2nd Term UNIT

Off to Oz...
Some people go to an English-speaking country in
summer. It’s a good way to learn English and it can
be a fun way to see more of the world and find out
about other people and their cultures. However, you
could discover that everything is very different to
the way it is at home. What about the food? What
about the customs? What about the lifestyle?

OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT:

In this UNIT your objectives are:

-to find out about the culture and lifestyle in Australia

-when you go there, what differences do you find?

-what do you like and dislike about it?

-what do you miss from your own country?

-what would you like to bring back from Australia?

PROCESS & RESOURCES

There are FIVE steps in this unit:

1. What do you know about Australia?

2. Finding out more about Australia (POSTCARD)
3. Explaining our trip (Power Point)
 4. Writing tips for a fun stay
5. Writing a brochure

BY THE END OF THE UNIT YOU SHOULD…

-be able to talk about cultural facts of Australia.

-express your likes and dislikes about Australia, both in

written and oral form.

-make comparisons between your country and Australia.

-cooperate in a group and be responsible for one’s tasks.

 In groups, talk about travelling. Then, share them with

the rest of the class.

-Do you like traveling? Why?

-What do you know about Australia?

-Name 3 things that you would take with you if you went to

Australia.

-Do you like travelling alone or with more people?

STEP 1: WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT AUSTRALIA?

Which of these are unique to Australia, or come from

Australia?
 the koala, the ostrich, the platypus, the aardvark,
AC/DC, Nirvana, Harrison Ford, Nicole Kidman,
“Neighbours”, kiwi fruit, Russell Crowe, Savage
Garden, The Sears Tower, the Opera House, The

Now search the Internet to find out if you are right. Use an on-
line encyclopaedia like:

http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/

http://lukasland.com/oz/

What else do you know and not know about Australia?

Make lists using these categories:

Geography and
climate
Culture and
lifestyle
Famous people

History

Other facts

Compare your lists with other groups. When comparing,

you can use language like this:

• We think that ….
• As far as we know …..
 • We don’t know …..
• We’re not sure …..
• We have no idea about …..

Write a quiz

Test other groups in your class. Here are some more words related to
Australia.

Oz, Aussie, aborigine, cricket, Powderfinger, Canberra, Ian

Thorpe, Utzon, emu, Ulhuru, Ned Kelly, Australian Rules,
didgeridoo

Can you find out what they are? Look for information on the internet.
Write 10 True/False sentences to read to other groups.

For example:

• “Oz is an aboriginal word that means Australia. True or false?”

• “Canberra is the national flower of Australia. True or false?”

Use these websites:

-Culture, geography, tourism and nature:

http://www.csu.edu.au/australia/

http://lukasland.com/oz/

http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/default.htm

-Maps, atlas:

http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine/

-Fauna:

http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/animals/

STEP 2: What are your priorities?

If you visit another country, what things below are important
to you? Put them in order from the most important (1), to the
least important (10). Then, compare your list with a
classmate.

• Food and eating (what, when and how people eat)

• Leisure time (what people do, where they go in their free time)

• People (their appearance, character, beliefs, aspirations,

history)

• Music (what music people listen to, traditional and popular

music)

• Clothes (what people wear, fashion)

• Where people live (cities, towns, in the country; types of houses

and flats)

• The political situation (government policies, political parties,

laws)

• The natural environment (fauna, flora, climate, geography)

• The quality of life (incomes, prices, working conditions, how

people live, what they have or don’t have)

• The culture of the country (art, music, customs, traditions,

influences from other countries)

Choose a category from the list below. Go to the relevant

websites for more information. Then, make a comparison
between Australia and where you live.

• The natural environment (fauna, flora, climate, geography)

• Culture and lifestyle (cultural influences, food, customs, how

people live and work)

• Leisure (sport, recreation, free time, music, TV, radio, films)

• People (origins, history, character, beliefs, famous people)

• About the country (population, cities, history, politics, industry,
economy)
 Find as much interesting information and as many differences as you can. Record the information
in a table like this:

Interesting facts about Australia Your comment on this fact (compare with your country)

In Australia... ... but in my country...

Australians... ... whereas here...

Most people in Australia... However, here...

It seems that..., ... but the situation here is...

 Talk about what you found out

Meet with other groups in your class. Explain what you found
out. Listen to what other groups found out. Take notes.
Summarise your findings on a chart like this.

Interesting facts How this is different from

about Australia your country

The natural
environment

Culture & lifestyle

Leisure

People

About the country

To compare, you can use language like this:

• It’s quite like here because …

• It’s not like here at all because …
• This is different to the situation here because …
• In Australia ……., whereas in our country …
• In our country …… but in Australia …..
• This is also true here, …
• It’s the same here …

Write down the information here:

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________

Use the information you talked about in the previous stage. Write a
postcard to your teacher answering the following questions:

• Where exactly are you?

• What is it like there?
• What is surprising about it, and what is disappointing?
• What are you doing now?
• What have you done?
• What do you want to do?

Tip:

 To say something is surprising you can use:

I am surprised because …..

I thought … would be …, but in fact it is ….

 To say something is disappointing you can use:

I am disappointed because …..

I expected … to be …, but in fact it was …

STEP 3: Explaining our trip.

Prepare a Power Point about your trip

You have just returned from your stay in Australia. In groups, prepare
a PowerPoint about your trip and present the information you found
out in Process 2.

Prepare and organise the information, and also any visuals you can
use (drawings, maps, charts, photos, etc. Refer to these things:

1. The differences between Australia and your country

• interesting things you discovered

• things that are similar
• things that are different

2. The things you saw and places you visited: (use pictures,
maps…)

On the first day, we…

On the second day we went to…

3. Your opinion:

• good and bad things about your stay, and about the country
• what you missed while you were there
• what you miss now you have returned

When you are comparing and giving your opinion you can use
this language

• I loved …
• What I really liked was (the way / how) ….
• I quite liked (the way / how) …..
• I didn’t like …
• What I didn’t like was /were …
When I was there I missed …
• I didn’t miss …… at all.
• Now I miss ….

• It’s not like here at all because …

• This is different to the situation here because …
• Here … but / whereas there ….
• This is also true here, …
• It’s the same here …
STEP 4: Writing tips for a fun stay

Write tips for other students

Another class is going to Australia soon. Write tips for them:

“Tips for a Fun Stay”. Remember to refer to the categories
that you researched in Process 2, as well as information you
found out from other groups. Write 3 sentences about the
following:

• About the country

• People
• Culture and life style
• Leisure
• The natural environment

For each category write tips about each of the following (as
appropriate):

• What to take
• Where to go
• What to do
• What to expect

To write tips you can use language like this:

• Don’t miss out on ….

• Make sure you …
• You should ….
• It’s a good idea to …
• Be careful with …
• Remember to ….
• Try to …
• Try not to …
For example:

• "Don’t miss out on a ferry ride across Sydney Harbor."

• "In the north it can get very hot in summer, so make sure you
buy a hat to protect you from the sun."

STEP 5: Make a Travel Tips brochure

Read the sentences that other students in your group have

written. What is similar or different about them? Select the
most useful information and compile a guide brochure for
students travelling to Australia.

Divide the brochure into sections:

• About the country

• People
• Culture and life style
• Leisure
• The natural environment

Choose the graphics you want to use on the brochure. The finished
brochure should look like this (2 sides of an A4 page).
Learning Log Sheet

Here you can write on a day basis the vocabulary, sentence

structures, culture facts that you have learnt in each session.
This is going to be taken into account for your final grade.