Migrants Must Speak English Well

[Farma]

Migrants must speak English well: govt

Friday Apr 6 15:55 AEST

Migrants will soon face harsher tests on their English skills before being allowed to work or study in Australia, the federal government has announced.

The reforms to Australia's General Skilled Migration (GSM) program will come into force from September this year, increasing the English language threshold requirement for all visas.

Migrants with professional, technical or managerial skills will be required to achieve a score of six or competent English on the International English Testing System (IELTS).

The current threshold requirement is a score of five and a vocational level of English.

The reforms, announced jointly by federal Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews and Education Minister Julie Bishop, will also collapse visa categories from 11 to four and visa subclasses from 15 to nine.

Mr Andrews said the structural reforms would benefit applicants with more qualifications and a greater proficiency of English.

"(It will) lead to better labour market outcomes for all General Skilled Migration applicants and help deliver the skills Australian employers need," Mr Andrews said in a statement.

Ms Bishop said putting higher standards of English in place would secure Australia's reputation as a provider of high quality education for overseas students.

Opposition immigration spokesman Tony Burke welcomed the measures, saying it was high time the government acted on the lack of English skills for some migrants.

"We can't continue to have highly qualified engineers who aren't able to converse at the workplace, ending up driving Sydney cabs," he said.

However, he said the reforms failed to address the key issue of temporary work visas.

Source http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=68624

[cdnvic]

Migrants must speak English well: govt

Friday Apr 6 15:55 AEST

Migrants will soon face harsher tests on their English skills before being allowed to work or study in Australia, the federal government has announced.

Someone's gotta teach the Aussies

[aussiestyle1983]

So they should. Australia as an English speaking nation and the entire work force uses English to communicate and English is essential when trying to communicate with and understand customers. I have no idea how well you need to speak English to get a 6 IELTS score, but I would say someone should be able to at the least have a fast conversation with a slang using Aussie and be able to understand them and keep up in the conversation. If your English is not up to that level, then most likely you will encounter a few stumbling block in regards to communication in the Australian workforce.

[giruz]

Migrants must speak English well: govt

The reforms to Australia's General Skilled Migration (GSM) program will come into force from September this year, increasing the English language threshold requirement for all visas.

Migrants with professional, technical or managerial skills will be required to achieve a score of six or competent English on the International English Testing System (IELTS).

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=68624

Oh..Finally...I've been waiting for this for ages (btw, I'm not Aussie)

g.

[smartecosse]

a fast conversation with a slang using Aussie

and whats wrong with speaking the language correctly rather than using slang??

[PeaceBlondie]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

[aussiestyle1983]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

[aussiestyle1983]

a fast conversation with a slang using Aussie

and whats wrong with speaking the language correctly rather than using slang??

Sounds like a comment from a non native speaker, but anyway, Nothing is wrong and I never said anything was wrong with using correct English

But it is hard to understand many Aussies because of their Nasal sounding accent and when you combine their pronounciation with the typical Aussie slang that most Aussies ocassionally use, there are going to be many cases where non native speakers even with a reasonably good English level will still find it hard to hold up in a conversation.

Anyway, the Aussie culture and they way many Aussies speak will never change, nor should it, so learn to speak English well enough to hold a conversatrion with a true-blue Aussie, and you will be a valuable skilled migrant to Australia.

[PeaceBlondie]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

C'mon now, we're talking about Chulalongkorn, Ramkamhaeng, CMU, Tammasat - surely you remember the thread on that topic in the teaching forum.

Now, whether they really, truly require a high score, remains to be seen.

But my Chinese mate who scored half a standard deviation above the mean on the verbal score of the SAT, managed fine in engineering school in the USA, and as a professional engineer. Hey, you just reminded me of the Indian manager I had.....we never knew half of what he said!

[aussiestyle1983]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

C'mon now, we're talking about Chulalongkorn, Ramkamhaeng, CMU, Tammasat - surely you remember the thread on that topic in the teaching forum.

Now, whether they really, truly require a high score, remains to be seen.

But my Chinese mate who scored half a standard deviation above the mean on the verbal score of the SAT, managed fine in engineering school in the USA, and as a professional engineer. Hey, you just reminded me of the Indian manager I had.....we never knew half of what he said!

