My journey to become an Australian citizen

Last week we learnt about Australian cultural diversity. This week your teacher may also work with you to complete a writing activity or recording an interview on Harmony Day. The best articles which will become part of a future blog post. 

This week we read about a DL student, whose  pride and love of Australia drew her to become an Australian citizen.

My name is Emily and I am from Taiwan. I have been in Australia for 5 years and recently received my Australian Citizenship Certificate on Australia Day. I would like to share with you how I gained my citizenship and the highlights of the citizenship ceremony.

I started my citizenship preparation 1 month before the examination day. The first thing I did was go to my local town hall to get the resource book Australian Citizenship – Our Common Bond. I spent 1 week reading this, then downloaded an App called Australian Citizenship Test Practice to my smartphone. After that, I spent half an hour a day using the App to practice the test questions. I felt confident by doing this practice. On the examination day, I was well prepared and passed the test on my first go.

Emily's local newspaper

 There were a few factors that made my citizenship ceremony such a special day.  First of all, the ceremony was on Australia Day, 26 January 2017 and it was a  glorious day with bright blue sky and brilliant sunshine. Secondly, my parents-in-law drove all the way from Victoria to South Australia to attend my ceremony.  It was wonderful to have my family there to share my happiness. Another factor was that I was the only Asian among the 36 new citizens. Finally it was  not just my citizenship ceremony, but also everybody celebrated Australia Day. We had the local mayor lead us in singing Advance Australia Fair and we read out the pledge together. During the ceremony we had some Australian signature food- sausages with bread, pavlova and pancakes with jam. We all experienced the Australia Day spirit.

The following week, surprisingly, I saw an article in the local newspaper. It was titled ‘Gawler welcomes record new citizens’ with a photo of our group and the mayor. The mayor said that she thought of the positive impacts that new citizens make in the community, “I think that it will enrich our community, I always think of the different food we get to experience. Over time, understanding different cultures and welcoming people from different parts of the world into our community will make us stronger.”  For me, it was such a wonderful day that gave me a lot of great memories. I am proud to say, I am an Australian. Ozi ozi ozi! Oi oi oi!    

Would you like to know more about the citizenship test? Click to go to the Australian Citizenship resources HERE.

• Why do some people want to become Australian Citizens?
• If you wanted to become an Australian citizen would you use the App to study?
• The new citizens ate Australian signature food -sausages on bread and pavlova. What do you think is a typical Australian dish?

Harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt!

We celebrate Harmony Day this week on Tuesday 21st March. For Navitas AMEP students it's a very important time to celebrate Australia's cultural diversity. It's a time to share our culture and traditions and enjoy all the things that make us different. By sharing our culture we can learn from each other and by listening come to respect the pride others have in their traditions.
For Harmony Day we have an interview with one of our DL teachers, Sonia. Part 1 is here and part 2 on the Events tab above.

DL teacher Sonia

On the Events tab there are also questions, activities and the audio of this interview. First think about the heading "Harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt." A patchwork quilt is a blanket made from different pieces of colourful material. Why do you think Sonia says this?

Maree: Hi Sonia, can you tell us a little about your home country?
Sonia: Hi Maree, ah I'm from Bangladesh. It's a small country in South Asia with many mighty rivers and fertile soil. Now over the centuries many people from different lands have settled here and brought their cultures with them.

Maree: Ah that's interesting, so how do you think this influenced your culture and traditions today?
Mm I guess our cultural heritage was enriched by all these traditions, the language, food, music and festivals. It created a unique Bengali culture and identity and I think it's the reason why my culture promotes hospitality and respect for other traditions and cultural practices. In fact celebration is a big part of Bangladeshi culture. We celebrate the arrival of the new Year, the spring season, the harvesting season and being a secular society we also celebrate the two Eids, Pujas, Christmas..and you know, no celebration is without food, music and lots of colourful dresses.

Maree: Wow that's an amazing mix of cultures, it sounds really harmonious.
So this week is harmony week and Tuesday the 21st is Harmony Day. What does Harmony Day mean to you?
Sonia: To me harmony is central to my existence. It's about living peacefully in a society where everyone's cultural identity is respected. As you know in Australia people from different countries, religions and ethnic backgrounds all live together. Sometimes I think harmony in Australia is like a patchwork quilt with all the cultures making up the colourful patchwork pieces.

