Find out How to Make the Most of Your International Student Life in Australia

It may be difficult for you to adapt to a new environment, especially if you are leaving your home country for the first time. Below Scots English College lists some top tips that you can use to make your time in Australia enjoyable and successful.
1. Make new friends



One of the best ways to get used to life in a new country is to make friends. You can make friends in your classes or getting a part-time job in Australia. Don’t be afraid to say hello to your classmates or start up a conversation. Students at Scots are from all over the world, and they are always eager to meet up with new friends.

2. Get involved in social activities
Getting involved in social activities is another great way to adapt to life in Australia. At Scots, we provide optional weekly ‘outdoor and explore’ activities on Fridays, regular monthly excursions to a range of popular locations in the Sydney area and optional evening social activities including movie night, food night and games night.

3. Use facilities and resources

Cappuccino, latte or mocha? Our students love the College, the staff, the teachers and even our coffee and chocolate machine.

We have many facilities and resources on campus for students. At our ultra-modern campus, you can expect to find everything from comfortable and modern classrooms with interactive teaching technology to free freshly brewed tea or coffee and, of course, free high-speed Wi-Fi. Support services range from academic support, personal support to social activities. For more details of these services, you can please click here.

4. Explore Australia

Scots’ excursions are our students’ and teachers’ favourite activities.

When studying in Australia, make time to explore your new home. Each Australian city has its own unique beauty. Take Sydney as an example. As the largest city in Australia, Sydney is often referred as the educational and multicultural hub. According to a Mercer 2016 Quality of Living Survey over 450 cities, Sydney has been ranked in top 50 safest places in the world. According to QS Best Student Cities 2017, Australia has 7 cities ranked in top 100 best student cities in the world; among them, Sydney 13th. Sydney is home to 37 beaches spreading over a large area, historic landmarks, award-winning recreational centers and various cultures.

5. Sample the local food options

Though you can stick to your home country’s cuisine, you won’t regret trying some of other irresistible options. Australia is a very multicultural country, so you can have many chances to enjoy just about every nation’s food on restaurant menus. Aside from multicultural food from all over the world, Australia is famous for local specialties like kangaroo, ostrich and crocodile meat.

6. Try to do well in your course

Teachers at Scots are experienced and well-qualified professionals. They are always happy to do extra work with you.

Always remember the main reason you came to Australia. It is to study. So keep studying hard. Don’t hesitate to ask your teachers for any study support. Teachers at Scots are experienced and well-qualified professionals, many with TESOL qualifications at degree, postgraduate or Masters level. They are always happy to do extra work with you. They will get to know you both inside and outside the classroom. You will have great memories of our teachers.

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/international-student-life-in-australia

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International Students in Australia 2016: The Numbers Hit a Record High, Nine out of Ten Satisfied!

According to the Department of Education and Training, the number of international students studying in Australia broke the record in 2016 with 554,179 international students enrolled in courses in Australia, an increase of over 10% from 2015. Also, the 2016 International Student Survey revealed that nine out of ten students were pleased with their study experience in Australia.

“With record student numbers and record student satisfaction, 2016 was a 'gangbuster’ year for international education in Australia and further demonstrates the vital role it plays in our national economic and social prosperity,” said Minister for Education and Training, Simon Birmingham.

Enrolments boomed across all sectors

International student enrolments by sector, 2013-2016. Source: Australian Department of Education and Training

43% were enrolled in the higher education sector in 2016, rising by 12,9% to 306,691 from 2015. The VET sector enjoys the same growth when international student enrolments increased by 11.6% to 187,801 last year. English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) accounted for 21% of all international students, increasing by 4.3% to 151,110.

Top 5 source countries sending foreign students

Australia’s top 5 source countries sending foreign students in 2016. Source: Australian Department of Education and Training

China topped the list with 27.5% of the total number of enrolments. With 78,424 enrolments last year, India represents the country with the largest number of foreign students studying in Australia. Korea, Thailand and Vietnam completed the list. These top 5 source countries accounted for over half (51.3%) of all international student enrolments in 2016.

Nine out of ten were “satisfied” or “very satisfied”

Student satisfaction levels in 2016, compared to 2014. Source: Australian Department of Education and Training

According to the 2016 International Student Survey that attracted the largest response with 65,696 participants compared to previous years, nine out of ten students (89%) were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their experience of living and studying in Australia. 74% said that Australia was their first choice of studying abroad. This is mainly because of the reputation of education and personal safety and security in Australia.

You may also be interested in:

Top 10 Best Things about Living in Australia

According to data from the International Student Barometer panel, the student satisfaction scores for Australia (89%) is higher than for the US, Canada, UK and New Zealand (87.3%).

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/international-students-in-australia-statistics-2016

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Four Most Common ESL Speaking Problems and Their Solutions

For a lot of foreigners, the hardest part about learning English is speaking. Why is speaking English so difficult? Most of the time, the difficulties lie in listening, pronunciation, vocabulary and confidence.

Today Scots English College will describe these English speaking challenges and what you can do to overcome them.