The reason I doubt the credentials of Thai Universities is because of past work experience in Oz. I use to be a supermarket manager for a masive retail chain and many Thai students would work as night fillers. Anyway, one day I asked a few of them (including the filippinos and indians who were there for the same reason ) was how did you end up packing the shelves at night? All the responses were "We have to pay to study our bachelors degree again in your country" I thought to myself I feel sorry for yall for wasting years studying in your home country to only have to re-do everything again. It was then that I learnt than 6 of the 10 workers had PHDs as well! I thought <deleted>! I then asked, "Why didn't our Unis' at least give you Bachelor Degree status? You have BAs' MAs' and PHDs' and now you have to do it all again, that sux!" Anyway, they said my country thinks the Unis' in their countries are corrupt and anyone can buy a degree from them so no credit can be given. After hearing all the sad sotries, especially about the PHD graduates being forced to study BA again in Oz, I have now always doubted the education system in India, Philippines and here in LOS, and after living here and teaching for 2 years, I now know why. You can walk into 20% of the Unis' here and buy a degree! No fail policy ETC Now, I know this does not exist everywhere, but, while its know common practise in some places, it will always be an issue, So yeah, even the names such as Chula, Kasetsart, thammasat, etc don't ring alarm bell's as being "quality institutions" the ring warning bells being "thai institutions"

[Chris Lawrence]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

C'mon now, we're talking about Chulalongkorn, Ramkamhaeng, CMU, Tammasat - surely you remember the thread on that topic in the teaching forum.

Now, whether they really, truly require a high score, remains to be seen.

But my Chinese mate who scored half a standard deviation above the mean on the verbal score of the SAT, managed fine in engineering school in the USA, and as a professional engineer. Hey, you just reminded me of the Indian manager I had.....we never knew half of what he said!

The reason I doubt the credentials of Thai Universities is because of past work experience in Oz. I use to be a supermarket manager for a masive retail chain and many Thai students would work as night fillers. Anyway, one day I asked a few of them (including the filippinos and indians who were there for the same reason ) was how did you end up packing the shelves at night? All the responses were "We have to pay to study our bachelors degree again in your country" I thought to myself I feel sorry for yall for wasting years studying in your home country to only have to re-do everything again. It was then that I learnt than 6 of the 10 workers had PHDs as well! I thought <deleted>! I then asked, "Why didn't our Unis' at least give you Bachelor Degree status? You have BAs' MAs' and PHDs' and now you have to do it all again, that sux!" Anyway, they said my country thinks the Unis' in their countries are corrupt and anyone can buy a degree from them so no credit can be given. After hearing all the sad sotries, especially about the PHD graduates being forced to study BA again in Oz, I have now always doubted the education system in India, Philippines and here in LOS, and after living here and teaching for 2 years, I now know why. You can walk into 20% of the Unis' here and buy a degree! No fail policy ETC Now, I know this does not exist everywhere, but, while its know common practise in some places, it will always be an issue, So yeah, even the names such as Chula, Kasetsart, thammasat, etc don't ring alarm bell's as being "quality institutions" the ring warning bells being "thai institutions"

Sounds as though u not have bachelor degree. But a manager not need this as a store manager of a supermarket. Is this relevant to the topic? I have met a few refugees from other parts of the world that find it hard to understand the english langauge; but have a good grasp of what their disipline is about. To pack a shelf and understand the comings and goings of a woolworths shelf are two different things. Maybe it is u that has the misunderstanding?

The fact of the matter is the Govt wants to exclude people, u don't need a uni degree to worke that out.

[endure]

The University of New South Wales seems to think that Thammasat students are ok as they offer a 4 year twinned degree in engineering with them. Good UK universities also offer PhD places to Thai students on a regular basis.

[MyPenRye]

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

C'mon now, we're talking about Chulalongkorn, Ramkamhaeng, CMU, Tammasat - surely you remember the thread on that topic in the teaching forum.

Now, whether they really, truly require a high score, remains to be seen.

But my Chinese mate who scored half a standard deviation above the mean on the verbal score of the SAT, managed fine in engineering school in the USA, and as a professional engineer. Hey, you just reminded me of the Indian manager I had.....we never knew half of what he said!

