Australian English

I've watched a few Australian TV programmes recently and have picked up some differences between Aussie and British English. If you want to practise your listening skills or familiarise yourself with the Australian accent, I recommend "A Place to Call Home", "The Doctor Blake Mysteries", "800 Words" or "The Heart Guy" (also called "Doctor Doctor". Here are a few of my favourite Aussie words.

Australian English uses some British and some American English vocabulary but the words above are particularly Australian. I have heard "bikkie", "mozzie" and "postie" used in the UK as well.

You may know that Australia has some animals that can't be found anywhere else and, not surprisingly, their names originated there, such as koala, dingo and kangaroo. These words come from Aboriginal languages, from the people who were there before white people arrived. Other Aboriginal words that have become part of Australian English are "boomerang" and "didgeridoo".