1. Listening

When it comes to conversation, 50% of the time is spent talking and the other 50% spent listening to the other person speak. It is difficult to reply if you don’t understand what they are saying.

What can you do?

Practise listening every day. You can get free English postcasts on websites and listen to them while doing other things. Listening skills practice through movies is also another effective way.

You can also make friends with native speakers, talk with them and learn from them.

You can also use these phrases in conversation when you don’t understand something: “I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that.”; “Could you repeat that, please?”, “Could you say that again, please?”

2. Pronunciation

It can be difficult to pronounce English words. When speaking English, you have to consider not just word pronunciation but the connections between the words in the sentence. Rhythm and intonation of the sentence are other difficult things.

What can you do?

A great way to improve your English pronunciation is to keep practising your listening. The more you listen to English, the closer you can get to native pronunciation. And the best way to practise is listening and shadowing audio samples with transcript or movie speeches.

3. Vocabulary

Sometimes it is difficult to say what you are thinking because you are missing two or three important vocabulary words.

What can you do?

You can improve your ability to remember words by making connections when you learn a word. 

4. Confidence

If you feel nervous and are afraid of making a mistake when speaking English, then confidence is your problem.

What can you do?

You can increase your confidence by:

Not worrying too much about grammar. Native and non-native English speakers still can understand what you mean if you make some minor grammar mistakes. Indeed, the grammar of spoken English is often more flexible than written English grammar.

Also, be positive. Celebrate what you know and do not be frustrated about what you don’t know.

Another good way is to practise speaking English as much as possible in less-pressurised situations. For example, talk to yourself; talk with your teachers and friends in English class. Scots’ teachers are super friendly. If you make a mistake, they can correct you. It is important to practise in less-pressurised situations as much as possible to increase your confidence. Then you will be more comfortable speaking English in high-pressure situations.

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/english-speaking-problems-and-solutions

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25 Short English Phrases for Encouraging Someone

When you want someone to try hard, try more or not give up, you can encourage them. Below are encouraging phrases in English you can use in specific situations.

Phrases used to encourage someone who is trying to decide whether to do something - For example, one of your friends are thinking of applying for a ELICOS course in Sydney and ask you whether it is a good idea. 

1. Give it a try.

2. Go for it.

3. It’s worth a shot.

4. Why not?

5. What are you waiting for?

6. What have you got to lose?

7. Just do it.

Phrases used to encourage someone to keep doing what they were already doing:

8. Keep up the good work.

9. Keep it up.

10. Good job.

11. Nice job! I’m impressed.

12. I’m so proud of you.

13. You’re almost got it.

14. There you go.

15. You’ve made this far.

Phrases used to encourage someone in trouble:

16. Don’t give up.

17. Keep fighting.

18. Stay strong.

19. Keep pushing

20. Hang in there.

21. Dawn will come.

Phrases used when someone faced with a hard decision:

22. It’s totally up to you.

23. It’s your call.

24. I’ll support you either way.

25. I’m behind you 100%.

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Top 17 Facts to Share on International Women’s Day 2017

Photo credit: Creative Vision for Women

Do you know why March 8th was chosen as the International Women’s Day? Is there actually an International Men’s Day? Take a look at this post to find out some interesting facts about International Women's Day!

1. International Women’s Day (IDW) is held on March 8th each year. IDW goes back to 1908, when 15,000 women marched through New York to demand better pay and the right to vote. Still, IWD wasn't officially recognised until 1911, making this year the 106 year anniversary of International Women's Day. The first modern IWD was held in 1914, four years after its being recognised. March 8th, 1914 was chosen because it was a Sunday, a day-off for most women and thus them being able to participate in marches and other events.

2. IWD is a worldwide event that celebrates women and their achievements. This is a time to reflect on what we need to do to help create a fairer, more equal world.

Photo credit: The Inclusion Solution

3. Over 800,000 women served in the Soviet armed forces in World War II.

4. There is actually an International Men’s Day. It is on November 19th each year and celebrated in over 70 countries. Calls for a day for men started from at least the 1960’s when the New York Times reported “Many men have been agitating privately to make February 23 International Men’s Day, the equivalent of March 8th, which is International Women’s day.” The International Men’s Day focuses on men’s health, improving gender relations, increasing gender equality and celebrating positive male achievements and contributions.

5. IWD’s theme for 2017 is #BeBoldForChange. Being bold for change means continuing development of a fair world and not staying silent.

6. There are many incredible inventions by women. These include car heaters, dishwashers, fire escapes, circular saws, chocolate chip cookies, rectangular bottomed paper bags, coffee filters, water heaters, windshield wipers to name a few.

Ida Forbes invented the water heater in 1917. Photo credit: Maker Pink

7. In the 19th century, doctors induced orgasms to treat hysteria in women. This is how the vibrator was invented.

8. Though recently there are a dominating number of male employees working in programming and technical jobs, it was women who pioneered computer programming.