The reason I doubt the credentials of Thai Universities is because of past work experience in Oz. I use to be a supermarket manager for a masive retail chain and many Thai students would work as night fillers. Anyway, one day I asked a few of them (including the filippinos and indians who were there for the same reason ) was how did you end up packing the shelves at night? All the responses were "We have to pay to study our bachelors degree again in your country" I thought to myself I feel sorry for yall for wasting years studying in your home country to only have to re-do everything again. It was then that I learnt than 6 of the 10 workers had PHDs as well! I thought <deleted>! I then asked, "Why didn't our Unis' at least give you Bachelor Degree status? You have BAs' MAs' and PHDs' and now you have to do it all again, that sux!" Anyway, they said my country thinks the Unis' in their countries are corrupt and anyone can buy a degree from them so no credit can be given. After hearing all the sad sotries, especially about the PHD graduates being forced to study BA again in Oz, I have now always doubted the education system in India, Philippines and here in LOS, and after living here and teaching for 2 years, I now know why. You can walk into 20% of the Unis' here and buy a degree! No fail policy ETC Now, I know this does not exist everywhere, but, while its know common practise in some places, it will always be an issue, So yeah, even the names such as Chula, Kasetsart, thammasat, etc don't ring alarm bell's as being "quality institutions" the ring warning bells being "thai institutions"

It is not because certain institutions (who have a vested interested in keeping foreign professionals or trade people out of their country or fields) determine that one's knowledge of English or one's knowledge of their profession or trade is not up to their standards that it is. For instance, not many people could pass the tests that they took years ago (without rereading notes or the book). Not many specialist doctors could pass their medical exam. Tests can be made by anyone to prove anything. Let's be fair. Give those tests (same tests) to working Australians every 5 years to see if they can pass them. If 90% of them can, then we could say that this is probably a fair test. Also, let's make sure that there are no cultural biases in them, which could impact a migrant's results. Believe me! Professional associations and unions want their members (and their members want them to do this) to keep their jobs. Competition drives wages down.All capitalists need cheap labour. So, they ask governments to open the gates, admitting people at first and then close the doors once they are in the country by not accepting their credentials. How convenient! Many countries do this BTW.

"Increasing the English language threshold requirement" sounds like a good policy. However, I have not seen the test, so it is difficult for me to judge whether or not the questions are picky grammatical, spelling idiosyncracies of English (although it is probably that) or it is really a test designed to evaluate objectively and accurately the reading, speaking, written, listening ability in English. Are those tests given to Australains? Would they pass them? In other words, do they have a control group to evaluate the validity of this test.

From my limited encounters with OZies, I would say that understanding them is more of an issue for me, as a quasi native English speaker. I think that the Australian accent is such that even many English-speakers from other countries have a difficult time understanding what is being communicated. Of course, I am sure that after a while one gets used to the differences. However, what would be more difficult (if one is not taught this) is to understand typical Australian slang, especially if it is used ubiquitously. I doubt that these tests can accurately test the proficiency of migrants to understand Australian English, unless the test is made by an Australian. I also doubt that language schools would cater their lessons to prepare migrants for the targeted language. Can a native speaker of the USA go by in Australia with just a knowledge base of North-American English? Would there be deemed "proficient" enough to be employable?

Let's understand that this issue is not as simple as it is made to be.

[snoophound]

I thinks its a great idea.

As an employer in the IT business I have many chinese and indians applying for jobs.

They are proficient in coding but terrible engreesh.

Some I couldnt and wouldnt put in front of customers although they are the best at what they do.

Also an intense annoyance to Aussie workmates when they jabber away in their native dialect.

This was the same in my previous company in NZ where 40% of the factory (electronics) where asian immigrants.

I am not bagging skilled immigration as I can tell you both my businesses would not be in business today without them,but i do think some stricter rules and langauge will help all involved.

If I recall correctly, a score of six on the IELTS is higher than what is required in the graduate programs at Thailand's best English programs at Thai universities.

Do such places exist?

I thought they were all as corrupt as each other

You would need to speak far better English to suceed in the Oz workfoce than you would need to suceed in ANY degree program in ANY Thai Uni.

C'mon now, we're talking about Chulalongkorn, Ramkamhaeng, CMU, Tammasat - surely you remember the thread on that topic in the teaching forum.

Now, whether they really, truly require a high score, remains to be seen.

