Our Class

Today is the last day for me to teach the PSA class. I have spent a lot of enjoyable time working with the students. Their feedback was great too. Many thanks to Liz and Sue for sharing the class. I am sure they made you work really hard and I know you learned a lot. Keep in touch and let me know as soon as you get jobs. We took these pictures a few days ago on a very cold day. It was sunny one hour before we went there but it was only our luck.
We worked as a family and I hope you keep in touch with one another. Now you are ready to start applying for jobs and sell yourselves to employers. You know how to pass interviews and work well in the kitchen. We wish you all the best for the future.
Ibrahim Mohamed

Looking for Work

This lesson will help you learn how to look for work online. Click here to find out more.

Scam

Has anyone offered to give you money before for nothing? I have been offered to get 1.6 million dollars from someone that I don't know. I got an email a few weeks ago and someone offered to send me 8 million dollars if I give him my bank account details.

If you have an email address, you may get one of these email messages but don't fall for it. It is all a lie. It is not true. If you get one of those emails, don't send any details about your bank account. If you do, you will see that a lot of money is taken from your account and you may lose all your money in the bank. Here is the email.

Dear Sir/Madam,

With due respect, I write to you despite the fact that you do not know me, but please do consider this letter as a request from a helpless soldier in need of assistance. You may be surprised to receive this email from me since you don't know me personally.

I am (staff SGT) Rigney James, I am an American soldier serving in the military with the army’s 3rd infantry division. I have a desperate need of assistance and have courage to contact you. I found your contact details in an address journal. Some money in various currencies where discovered in barrels at a farm house near one of Saddam Hussein old palace in Tikrit –Iraq during a rescue operation.

It was agreed by Staff Kenneth Buff and myself that some part of this money be shared between both of us before informing anybody about it since both of us saw the money first. I tell you that no compensation can make up for the risk we have taken with our lives in this hell hole of which my brother in-law was killed by a road side bomb last week. After the sharing of the whole amount discovered, $8 million was given to me as my share but to conceal this money became a problem but with the help of a British diplomatic staff working here I was able to get the fund packed in a box in my name with consignment number and unlock code and delivered to a security company in London.

After that the man died in a an accident leaving my fund in a security company in London. I already have the secret number and unlock code which will be given to you when contacting the security company if you want to make sure what I say is true.

For the fact that I don’t know when I will finish my service here, I am seeking your assistant to move this sum ($8m) to you in your country either by cash or bank to bank wire transfer to your account from London as far as I can be assured that my share will be safe in your care until I complete my service here.

I am willing to give you 20% of this total sum of $8million for your assistance. One appeal I will make to you is not to discuss this issue with any body. Should you have reasons to reject this offer, please destroy this message. I do not know how long we will remain here; last month was the deadliest month for us out here.

Totally, we lost 19 men and I have been shot, wounded and survived two suicide bombs attacks by the grace of God. This and other reasons I will mention later has prompted me to reach out for help. I honestly want this issue to be taken care of immediately. I don’t even know if I will return home alive but in case I don’t make it home alive please, use part of the funds for charity work and the rest for your family because I don’t have a family any more.

Please if you are willing to assist me in this project, respond back quickly for further instruction. May GOD bless you, even if you are not willing to help me, may he still protect your family.

Respectfully,
Sergeant James Rigney.

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The iPod

The year 2001 saw the release of a small MP3 player called the iPod. The iPod is an MP3 music player produced by a company called Apple. Apple is one of the world’s biggest computer manufacturers. It is known for its iconic computer brand the Apple Macintosh.

Soon afterwards, the iPod became the most popular device for storing and playing digital music. Before the iPod, people used to carry a small cassette player called a Walkman if they wanted to listen to music on the go. The Walkman was made by Sony and it had two problems. It was bulky and it used many batteries.

The iPod revolutionized the way people listened to music. Apple released a few updated versions of the iPod and now it is less and less expensive. It now comes in different colours, designs and prices. It is also more powerful than before. You can watch video and save audio files and take pictures on your iPod.

With the release of the iPod, it became easy for people to download MP3 music files from the internet and store and play them anywhere.

The iPod works well with Apple’s music software which is called iTunes. iTunes manages music files on a computer and on an iPod too. Apple also uses its iTunes web site to sell music that people can download to your iPod. Apple has sold more than one billion songs– more than its rival Sony - thanks to the iPod.

Many illegal music downloads are made every day on the internet through file sharing web sites. Music experts estimate that only one in twenty songs downloaded from the internet is paid for. The other nineteen sound files are illegally downloaded.

Apple sold more than a hundred million iPods in a very short time. Seeing that Apple made so much money from iPod sales, cheaper MP3 players appeared on the market and were sold for less than a quarter of the iPod’s price. They were mainly made in China, Korea and Singapore. The quality of these products did not come anywhere near the quality of the iPod.
Schools realized that many students were using them and teachers designed MP3 files to give more help to their students. Students can go on the internet and download school sound files and learn at home.

