More About Australia
When Animals Attack! I just couldn’t help it, I really wanted to tell you more about Australia and also about some recent attacks in Queensland and Adelaide. I tried to keep it Short and Sweet but… just listen to it ok :) It’s fun, you will like it!
Transcription
You are listening to English Made Simple this is episode 41…
Hola from Canguroland – Australia! Welcome guys to another episode of English Made Simple. Numero 41.
My name is Milena, thank you so much for joining me!
Last week’s episode proved to be a popular episode, everyone seemed to be curious about living in Australia, and learning about all the animals that exist here. Even for those who are not intending to move to Australia or visit Australia it’s still good for you to listen to this episode and also to the previous episode and learn some new vocabulary.
Well, in this Short and Sweet episode, I’d like to elaborate more on the previous, one, previous episode. First of all, I don’t want you to jump to conclusions and think that people here always live in danger. Especially after I shared some news articles with you in the Facebook group about recent attacks in Australia. For those of you who don’t know about the recent news about the animal attacks, well, basically it’s quite a coincidence really, just after I released the episode about Australia, I read that in the last 5 days, there was a shark attack, ataque de tiburones, cocodrilos, a crocodile attack and a venomous snake has been seen south of Adelaide. Adelaide is a small city with a population of about 1 million people…and 1 snake haha
Definitely fun stories to read!!
Oh, but I didn’t share the one about the crocodile attack, because I thought maybe this is too much, basically what happened is the guy survived, he was the trainer of the crocodile, he just got attacked and he said, oooh this is nothing…just a love bit! Oh…I don’t know, that’s pretty scary, a scary thing.
Anyway, it’s not common that people see snakes get attacked by crocodiles and sharks, it’s not common and that’s why it is in the news! Ok so, people get scared, they read it and they get scared.
Imagine if there was a sighting of a snake inside someone’s home in Colombia, or if there was an anaconda in Brazil, it would be in the news right? People will hear about it in the news, right! If there was a grizzly bear in Vancouver city in Canada you would hear about it in the news, right? I am sure, I am pretty sure you would.
Anyways, does anyone have Netflix? Did you know there is even a Netflix show about dangerous animals living in Australia, the show is called 72 dangerous animals: Australia. That’s the name of the show. Apparently, you can get a close look at these deadly creatures in the series that has interviews with wildlife experts and survivors of attacks.
Hmm, I am quite curious, I haven’t seen it, I would like to see it.
That’s on my to-do list!
Just briefly about the shark attack that I mentioned earlier, that was in the news about just a couple of days ago, it does sound scary ok? But if you are in the ocean you become part of the food chain instantly. You enter the ocean at your own risk! The only reason that you get attacked, mostly the surfers get attacked by sharks, because confuse surfers with seals, seals are animals, I think focas in Spanish. Sharks apparently don’t like human flesh, so I think….well, I hope so!
But that’s the only reason surfers get attacked because they look like seals. Focas.
Ok, now guys… let’s dive into some things about Australia that I forgot to mention and I would also like to explain some phrases I used in my last episode. So in this short and sweet might turn into a long and sweet episode haha. I am sure, that’s fine, doesn’t matter, as long as there you guys learn, that’s my number 1 priority here! I want you to learn something new in each one of my episodes.
Ok.
First of all, what I would like to start off with is….with some interesting facts about Australia, let’s start off with some interesting facts about Australia… start off means let’s begin basically.
For example:
· Australian Fashion > Have you heard of crocs? Casual, plastic shoes people wear, I think they are just called crocs, it’s the brand of shoes, I’ve seen them in Chile, people wear them there
and Ugg boots. The U G G boots. Ugg boots. Yes, they are being manufactured in Australia. Yes, Can you actually call this fashion? Is this fashion, really? These things are not really fashionable to me. They are not my style, but I know they are quite popular. Even snakes love them haha
Also, another fact:
· Australians abbreviate almost everything, for example, a barbeque, which is un asado in Spanish, is called a barbie here in Australia. A Barbie! Just like the Barbie doll! Ha! Interesting. And they speak really fast and abbreviate a lot. If you are coming to Australia, just be prepared they will speak fast here.
· Oh also, here in Australia, and same in New Zealand, we drive on the right hand side.
My friends in Europe say we drive on the wrong side haha Probably, but I am now used to it, and I don’t know how to drive on the left side at all.
So let’s continue…
· Are you in Australia and looking for a job? Well, did you know there are jobs like Snake catchers > cazador del serpientes. Haha It’s true, there are people out there who catch snakes, remove them from inhabited areas, populated areas and move them somewhere outside of the cities. You know why they do this? Because it is illegal to kill a snake!! It is not legal, it is illegal! You could be fined $10,000 or imprisoned for 2 years if you kill a snake. A fine is a noun, and means multa, it’s like a penalty.
You might be wondering what should you do if you see a snake? What you need to know is that the snakes are more defensive than aggressive and usually bite or attack only if they feel threatened. So if you try to pick it up or if you startle it you know like Booo surprise the snake it will attack you. So it’s best to call the Snake Catcher to safely remove the snake. Good!
In the last episode I mentioned something like Common misconception…
· What does the expression Common Misconceptions mean > basically it just means assumptions, asumpciones, prejucios. For example, people often think that Australia is full of blonde people – actually this is what I thought about Sweden, the country Sweden, suecia, but it is not simply not true. There are people there with darker hair too. Also, not everyone here surfs! Yes we have surf beaches but not everyone can surf and even wants to surf haha I tried and I failed. Too hard. I know there are surf beaches in Chile, I visited Pichilemu and Maitenfrio beach, I mean Maitencillo beach because the water is just freezing! I call it Maitenfrio haha
It just seems that my Short and Sweet episodes are getting longer, there’s just so much to talk about when it comes to Australia, I have so many things to say and I wanted to answer a question from Carlos who is coming to Melbourne, I wanted to talk about Melbourne a little bit and compare it to other cities and I might do this in the next episode.
So, thank you for joining me guys and just remember that the spiders and snakes are actually scared of you, they are actually more scared of us than we are of them! I wouldn’t say the same for crocodiles, because I don’t think crocodiles are scared of us! We are just scared of them!!
Thank you for joining me!
Until next time guys, please don’t forget transcriptions are available on my website www.englishmadesimple.net. They will be available in a day or two so please be patient! I only have 2 hands! Until next time! I hope you have a great rest of the week! Hasta la vista!