Adult Learners' Week 1-8 September 2016

Adult Learners' Week - 1-8 September

You are here because you are an 'adult learner' trying to improve your English.

In the AMEP program you learn with a teacher through a training organisation. You get assessed and can get a certificate. This is 'formal' learning.

But in fact most learning doesn't happen through formal training. Learning is like an iceberg. The smaller visible part above the surface reflects 'formal' learning and the larger hidden part below the surface reflects 'informal' learning.

We learn throughout life in different ways: at work, in the community, from family and friends. We learn by surfing the Net, watching TV, listening to the radio or reading a book.

On the 1st September we celebrate Adult Learners' Week in Australia and we would like you to join one of the activities that we have planned for you. The focus will be on informal learning.

To find out more about Adult Learners' Week click here.

Go to our Events tab to find the activities.

Celebrating the Rio 2016 Olympics

The Refugee Team

Have you been following the Rio Olympics!

Which team are you supporting! Perhaps this is the first time you are cheering on the Australian team as well as the team from your own country of origin.

The Olympic games bring a lot of excitement beyond sporting competitions and medal tallies.  There are a lot of reasons to celebrate:

1. These are the first Olympic games to be hosted in the continent of South America so we congratulate our students from this part of the world, specially from Brazil.
2. To help taxi drivers in Brazil to communicate with tourists they were given free English lessons.
3. The Olympics unite people from across the globe with 205 participating countries and over 11,000 athletes.
4. There are over 70,000 volunteers who keep the Olympic spirit alive.
5. There are 10 Indigenous athletes on the Australian team.
6. This is the first time a team of refugee athletes competes in the Olympics. They include 2 swimmers from Syria, 5 track athletes from South Sudan, 2 judokas from Congo and a marathon runner from Ethiopia.
7. The “Laurel Award” was presented for the first time to “Kip Keino”, the two-time Olympic champion runner from Kenya, for his outstanding contribution to education and culture through sport.  After retiring from competition he opened a children’s home for 100 Kenyan orphans, a school in an isolated area for 300 children and a sports training centre for promising athletes in Kenya.

• What Rio Olympics moments, stories or facts have you found exciting?
• If you could join the Olympics as an athlete, what sport would you choose and why?
• The Rio Olympics cost over US$11 billion.  Do you think this spending is justified?  Why/why not?

Add your comments below.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going

All the people in the world dream of a better life.  Like any other person, I too had big dreams of a better life in Australia.  I was very excited to meet an Australian man who told me he loved me and would look after me until the end of life.  We got married, I took early retirement from my government job in Thailand and came to live in Australia.  I left behind my two daughters in their twenties for my new dream, my new husband, my new life.  I was very happy.

We settled in North Queensland and my husband worked as a bus driver then a truck driver.  I had different jobs, cleaning buses, babysitting, housekeeping, working as a kitchen hand and on a farm planting, picking and packing.  I couldn't choose my jobs in Australia but I worked hard and did an honest job everywhere I worked.  The saddest thing for me was when our marriage broke down and my husband left me.  I wasn't good enough to be his wife any more and I was disappointed that he wasn't the man I thought he was.

Things got tougher for me.  I had no place to live so I stayed in an old church.  Jobs were up and down and I didn't have enough money to send to my family in Thailand.  I got sick and my health got worse.  But through tough times I learned many life lessons and found strength to keep going.  God gave me many blessings to make up for the hard times.

I found myself using my energy to study.  I did a certificate in food handling and a certificate in construction at TAFE and I'm studying AMEP by Distance Learning.  I got my Australian citizenship after trying so hard to read the book for 4 months.  I was proud of myself to get 19/20 in the test.  I had mixed feelings, happy to be Australian but sad for all the things I lost in the past.  Last month five of my new friends came along with me to the citizenship ceremony then we celebrated the Aussie way, we went to the pub and had a couple of beers!

Such is life, the ups and the downs .. It tests you to see what you're made of .. yet I keep going, I keep trying, I keep dreaming .. dreaming of a better life.

Thanks to our student for sharing this great story of resilience, courage and hope.  We wish you every success and happiness for your future.

• What were your expectations before you came to Australia?
• Was your experience different from your expectations? In what ways?
• What helps you deal with life challenges?
• What does your dream of a better life look like?

Countdown to Census - 9th August 2016

• What is the population of Australia?
• How many people were born overseas?
• What are the fastest growing areas?
• How do people travel to work?

How can we find answers to questions like these?  

Every 5 years the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducts a Census which is a survey that everyone in Australia must complete.

Watch this video and find out what information is collected and why.

Census night is Tuesday 9th August and it is compulsory to participate.

So how do you complete the Census?

From August 1st every household will receive a letter in the mail which has a unique login and instructions on how to complete the Census online.  If you prefer to complete a paper form it will tell you how to request the form which you should return in the reply paid envelope as soon as possible. You must include everyone in your home on Census night including babies, children, aunties, uncles, cousins and visitors.

For information in your language go to Help in your language
For more information refer to Frequently Asked Questions

Did you know! 
This is the first time the Census is available online, saving taxpayers more than $100 million.