As many people like to listen to loud music for very long times there are some health concerns about the effect the iPod has on hearing. Also when one man crossing a street was killed in New York while listening to his iPod on full volume, there were calls to ban using the iPod while walking.
Whatever people think, the iPod and new technology have become part and parcel of our everyday life.

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Fill in the gaps:

The year 2001 saw the release of a .............. MP3 player called the iPod. The iPod is an MP3 music player produced by a company called Apple. Apple is one of the world’s biggest computer manufacturers. It is known for its iconic computer brand the Apple Macintosh. Soon afterwards, the iPod .............. the most popular device for storing and playing digital music. Before the iPod, people used to carry a small cassette player ............ a Walkman if they wanted to listen to music on the go. The Walkman was made by Sony and it had two problems. It was bulky and it used many batteries. The iPod revolutionized the way people listened to .................. Apple released a few updated versions of the iPod and now it is less and less expensive. It now comes in different colours, designs and prices. It is also more powerful than ................ You can watch video and save audio files and take pictures on your iPod. With the release of the iPod, it became easy for people to download MP3 music files from the internet and store and play them anywhere. The iPod .................. well with Apple’s music software which is called iTunes. iTunes manages music files on a computer and on an iPod too. Apple also uses its iTunes web site to sell music that people can download to your iPod. Apple has sold more than one billion songs– more ................ its rival Sony - thanks to the iPod. Many illegal music downloads are made every day on the internet through file sharing web sites. Music experts estimate that only one in twenty songs downloaded from the internet is paid for. The other nineteen sound files are illegally downloaded. Apple sold more than a hundred million iPods in a very short time. Seeing that Apple .................. so much money from iPod sales, cheaper MP3 players appeared on the market and were sold for less than a quarter of the iPod’s ................. They were mainly made in China, Korea and Singapore. The quality of these products did not come anywhere near the quality of the iPod. Schools realized that many students were using them and teachers designed MP3 files to give more ................... to their students. Students can go on the internet and download school sound files and learn at home. As many people like to listen to loud music for very long times there are some health concerns about the effect the iPod has on hearing. Also when one man crossing a street was killed in New ............... while listening to his iPod on full volume, there were calls to ban using the iPod while walking. Whatever people think, the iPod and ................ technology have become part and parcel of our everyday life.

Street Brawl

Here is the news update. A number of young people were involved in a large street brawl in the CBD in Melbourne on Saturday morning, police say. The brawl took place at 11 o’clock last night.
Duty Superintendent Ian Holmes said more than a dozen people were involved in the brawl and there were about 200 people watching.
Police arrived minutes after they were notified and saw that about 25 young people were fighting with bottles and knives.
Police said that some youth used their mobile phones to get their friends to take part in the fight.
Police used trained dogs to break up the fight. They also used OC spray on those who didn’t obey orders to stop the fight.
A number of arrests were made and two police officers were injured but are in stable conditions. One of the officers was hit in the head and fell unconscious. The other was knocked down on the ground and kicked by a small number of youth. He had a bruised arm and his mouth was bleeding.
Police took control of the situation after additional officers were called in and a police helicopter monitored the situation from above.
A witness said that most of the people involved in the fight were drinking at a nearby nightclub and they went out in the street and started the fight. The situation came under control soon after the police arrived.
Police are collecting footage from security cameras from nearby businesses to see how the fight started.
Four young people will face court tomorrow charged with possessing drugs and illegal weapons.

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Can you find 5 mistakes?

Here is the news update. A number of young women were involved in a large street brawl in the CBD in Melbourne on Saturday morning, police say. The brawl took place at 11 o’clock last night. Duty Superintendent Ian Holmes said more than a dozen people were involved in the brawl and there were about 500 people watching. Police arrived minutes after they were notified and saw that about 25 young people were fighting with bottles and knives. Police said that some youth used their mobile phones to get their families to take part in the fight. Police used trained dogs to break up the fight. They also used OC spray on those who didn’t obey orders to stop the fight. A number of arrests were made and two police officers were injured but are in stable conditions. One of the officers was hit in the head and fell unconscious. The other was knocked down on the ground and kicked by a small number of youth. He had a bruised arm and his mouth was bleeding. Police took control of the situation before additional officers were called in and a police helicopter monitored the situation from above. A witness said that most of the people involved in the fight were drinking at a nearby nightclub and they went out in the street and started the fight. The situation came under control soon after the police arrived. Police are collecting footage from security cameras from nearby restaurants to see how the fight started. Four young people will face court tomorrow charged with possessing drugs and illegal weapons.