But my Chinese mate who scored half a standard deviation above the mean on the verbal score of the SAT, managed fine in engineering school in the USA, and as a professional engineer. Hey, you just reminded me of the Indian manager I had.....we never knew half of what he said!

The reason I doubt the credentials of Thai Universities is because of past work experience in Oz. I use to be a supermarket manager for a masive retail chain and many Thai students would work as night fillers. Anyway, one day I asked a few of them (including the filippinos and indians who were there for the same reason ) was how did you end up packing the shelves at night? All the responses were "We have to pay to study our bachelors degree again in your country" I thought to myself I feel sorry for yall for wasting years studying in your home country to only have to re-do everything again. It was then that I learnt than 6 of the 10 workers had PHDs as well! I thought <deleted>! I then asked, "Why didn't our Unis' at least give you Bachelor Degree status? You have BAs' MAs' and PHDs' and now you have to do it all again, that sux!" Anyway, they said my country thinks the Unis' in their countries are corrupt and anyone can buy a degree from them so no credit can be given. After hearing all the sad sotries, especially about the PHD graduates being forced to study BA again in Oz, I have now always doubted the education system in India, Philippines and here in LOS, and after living here and teaching for 2 years, I now know why. You can walk into 20% of the Unis' here and buy a degree! No fail policy ETC Now, I know this does not exist everywhere, but, while its know common practise in some places, it will always be an issue, So yeah, even the names such as Chula, Kasetsart, thammasat, etc don't ring alarm bell's as being "quality institutions" the ring warning bells being "thai institutions"

It is not because certain institutions (who have a vested interested in keeping foreign professionals or trade people out of their country or fields) determine that one's knowledge of English or one's knowledge of their profession or trade is not up to their standards that it is. For instance, not many people could pass the tests that they took years ago (without rereading notes or the book). Not many specialist doctors could pass their medical exam. Tests can be made by anyone to prove anything. Let's be fair. Give those tests (same tests) to working Australians every 5 years to see if they can pass them. If 90% of them can, then we could say that this is probably a fair test. Also, let's make sure that there are no cultural biases in them, which could impact a migrant's results. Believe me! Professional associations and unions want their members (and their members want them to do this) to keep their jobs. Competition drives wages down.All capitalists need cheap labour. So, they ask governments to open the gates, admitting people at first and then close the doors once they are in the country by not accepting their credentials. How convenient! Many countries do this BTW.

"Increasing the English language threshold requirement" sounds like a good policy. However, I have not seen the test, so it is difficult for me to judge whether or not the questions are picky grammatical, spelling idiosyncracies of English (although it is probably that) or it is really a test designed to evaluate objectively and accurately the reading, speaking, written, listening ability in English. Are those tests given to Australains? Would they pass them? In other words, do they have a control group to evaluate the validity of this test.

From my limited encounters with OZies, I would say that understanding them is more of an issue for me, as a quasi native English speaker. I think that the Australian accent is such that even many English-speakers from other countries have a difficult time understanding what is being communicated. Of course, I am sure that after a while one gets used to the differences. However, what would be more difficult (if one is not taught this) is to understand typical Australian slang, especially if it is used ubiquitously. I doubt that these tests can accurately test the proficiency of migrants to understand Australian English, unless the test is made by an Australian. I also doubt that language schools would cater their lessons to prepare migrants for the targeted language. Can a native speaker of the USA go by in Australia with just a knowledge base of North-American English? Would there be deemed "proficient" enough to be employable?

Let's understand that this issue is not as simple as it is made to be.

[pantsninja]

This is probably directly linked to the report put out a couple of months ago highlighting the fact the students that had applied and gotten Permanent Resident visa's had worse English then, than when they were supposedly first tested and started their degree's.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/eng...9919213448.html

I can agree that this is a really good thing, I have Chinese students in my business course that cannot understand what i am saying, to communicate with them everything has to be written down. Which is a giant pain in the arse for group work or any time when they are required to do oral presentations. Mind you I am in my final year of a double degree, so half my engineering classes are international Asian students, which i can communicate fine with.

So it just depends on the student.

[aussiestyle1983]

Some very interesting points made. Overall, I believe this is a good idea and its about time that something such as this has been seriously consired and proposed. English is our language and if you can't speal English VERY VERY WELL, then you might want to consider migrating to a country. I too am sick of hearing migrants talk in their own language and then being asked a question by them and having great difficulty in understanding them because of their poor English speaking abilities.

