Greetings from Brisbane, Australia!

[Tish]

Gidday mate!

Thanks to Ryan for inviting me to participate in this Forum.

My name is Tish and I've been teaching English as a Second/Foreign language since 2002. My interest in global education arose from my own school years, during which I attended local schools in New Zealand and Canada, and an international school in Saudi Arabia.

I have worked as an English language teacher and examiner at private language schools in England, Tunisia, Australia, and New Zealand. I have taught pre-university English courses in Australia, and been Director of Studies and School Manager in Ireland. I now live in Brisbane, Australia and run my own tutoring business (mainly) helping students achieve Band 7 or higher in IELTS Writing. I really enjoy teaching students from all around the world through my online e-courses at http://www.yes-ielts.com.

I have contributed to websites like http://www.dcielts.com, http://www.ieltspodcast.com, http://www.ieltswritingcourse.com, and http://www.ieltsspeaking.co.uk. Now I am delighted to contribute to this website too!

Having personally faced the challenges of living and working abroad, I am passionate about helping you obtain IELTS so that you can enjoy a positive experience in an English-speaking country.

I like cats, travel, reading, yoga, running, camping, and moodle. You can read more about me and my services on the following sites:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/englishtutor.brisbane
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yes_ielts
Website: http://www.english-tutor-brisbane.com & http://www.yes-ielts.com
Blog: http://english-tutor-brisbane.blogspot.com & http://yes-ielts.tishkirkland.com/blog/index.php

[OnlineEnglishTeacher]

Gidday mate!

Thanks to Ryan for inviting me to participate in this Forum.

My name is Tish and I've been teaching English as a Second/Foreign language since 2002. My interest in global education arose from my own school years, during which I attended local schools in New Zealand and Canada, and an international school in Saudi Arabia.

I have worked as an English language teacher and examiner at private language schools in England, Tunisia, Australia, and New Zealand. I have taught pre-university English courses in Australia, and been Director of Studies and School Manager in Ireland. I now live in Brisbane, Australia and run my own tutoring business (mainly) helping students achieve Band 7 or higher in IELTS Writing. I really enjoy teaching students from all around the world through my online e-courses at http://www.yes-ielts.com.

I have contributed to websites like http://www.dcielts.com, http://www.ieltspodcast.com, http://www.ieltswritingcourse.com, and http://www.ieltsspeaking.co.uk. Now I am delighted to contribute to this website too!

Having personally faced the challenges of living and working abroad, I am passionate about helping you obtain IELTS so that you can enjoy a positive experience in an English-speaking country.

I like cats, travel, reading, yoga, running, camping, and moodle. You can read more about me and my services on the following sites:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/englishtutor.brisbane
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/yes_ielts
Website: http://www.english-tutor-brisbane.com & http://www.yes-ielts.tishkirkland.com
Blog: http://english-tutor-brisbane.blogspot.com & http://yes-ielts.tishkirkland.com/blog/index.php

http://www.yes-ielts.tishkirkland.com that linked seemed to load: "https://debussy.pauken.co.uk/" and the page was blank.

[Tish]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I forgot to omit the www. Should be all OK now (I hope)!

[Ryan]

Hi Tish,

Thanks for joining us here and sharing a bit about yourself. I remember first hearing of your online work at IELTS Podcast. For anyone that missed Tish's interview with Ben and her advice pertaining to Task 1 writing and pie charts, click here. Be sure to have your pen and paper ready.

Tish, how does living in Australia compare to living in New Zealand and Canada? How are the cultures in these three countries different?

[Tish]

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for having me! Yes - I am on IELTS Podcast with Ben and I really enjoyed being interviewed and talking about Academic Writing Task 1. I talked about pie charts, and also talked about describing a table (recordings #017 and #019 respectively).

In answer to your question about those three countries, well, living in each country has been quite different, but mainly I think because of my age/stage in life than anything else. As an adult I lived in Calgary, Alberta in my early 20s, when I had a self-prescribed "gap year" and worked as a nanny. (I also lived in Guelph, Ontario as a child while my father did his sabbatical at the U of G.) Calgary was great fun and perfect for what I wanted in my life at that time, which was a break from study and a fun job with the opportunity to 'put myself out of my comfort zone' and to travel. I love NZ because it's home, but Australia definitely has more job opportunities, higher salaries and a lower cost of living in comparison with NZ. I've lived in Brisbane for 6 years now, which is the longest I have ever lived anywhere. (I feel like I am starting to write an IELTS Task 2 essay here!)

Culturally, from the outside they might not appear very different (all three being former British colonies), but there are certainly many differences once you scratch the surface. The most noticeable would have to be the accents! New Zealanders have a unique accent, which Aussies love to mock (make fun of) and some Canadians struggled to understand. I've had to alter my accent sometimes, depending on who I talk to.

You can watch some "Flight of the Conchords" to listen to some Kiwi (NZ) slang and learn about our relationship with our Australian brothers.

http://youtu.be/zs_rXxi0zhM - Flight of the Conchords "Racism"

How about you? You've lived abroad too, haven't you?

[Ryan]

Yes, I must admit that when training students for accents I often wish I could just hand them a Babel fish!

http://youtu.be/zs_rXxi0zhM

That's terrific! I'll have to track down some more from these guys.

Here's one that might take you back to your French lessons as a child in Guelph:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPsFsVvBdG0

How about you? You've lived abroad too, haven't you?

Yes, but my childhood isn't nearly as colourful as yours. I spent the first 22 years of my life in and around Ottawa before moving to the Emirates (Dubai mainly, but I also spent time in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman). In those days, Dubai was just starting to really catch the world's attention as this exciting hub of activity in the heart of the Gulf. I loved living there and found it to be a wonderful melting pot of traditions, languages and cultures.

The Far East had always been on my radar as a place I wanted to experience, so roughly three years into my Emirate adventure I uprooted and relocated to Shanghai. The cultural differences I noticed moving from the Emirates to China were far and away greater than the cultural differences I encountered moving from Canada to the Emirates. Everything was different. The language, the people and their lifestyles, the food, the living arrangements, the workplace culture, etiquette, (...); it was one amazing learning experience after another.

Five years later, I returned to the Gulf and settled in Doha. I've now been in Qatar almost two years, and I really enjoy it. Now it's just a matter of deciding where to go next. You make a good case for Australia, so perhaps I'll add that to the list!