Fill in the gaps:

brawl -morning - stop - control - bottles - cameras - people

Here is the news update. A number of young people were involved in a large street brawl in the CBD in Melbourne on Saturday ................. , police say. The brawl took place at 11 o’clock last night. Duty Superintendent Ian Holmes said more than a dozen people were involved in the ................. and there were about 200 people watching. Police arrived minutes after they were notified and saw that about 25 young people were fighting with .............. and knives. Police said that some youth used their mobile phones to get their friends to take part in the fight. Police used trained dogs to break up the fight. They also used OC spray on those who didn’t obey orders to ............. the fight. A number of arrests were made and two police officers were injured but are in stable conditions. One of the officers was hit in the head and fell unconscious. The other was knocked down on the ground and kicked by a small number of youth. He had a bruised arm and his mouth was bleeding. Police took .............. of the situation after additional officers were called in and a police helicopter monitored the situation from above. A witness said that most of the ................. involved in the fight were drinking at a nearby nightclub and they went out in the street and started the fight. The situation came under control soon after the police arrived. Police are collecting footage from security ................ from nearby businesses to see how the fight started. Four young people will face court tomorrow charged with possessing drugs and illegal weapons.

Answer these questions:

1. How many people took part in the brawl?
2. What time did the brawl take place?
3. What did the witness say?
4. How many people will face court tomorrow?
5. Where did the police helicopter monitor the situation from?
6. Where were the young people before the fight started?
7. Were they drinking before they started the fight?
8. What did the police use to break up the fight?
9. What did the young people use in their fight?

Asthma

What is Asthma?
Some people find it very difficult to breathe. They start to cough when they run for a short distance or start playing sports. They have a medical condition called asthma. Asthma is a chronic medical condition. This means that it stays for a long time. It affects more than 17 million Americans (three to four percent of the population). In Australia there are about two million people who have asthma. One out of four children has asthma. Some children grow out of it when they grow up. Those children who don't frow out of it will suffer for the rest of their lives.

Asthma results when triggers cause swelling of the tissues to the air passages of the lungs. This makes it difficult to breathe. People who have asthma have symptoms like wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath.
What are the Major Triggers of Asthma?
Asthma can be triggered by numerous factors, including allergens from dust, molds, pollen, animals, and, occasionally, food; air pollutants, such as cigarette smoke, auto exhaust, smog, or aerosol cleaners; colds and, particularly, respiratory infections; weather changes; exercise; or certain medications.
How Many Americans are Affected by Food-Triggered Asthma?Food-triggered asthma is rare, occurring only among six to eight percent of children with asthma and less than two percent of adults with asthma.
Can Foods Trigger Asthma?
Only a few. For years it has been suspected that foods or food ingredients may cause or exacerbate symptoms in those with asthma. After many years of scientific and clinical investigation, there are very few confirmed food triggers of asthma. Sulfites and sulfiting agents in foods (found in dried fruits, prepared potatoes, wine, bottled lemon or lime juice, and shrimp), and diagnosed food allergens (such as milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat, fish, and shellfish) have been found to trigger asthma. Many food ingredients such as food dyes and colors, food preservatives like BHA and BHT, monosodium glutamate, aspartame, and nitrite, have not been conclusively linked to asthma.
What can you do to prevent a food-triggered asthma attack?
The best way to avoid food-induced asthma is to avoid the offending food or food ingredient from the diet or from the environment. Reading ingredient information on food labels and knowing where food triggers of asthma are found are the best defenses against an asthma attack. The main objectives of controlling asthma for people are to stay healthy, remain symptom free, enjoy food, to exercise, use medications properly, and to follow the care plan developed by the doctor.

Reading about asthma is very important. You can find a lot of information on the internet these days. You can talk to your doctor and ask as many questions as you like. You can get small booklets that explain medical information in simple English. You can get these booklets for free from any hospital in Australia.

First Day at Work

On your first day at work make sure you go on time. First of all, make sure you know how to get there and what means of transport to use. Don't go 5 or 20 minutes late. Don't go too early either. This is unprofessional.

Take a notebook and a pen with you. This will allow you to write down important information that you need to know. You may use them to write down important telephone numbers, duties that you must do on the job or names of people you will be working with. Make sure you know who your supervisor is and what you need to do exactly.
If you are not sure about doing something, stop and ask the people around you. The first day on the job is the most dangerous one for all workers. They have to learn how machines operate and what to do in an emergency. Make sure the place you work at is safe for you and for the people who work with you.
Take your lunch with you in a lunchbox. The company that you will work for will not provide you with food to eat. They may provide you with tea and coffee only. Sometimes they may provide employees with biscuits. Other companies provide workers with hot and cold water only. It depends what company you work for. When you take your food to work, make sure you don't take food that has a strong smell. This will put off other workers who are in the same lunch room with you.
Remember the security code for the doors you will be using. Don't write the security codes down in your notebook. Other people may find them and gain access.
Ask about internal telephone numbers that you may need to use while working. Write down these numbers and try to remember them.
Try to remember the names of the people you will be working with. Have friendly conversations with them and avoid talking about politics or religions.
It is important to let other people have a good first impression about you. You don't want them to think that you are lazy or slow. It is good to smile when you meet strangers at work. Smiling is contagious. This means that when you smile, others will smile too.