This can not be complained about by Thais, because last time I checked, you needed to be able to speak a very high level of Thai in order to get PR here. So before Thais complain about Australias English policy, I say take a look at your own requirements for a foriegner to get PR here..................... I see no differences in the two policys because allthough you can get a visa and live here without PR, if you want to live here forever then you will need PR one day, thus meaning you have to speak Thai. However, its harder to get the initial visa to come to Australia if your English isn't very good, but once you get that initial visa, most of the time it is an automatic proces to PR. So good on Australia, stop the poor English speaking migrants before they arrive, because once their in Oz, they are hard to get rid of, un like here where everything is up and down and the visa laws change on a yearly basis.

As for native speakers using slang, well, isn't that just one advantage that native speakers have over non native speakers? The ability to speak correct English and the ability to talk quickly and use slang. Some non-native speakers speak very well, but sometimes when I up the tempo of a conversation, even without introducing slang into the conversation, they will soon have difficulty in understanding me. What was that? You can't understand my AUSTRALIAN accent, awwww, well then it looks like you will have a hard time living in Australia if you choose to one day, better go to another country where you can understand the people...............

[MiG16]

as far as I recall Australia has always had the requirement on the english speaking ability of migrants, which is fair enough. no complaints about that...you do need to be able to speak english to survive in the country.

but Im a bit unsure about what aussiestyle is trying to say about the slang........aussie slang is not something u can expect anyone to know before they are there. I have spoken to other native speakers of english (canadians, brits, americans) who have no clue what the aussies slang mean. likewise Im sure there are slangs used in other regions that aussies would not understand. you learn and acquire these things from living there, and /or interacting with the locals.

also remember that migrant policy by govt shows there is also a need by the country for these skilled labour. so its a 2 way thing, in that regard I dont know if your attitude is a fair one. a bit impractical to expect migrants should come fully knowing everything /values/slangs etc that is aussie. the way you put it sounds like they shouldnt at all if they didnt have these things at the perfect level. remember that by virtue of being 'skilled' migrants they will be bringing in needed skill to your country

anyhow looks like im going off topic without really adding anything productive here.

cheers.

[ThaiItAgain]

a fast conversation with a slang using Aussie

and whats wrong with speaking the language correctly rather than using slang??

Sounds like a comment from a non native speaker, but anyway, Nothing is wrong and I never said anything was wrong with using correct English

But it is hard to understand many Aussies because of their Nasal sounding accent and when you combine their pronunciation with the typical Aussie slang that most Aussies occasionally use, there are going to be many cases where non native speakers even with a reasonably good English level will still find it hard to hold up in a conversation.

Anyway, the Aussie culture and they way many Aussies speak will never change, nor should it, so learn to speak English well enough to hold a conversation with a true-blue Aussie, and you will be a valuable skilled migrant to Australia.

My gosh! A score of 6 on the EILTS English competency scale is higher than most of todays locally taught secondary high school Aussie kids are taught. Wow!

ThaiItAgain

[Rowdy]

I think this is a good move. I doubt a score of 6 is higher than a high school student. IELTS.org seems to indicate that a score of 6 is below average for people applying for migration or employment so it wouldn't appear to be a huge impediment.

Our company has previously employed engineers with an IELTS score of 5.5 and I would describe ther english abilities as barely functional. I definately wouldn't ask them to write any important correspondence and they struggle to understand basic requests. I would guess that my Thai GF with minimal formal training would match their english abilities.

The changes will still allow tradesmen to migrate with an IELTS score of 5 which is fine. Our company has printed safety and other information in various languages for years for our general workforce to understand properly but they make a very productive contribution to the workforce.

[jayjayjayjay]

[quote name=

[PeaceBlondie]

Ah yes, the safety signs in different languages. I suppose in Canada, all notices have to be in French and English. At my neighborhood fried chicken store in Texas (Louisiana spicy style chicken), the instructions on how to administer the Heimlich maneuver were in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish!

Does Thailand have many safety signs, even in Thai? Such as "you will die if you walk on top of that wall which has no guardrails"?

[aussiestyle1983]

a fast conversation with a slang using Aussie

and whats wrong with speaking the language correctly rather than using slang??

