas investors opt to enter the English language sector. This takes a number of forms. Some are chain schools that set up a branch in a popular Australian city. Others are taking advantage of the business migration scheme to not only establish or buy a college of their own, but to qualify for immigration as well. Even with the vagaries of the international economy and geopolitics, it is unlikely that these trends will alter in the near future.


Information updated by:
NSW AMES
Phone: +61 2 9289 9111
and
TAFE Queensland
Phone: +61 7 3234 1666