Maree: Oh that's beautiful! I love that analogy. I can just imagine the patchwork quilt. I'd love to make one. So what will you do this year on Harmony Day?
Sonia:Oh at my work in Distance Learning all the teachers will share a harmony day lunch. We'll bring some food from our cultures to share and I'm hoping to wear a traditional dress called 'salwar kamiz'. We'll celebrate our diversity and try to learn more about each other's cultures, maybe even share some recipes as well.

Maree: Oh that sounds great. I'm going to bring ingredients for Vietnamese rice paper rolls and all the teachers can make one.
Sonia: Oh that's good, it sounds really interesting, I'm really looking forward to it.

Thank you Sonia for sharing your culture and traditions.
For part 2 of the interview, audio, questions and activities click on the Events tab above.

• What do you think harmony is like? I think harmony is like a.....
• What is a big part of your culture?
• What does Harmony Day mean to you?

Click here Harmony Day events to go the Harmony Day website to find activities in your area.

My struggles made me independent

Tara, Navitas Auburn

My name is Tara and I come from Nepal.  I was a housewife in Nepal and I worked as a volunteer in aged care.  I came to Australia on a spouse visa because my husband was studying in Australia. My English wasn't good and I had no confidence in myself. I found it very hard to communicate with people or find a job.

Life was extremely hard.  I had to work as a mushroom and chilli picker in a very far away farm.  It took me 2 hours to get to work in extremely cold conditions. I still remember the days where I would cry from being so tired and feeling sorry for myself.  But there was nothing I could do. I needed the money.

After getting my permanent visa I was pleased to start my AMEP English classes at Navitas college in Auburn.  There, I could not only improve my English but also develop my job seeking skills and most importantly my self -confidence.

I was determined to work hard and never give up.  I started at Level 2 and within 3 months I progressed to Level 3.  I also completed Certificate III in Aged Care, hoping it would help me find work but this wasn't easy.

Thanks to my classroom teachers and my DL teacher, Claudette.  She designs the DL lessons to suit my needs. She helped me apply for jobs online and prepared me well for job interviews by practising during the lessons.  I have recently got a job as a Carer in a retirement village.  I am very proud of how far I've come and feel that through all my struggles I have become an independent woman.

Congratulations Tara on your success. What a wonderful story of determination and hard work!

• How do personal struggles help us grow and be stronger?
• What is the hardest job you've ever had and what did you learn from the experience?
• Where would you like to see yourself in 5 years time?

Your comments will help build our DL community.

Clean Up Australia Day - 5th March

http://www.cleanup.org.au

It all started with a simple idea that an Australian bloke had to clean his own backyard - Sydney Harbour.  In the last 26 years, Clean Up Australia Day has become the nation's largest community-based event to help the environment. The concept grew to form Clean Up the World event.

Clean Up Australia Day is on Sunday 5th March. Thousands of volunteers join the day to clean up the rubbish that is choking our streets, beaches, parks and waterways and killing one of our best assets: nature.

Johanna, one of our DL teachers, is passionate about this cause.  She said:

"For several years my children and I took part in Clean Up Australia Day in our local park, a fine area of natural bushland in southern Sydney.  Under the supervision of a ranger, we collected lots of rubbish: cans, bottles and plastic bags.  The amount of rubbish we collected was shocking.  At some stage we became the champion rubbish collectors!"

"Taking part in a community activity like this is a great way to engage with the local community and show that you care for the environment.  By involving my children I was helping them become more aware of the importance of keeping Australia clean in a practical way."

Did you know these facts about Australia?
Australians are the second highest producers of waste per person in the world!
The amount of waste placed in landfill each year is enough to cover the state of Victoria!

Get more information or register as a volunteer for the day here.

• Why is it important to look after the environment?
• What practical things can we do in our daily lives to help the environment?
• Are you a good recycler! 

Why not ..

Test your recycling skills in 90 seconds here
Read about  Plastic bags
Share your view on the environment in the Comments section below.