Sounds like a comment from a non native speaker, but anyway, Nothing is wrong and I never said anything was wrong with using correct English

But it is hard to understand many Aussies because of their Nasal sounding accent and when you combine their pronunciation with the typical Aussie slang that most Aussies occasionally use, there are going to be many cases where non native speakers even with a reasonably good English level will still find it hard to hold up in a conversation.

Anyway, the Aussie culture and they way many Aussies speak will never change, nor should it, so learn to speak English well enough to hold a conversation with a true-blue Aussie, and you will be a valuable skilled migrant to Australia.

My gosh! A score of 6 on the EILTS English competency scale is higher than most of todays locally taught secondary high school Aussie kids are taught. Wow!

ThaiItAgain

Thats because all the good English teachers in Oz leave and come to Thailand to teach

[elkangorito]

This action is typical of a conservative, right wing, money grabbing government.

If I recall, it wasn't all that long ago when the 'White Australia Policy' was forcibly scrapped (rigged English testing). To me, this is the 'legal' version of the 'White Australia Policy'.

With regards to aussie slang, I think it's about time that 'aussies' learnt to speak English correctly, which is not to say that they need to give up being colloquial. I think it smacks, just a little, of nationalism.

I've worked with many non-native aussies & even though their English was not perfect, 'we' cooperated & thence 'communicated'. This rubbish about qualified foreign engineers driving taxis is complete twaddle. These are the foreigners whose English is initially quite bad but after driving a cab for a year, their English level gets better. But usually, after a year of driving cabs, most don't want to change jobs.

I say scrap this idea & maintain the diversity within the current Australia. Retrospectively, send all the illiterate 'aussies' (at least 60% of the original aussies) back to school & get them to pass an I.E.L.T.S. score of 6.

Just a quick question for anybody planning to live in Australia;-

What does, "I hope ya chooks turn inta emus & kick ya dunny down" mean?

According to some, the 'prospective' Australian should waste time & energy on understanding this stuff.

[aussiestyle1983]

This action is typical of a conservative, right wing, money grabbing government.

If I recall, it wasn't all that long ago when the 'White Australia Policy' was forcibly scrapped (rigged English testing). To me, this is the 'legal' version of the 'White Australia Policy'.

With regards to aussie slang, I think it's about time that 'aussies' learnt to speak English correctly, which is not to say that they need to give up being colloquial. I think it smacks, just a little, of nationalism.

I've worked with many non-native aussies & even though their English was not perfect, 'we' cooperated & thence 'communicated'. This rubbish about qualified foreign engineers driving taxis is complete twaddle. These are the foreigners whose English is initially quite bad but after driving a cab for a year, their English level gets better. But usually, after a year of driving cabs, most don't want to change jobs.

I say scrap this idea & maintain the diversity within the current Australia. Retrospectively, send all the illiterate 'aussies' (at least 60% of the original aussies) back to school & get them to pass an I.E.L.T.S. score of 6.

Just a quick question for anybody planning to live in Australia;-

What does, "I hope ya chooks turn inta emus & kick ya dunny down" mean?

According to some, the 'prospective' Australian should waste time & energy on understanding this stuff.

It feels good being an Aussie and comming from the BEST country in the world!

So many people want to migrate to Australia and now its even harder, good!

I am not a racist (I married an Asian and I have other relatives from different backgrounds) but as for a mutli-cultural Australia, I think there is too much diversity in Australia as it is. Too much scum has migrated to Australia in the past and un-fortunantly is stuck there. Statistically, its mostly the migrants, especially those from middle eastern origins who have turned Australia into the racist country it has become. There should be cultural diversity to some extent, but at the rate it is going, there will soon be more people from other cultures in Australia than original Australians (if that has already not happend)

How would Thailand act if such a thing happened? Hahaha! Answer that question you hipocrits!

So I see it far better to control the migration process a little better, rather than bringing in quantity of uselessness, lets start bringing in Qaulity. So it may now even be harder to migrate to the land down under, but remember our population is only about 21 million, so of course not everyone is going to be able to come to Australia, if we let thousands upon thousands of migrants come in, we will soone loose our identity of "Australia". Immigration must be controled so Australia doesn't loose its identity and proud "convict" culture.

[samran]

You start with this comment.

