Each year hundreds of thousands of Chinese students flock to Australia to study, lured by promises of enhanced career prospects. They spend tens of thousands of dollars on what is sold to them as a life changing experience — but are they getting what they pay for?
Category Archives: English
Lets get rid of the apostrophe
For a certain kind of language critic, highlighting errors of punctuation is a sport unto itself. But signs outside cafes and expert grammarians agree: we'd probably be better off without the apostrophe.
People say there’s only one right way to pronounce GIF. They’re wrong
The inventor of the image format has always maintained there's only one correct pronunciation. History, it seems, has proven him wrong.
What putting English first means for multicultural Australia
Australia has no policy designating English as the official language, but an explicit "English first" policy for signage would treat speakers of every other language as second-class citizens, write Alice Chik and Philip Benson.
How to pronounce ‘ceremony’: Think it’s OK to moan? You’re on the money
Should the word 'ceremony' sound like money? Or moany? An in-depth look at one of the ABC's most complained-about words.
‘Australianisms’ in the Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary is celebrating its 90th birthday by accepting submissions that are uniquely Australian.
Australians struggle to pronounce the word ‘Australia’ correctly
Complaints to the broadcaster worry we've forgotten how to pronounce our country's name. The truth is, we've never been all that crash hot on it.
NAPLAN’s writing test is ‘bizarre’ but here’s how kids can get top marks
One of the world's leading education experts says NAPLAN writing tests are absurd and are turning Australian children into bad writers, so he's created a guide he says can help students get top marks.
Gen X, Gen Y, Gen…? What should we name the next generation?
Every 15 or so years, Western civilisations find themselves having to name a new age cohort. Unfortunately, after Gen Y, we've painted ourselves into a corner.
Should you use ‘less’ or ‘fewer’? It’s more complicated than you think
There's a simple rule for working out when it's best to use one or the other. Unfortunately for pedants, it's actually quite complex.