Teacher learns from student

Teacher Bernadette, WA

One of the privileges of teaching adult learners is that both teachers and students come with life experiences and can learn different skills from each other.

DL teacher Bernadette showed her great learning skills when her Iranian student Sara taught her how to make a Persian dish from her country. After sharing the recipe and practising the English for giving instructions Bernadette took the recipe and had a go at cooking the dish in her own kitchen with great success.

Bernadette describes this Persian dish as 'divine' and it has become one of her favourite dishes.  She says "Tah-Chin is a layered rice chicken dish which is not only beautiful to present but also very tasty. It is served upside down and cuts like a cake. As my Iranian student Sara explained to me, Iranians love their rice and always layer it with different types of vegetables and meat. The most tasty part of this dish is the bottom layer of the rice, the crunchy 'tah-dig'.  My family loved it and I hope some of our students will try it too."

Check out Sara's Iranian Tah-Chin recipe

Thanks Bernadette and Sara for sharing this tasty recipe.

• Describe a special dish you have from your own country?
• Are you a good cook?  If so what is your specialty dish?
• What food from other cultures do you like to eat or cook and why?

Why not write a comment or an answer to one of the above questions.  

If you make the recipe tell us how it turned out!

Ways to make learning English easier

Ways to make learning English easier.

My name is Sheila and I'm from Colombia in South America. I'd like to share a little about myself and also some tips on ways to make learning English easier.

I live with my husband in Brisbane, Queensland. Brisbane is a beautiful, peaceful city and is very similar to my hometown in Colombia. I love the calm city and the friendly people here. 

I work at the Brisbane International Airport as a 'Food and Beverage Attendant'. It has been a very good learning experience for me, because I've learnt to prepare food and make coffee. By talking in English to so many travellers I've also learnt to understand different English accents. As well I've come to understand that English is an important language used to talk with people from around the world. It's important for work, business and travel as it's a global language.

So I'd like to share with you some strategies which make learning English easier. My most important tip is to make friends with people. It's an excellent way to practice speaking English and improve your listening skills.

My other tips are in the Slideshow that I have made. There are some questions you can discuss with your teacher then write your ideas in the comments. It's saved in Google Drive so just click on this link to open Ways to make learning English easier.

• Why is it important for you to learn English?
• What ideas can you suggest to make listening and speaking easier?
• What else can you suggest to make reading and writing English easier?

Journey to my dream

Giovanna

My name is Giovanna and I come from Venezuela. Four years ago I planned my trip from Venezuela to Sydney to meet the man who would eventually become my husband. I met him 6 months earlier when he came to Venezuela for a holiday. When I first arrived I had very little English and it was super-hard to feel comfortable here. It was the hardest year of my life, as I had no idea how difficult it would be.

In Venezuela I worked as a product developer and my passion was to develop a women's clothing range. So when I arrived in Australia my dream was to run an international women's' fashion company with products imported from Venezuela. 

I began by dream in 2012 by working part-time in a Mexican restaurant while studying English full-time. I was exhausted, nonetheless money was what I needed. My next job was as a sandwich and salad maker in a salad bar. I had to work long hours. Finally I worked in a small coffee shop close to the city of Sydney. I began as a waitress, but soon my boss trained me in a managerial role, since he saw my professional and a proactive nature. 

At first I learnt English privately and progress was slow because I had to start learning English from scratch. Next I began learning English in the Navitas AMEP classroom, then switched to Navitas Distance Learning as I was working. DL has given me the opportunity to study and work at the same time and has also boosted my confidence in speaking with people. My teacher's encouragement has driven me to to work hard towards my dream.

So now I am realising my dream. I have started an online ladies fashion company called 'Cacao Tropical Clothing'. It sells and tailor makes beautiful, ladies jewellery and accessories. I import from Venezuela and sell online and through a Facebook page Cacao Tropical Clothing.I am very proud of my achievements but I am still learning English everyday. Without learning English I wouldn't have been able to settle in this country and call Australia my lovely home.

Congratulations to Giovanna for reaching her dream and starting her jewellery and accessories business.

• If you were to start your own business what service or product would you sell?
• How would you advertise your business?
• What skills would you need to manage an online business?