Thats because all the good English teachers in Oz leave and come to Thailand to teach

And then you follow up with this classic piece of bad writing…..

It feels good being an Aussie and comming from the BEST country in the world!

So many people want to migrate to Australia and now its even harder, good!

I am not a racist (I married an Asian and I have other relatives from different backgrounds) but as for a mutli-cultural Australia, I think there is too much diversity in Australia as it is. Too much scum has migrated to Australia in the past and un-fortunantly is stuck there. Statistically, its mostly the migrants, especially those from middle eastern origins who have turned Australia into the racist country it has become. There should be cultural diversity to some extent, but at the rate it is going, there will soon be more people from other cultures in Australia than original Australians (if that has already not happend)

How would Thailand act if such a thing happened? Hahaha! Answer that question you hipocrits!

So I see it far better to control the migration process a little better, rather than bringing in quantity of uselessness, lets start bringing in Qaulity. So it may now even be harder to migrate to the land down under, but remember our population is only about 21 million, so of course not everyone is going to be able to come to Australia, if we let thousands upon thousands of migrants come in, we will soone loose our identity of "Australia". Immigration must be controled so Australia doesn't loose its identity and proud "convict" culture.

I sincerely hope you are taking the piss here aussiestyle, otherwise if you meant it to be factual, then what you have written above is a load of stinking cow dung.

[the scouser]

What does, "I hope ya chooks turn inta emus & kick ya dunny down" mean?

I hope your chicks turn in to emus and kick down the door of your outside toilet.

Right, where do I collect my Australian passport?

Scouse.

[endure]

It feels good being an Aussie and comming from the BEST country in the world!

So many people want to migrate to Australia and now its even harder, good!

I am not a racist (I married an Asian and I have other relatives from different backgrounds) but as for a mutli-cultural Australia, I think there is too much diversity in Australia as it is. Too much scum has migrated to Australia in the past and un-fortunantly is stuck there. Statistically, its mostly the migrants, especially those from middle eastern origins who have turned Australia into the racist country it has become.

When I lived there you were blaming the Italians & Greeks. Same attitude, different scapegoats.

[samran]

What does, "I hope ya chooks turn inta emus & kick ya dunny down" mean?

I hope your chicks turn in to emus and kick down the door of your outside toilet.

Right, where do I collect my Australian passport?

Scouse.

Close, but no cigar. Chooks are slang chickens, scouse.

Anyway, since 1971, it hasn't been easy for brits to go to OZ either!!

[ThaiGoon]

The reason I doubt the credentials of Thai Universities is because of past work experience in Oz. I use to be a supermarket manager for a masive retail chain and many Thai students would work as night fillers. Anyway, one day I asked a few of them (including the filippinos and indians who were there for the same reason ) was how did you end up packing the shelves at night? All the responses were "We have to pay to study our bachelors degree again in your country" I thought to myself I feel sorry for yall for wasting years studying in your home country to only have to re-do everything again. It was then that I learnt than 6 of the 10 workers had PHDs as well! I thought <deleted>! I then asked, "Why didn't our Unis' at least give you Bachelor Degree status? You have BAs' MAs' and PHDs' and now you have to do it all again, that sux!" Anyway, they said my country thinks the Unis' in their countries are corrupt and anyone can buy a degree from them so no credit can be given. After hearing all the sad sotries, especially about the PHD graduates being forced to study BA again in Oz, I have now always doubted the education system in India, Philippines and here in LOS, and after living here and teaching for 2 years, I now know why. You can walk into 20% of the Unis' here and buy a degree! No fail policy ETC Now, I know this does not exist everywhere, but, while its know common practise in some places, it will always be an issue, So yeah, even the names such as Chula, Kasetsart, thammasat, etc don't ring alarm bell's as being "quality institutions" the ring warning bells being "thai institutions"

To use Samran's terminology, this is another good load of stinking cow dung as well. Also even though English is my second language and I'm not particularly good at it, I actually have to say that I hope this Aussie is not teaching English anywhere in Thailand right now.

[the scouser]

What does, "I hope ya chooks turn inta emus & kick ya dunny down" mean?

I hope your chicks turn in to emus and kick down the door of your outside toilet.

Right, where do I collect my Australian passport?

Scouse.

Close, but no cigar. Chooks are slang chickens, scouse.

Oh bugger!

Scouse.