9. There were 22 female leaders in 2016, representing about 7% of all political leaders in the world. For example, Angela Merkel as German Chancellor since 2006, Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001 and since 2009 and Queen Elisabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom since 1952, to name a few.

10. High heels were orignially worn by men around the 1600s as a signal of status. The logic was that only those who didn’t have to work could go around in high heels. Women started wearing them to look more masculine, promoting gender equality.

High heels were originally worn by men around the 1600s as a signal of status. Photo credit: Quartz

11. Women’s hearts beat faster than men’s to make up for its smaller size. Averagely, the heart beat of an adult woman is about 78 beats per minutes, which is 8 beats faster than the heart rate of an adult male.

12. Women were first allowed to take part in the Olympic Games in 1900.

13. Studies find that women are better multitaskers than men. That is because men need to mobilise additional areas of their brain and use more energy than women when switching attention between different tasks.

14. Women live longer than men partly because of their stronger immune systems.

15. A study reveals men tell 42 lies a week, twice as often as women.

16. In the 1920’s and early 1930’s, most Hollywood screenwriters were women. Some most famous lady scribes were Frances Marion with ‘Mary Pickford’, Anita Loos with ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, Jeanie MacPherson with ‘Cecil B. Demille’.

17. Countries around the world have different ways to celebrate 2017 International Women’s Day. In the U.S., women will go on ‘A Day Without A Woman’ strike. In Argentina, this day is associated with giving flowers and gifts. This year activists will also join in the international strike. Irish women will mark the day with a strike against the 8th amendment of the Irish Constitution, which bans abortion. British women will wear red, plan demonstrations against gender bias in the art world. Women in Italy will enjoy free entry to the museums and cultural sites in the country. IWD is a national day in Russia when women are given flowers, gifts and a day to call their own.

Last words...

Dear female students,

Today is the International Women’s Day. This day belongs to you. All best wishes from Scots English College. Keep shining and smiling always.

Cr: Scots English College - a prestigious ELICOS college in Australia providing premium quality ELICOS course

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The Overseas Student Ombudsman: Hot Issues and Trends in Australia's International Education

The Overseas Students Ombudsman publishes reports on problems and broader issues in international education that we identify through our investigation of complaints from intending, current or former international students with private schools, colleges and universities (education providers) in Australia. Read on for our latest news and information.

Hot issues and trends in private international education 

The Overseas Students Ombudsman publishes reports on problems and broader issues in international education that we identify through our investigation of complaints from intending, current or former international students with private schools, colleges and universities (education providers) in Australia. Read on for our latest news and information.

Recent complaints about an education agent

The Overseas Students Ombudsman (OSO) has received a number of complaints recently alleging an education agent has engaged in dishonest practices in enrolling international students with Australian education providers and handling refunds. Read on for more information and what education providers should be doing here. 

Consultation report on external complaint avenues for international students

In 2016, we asked peak bodies and other stakeholders if they thought the current external complaints and appeals avenues for international students were easy to understand and access. Most stakeholders agreed that the current arrangements can be complex and confusing, and that there are gaps and inconsistencies across jurisdictions with different external complaints bodies. Submissions indicated general support for a single Ombudsman responsible for all international students, studying with a private or public provider. Other options presented included introducing a national reporting standard to ensure all external complaint bodies report on international student complaints (like the OSO does). Read the report for more details.

Which providers does the OSO investigate most often and why?

The providers we most often investigate are generally doing the right thing by giving their students an opportunity to lodge an external appeal. Most appeals have been about course progress, attendance and provider transfers. Each report shows the OSO initially identified problems that providers addressed by implementing our recommendations and maintaining these improvements over time. Read the reports here. 

OSO quarterly statistics 

Our October-December 2016 quarterly report shows:

• there is an overall upward trend in external complaints and appeals with quarterly variations 
• complaints about written agreements, fees and refunds continue to be the most common
• of the 94 complaint issues investigated and finalised, 46 were decided in favour of the provider, 32 in favour of the student and 16 in favour of neither party. 

Read the full report.

Introducing the OSO student video

Check out our video, which explains our role to international students with private education and training providers. Available in seven languages:

Overseas Students Ombudsman - English

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Hindi

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Korean

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Indonesian

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Malay

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Mandarin

Overseas Students Ombudsman - Vietnamese

We want to hear from you

We’d love to hear your feedback on our role and services. Have we helped? Do you think we could do more? We’ve been presenting at the Tuition Protection Service’s provider information sessions in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra in February and the Council for International Education workshop in Adelaide on 22 February. It’s been great to meet with providers and stakeholders from the industry. We plan to send out a provider survey in the coming months to seek your views, but in the meantime, you’re welcome to send your comments and feedback on the OSO to: ombudsman@ombudsman.gov.au

Cr: http://scotsenglish.edu.au/overseas-student-ombudsman

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Celebrate International Women's Day 2017 with These 17 Inspiring Quotes

In celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017, Scots English College gives you a collection of inspiring quotes dedicated to women . Read, share, feel inspired. Happy IWD 2017!

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