On your first day you are expected to ask many questions until you understand how things are done. If you ask the same questions after that, people will start thinking that you are slow or that you don't understand the instructions that they gave you.

At work you will surely meet a lot of helpful people. You may also meet some people who you will not feel comfortable working with. They like reporting every thing they see to the manager and like putting others in trouble. This can happen anywhere in any country. Just keep it in mind.

Working Bee

In Australia schools ask parents to come and do some work there. They may ask parents to do small jobs around the school like painting a wall, mowing the grass or cleaning windows. This happens every year. Parents normally work for a couple of hours at the school. They use their skills and help each others.

In doing so, schools save a lot of money. They don't need to hire tradespeople to do these jobs. The money saved is spent on buying new computers or new books that the students can use. Sometimes schools use the money to hire new teachers and keep class sizes small.

For parents, this is a good time to meet other parents and make new friends. They share food together. They also share smiles.

Sometimes schools ask parents to pay some money if they can't come to the working bee day. This money is to hire a person to do some work around the school. Normally parents who are extremely busy prefer to buy the money and not go.

Most teachers normally attend these working days. They work hand in hand with other parents to make schools more appealing to students. Sometimes students like to help their parents and they go with them on the working bee day. Families get to know other families and share smiles.

Nancy Bird Walton

Nancy Bird Walton was born in Sydney in 1915. She wanted to fly from an early age, and was known for climbing onto fences and declaring herself to be an "eppy plane". She flew for the first time at an air show, at the age of 13. She paid the pilot extra to perform aerobatics.

At the age of 18 she was learning to fly, under the tuition of Charles Kingsford-Smith. Nancy was among the first of his pupils at his Sydney flying school. She only needed cushions to reach the rudder pedals.

Nancy had no intention of flying just for sport, which was a common motivation among women pilots at the time. It was to earn a living and flying became her chosen career. She became the first woman pilot in the Commonwealth to get a commercial certification to carry passengers. Her family bought her first aircraft, a De Havilland Gipsy Moth. Nancy and a friend, Peggy, set off on a tour giving joy rides at country shows where many people had never seen an aircraft, let alone a woman pilot.

On tour, she met Rev. Stanley Drummond, who persuaded her to join a flying medical service in outback Australia. With a better equipped aircraft she worked for the Flying Doctor Service in remote parts of New South Wales.

In 1936 Nancy won the Ladies' Trophy in the Adelaide-Brisbane Air Race. After four years in the outback, she took a break, accepting an offer from a Dutch airline to do promotional work. She returned to Australia just before World War II began and undertook training to back up the men flying in the RAAF.

In 1950 Nancy founded the AWPA (Australian Women Pilots Association). The AWPA celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2000 with a dinner at a restaurant near Adelaide, SA, attended by Nancy herself and sixty or so pilots in powered flight, gliding, ballooning - with hardly a man present. In 1966 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

Source: http://www.australiansatwork.com.au/bird/bird_en7-8.php

Culture Shock

Everyone who immigrates to Australia suffers a culture shock of some kind. A culture shock means that you see something that is totally different from your country and you feel very uneasy about it. The problem is that it does not cause any alarm to the people who live in Australia. You can become greatly alarmed and think that it is a danger to you, your children and every member in your family. You are not sure what to do.

Let me give you some examples of cultural shocks. When I first came here to live in Australia, my first culture shock was that men and women were kissing in public. I saw them kissing inside trams, trains and buses. To me this was a big culture shock. In my country it is a private thing. You see it only in the cinema or on TV but not in everyday life. Another culture shock was that in Australia drivers drive on the left side of the road. In my country and in many other countries drivers drive on the right.

Another shock for me was that gambling and prostitution were allowed and the media promoted them. A culture shock for me was to see that the Australian TV shows sex scenes in movies after 8.30 at night. Some people can't overcome their culture shock and decide to go back to their countries. They give up very quickly. After a few years, the culture shock becomes less and less shocking. People decide to ignore it and live with it. It becomes part of everyday life. It does not mean that people accept what happens as right.

When Australians travel overseas they get many culture shocks. They complain that the streets in many countries are not as clean as the ones in Australia. They complain about road safety and food hygiene. They complain about cities being crowded or messy. They complain about not being allowed to kiss in public because it is not allowed in the country they are visiting to kiss in such a way. Can you think of any culture shocks that an Australian may get if he or she visits your country? Email your text to me and I will put it on this blog. Thanks.