Talking with Aussies Volunteer Program for International Students...and other tips

Hôm nay mình xin giới thiệu về một chương trình tình nguyện mà có thể một số bạn ở Adelaide quan tâm. Chương trình này được thành lập bởi một nhóm sinh viên người Úc. Các sinh viên đó biết được 1 vấn đề của các sinh viên quốc tế, đó là có nhiều sinh viên chỉ đến Úc học rồi rời Úc sau khi khóa học kết thúc mà không có giao tiếp với người dân bản đia Úc nhiều. Vì thế mục tiêu của chương trình là tăng cường trao đổi văn hóa giữa sinh viên và người dân Úc. Ngoài ra, chương trình cũng giúp sinh viên có thêm cơ hội giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh.
Cách đăng kí: các bạn tham khảo link:
http://www.international.adelaide.edu.au/life/current/talkaussies/
Có thể thời gian chờ là khá lâu. Trong trường hợp của mình là 6 tháng. Trong khoảng thời gian đó nếu bạn muốn có thêm cơ hội giao tiếp bằng tiếng Anh thì bạn nên chủ động tìm kiếm. People won't knock on your door.

• Bạn có thể tham gia một Uni club, vừa có thể học thêm một cái gì đó như photography, hoặc là hobbies như hiking,... Link cho Clubs Association của Uni of Adelaide nhưng bạn có thể dễ dàng tìm kiếm một group tương tự ở trường bạn: http://lifeoncampus.org.au/clubs/
• Bạn có thể tham gia từ thiện. Đây cũng là một cách tốt để bạn có thể viết về Work experience trong resume. Nhiều bạn tới Úc trước đó chưa có kinh nghiệm làm việc gì, bạn sẽ dễ kiếm việc hơn nếu resume của bạn có một số hoạt động từ thiện. Link tham khảo:
  vconnect.org.au
  http://www.adelaide.edu.au/volunteers/opportunities/
• Một cách khác: To practise listening and speaking, some students find it helpful to check out programs on Radio National that could be of interest to them. Here you can often download both the audio and the printed version of a program - so listen and read along at the same time. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/

• Làm thế nào để nói chuyện với người bản xứ mà không phải đi tới nước đó:

  Đây là một chương của quyển ""Language Hacking Guide" của Benny Lewis, một blogger nổi tiếng về đi du lịch và nói được nhiều ngôn ngữ. Vì vấn đề bản quyền nên mình e ngại khi chia sẻ toàn bộ file pdf của quyển sách, mình chỉ chụp hình 1 chương đó ở đây:
  https://www.dropbox.com/s/dmp879geamt7wyy/Speaking%20without%20travelling.zip
  
  Xin lỗi các bạn đọc trước, mình chỉ copy nội dung bằng tiếng Anh và dán vào đây vì thời điểm này mình không đủ thời gian để dịch.
  
  

  • Couchsearch

    My favourite site to do this with is Couchsurfing. I’ve already talked about how useful Couchsurfing is for non-travellers for hosting speakers of that language and using the site’s frequent meet-ups to meet foreigners to practise with, but I’m talking about something different today. Do a “Couchsearch”.
    Log into the site (creating a profile is free of course, but take time to fill it out properly and add photos), and go to Advanced search. All you need to fill out is the language of interest and the city you live in. Couchsurfing has over two million members so it’s very likely you’ll find what you’re looking for.
    The vast majority of Couchsurfers can’t host, and many simply have their status set to Coffee or a drink. So I take them up on that. I ran a search for “Irish” in Medellin and saw another Éireannach and e-mailed him to meet up. Then I searched for “Hungarian” and a local who has intermediate level and specifically states on his profile that he wants to practise Hungarian, got an invitation to do precisely that. Finally when I searched for Esperanto in Medellin, the guy’s Couchsurfing profile was actually written in Esperanto!
    Now keep in mind that these are “uncommon” languages and I still found speakers! A search for German (I’m in South America remember!) for example, currently yields 72 results. What do you think the chances are that at least one would be up for having a coffee with me and speaking German?
    

    Many other networks

    Couchsurfing just happens to be a network I am very active in myself since I host Couchsurfers and am a traveller. But there are many social networking sites and you can do something very similar on many of them. You can even get around the lack of a language search by simply putting the language name into the search as it could be written on someone’s profile.
    Make sure to do several combinations when trying this. If I was searching for French here for example, I’d actually try writing three possibilities: French, français and francés (Original language, in English, and in the local language of Spanish in my case).
    If you are a part of an online university network, online chess players network or whatever it may be then try to search for the language and your city and you may be surprised! This has worked in combination with other websites that I’ll be talking about in more detail in other posts for other ways to meet people. Think of any social networking site, or website that connects people and see how you can search it for languages.
    Then there are language specific sites. Polyglot learn language for example is primarily a penpal site for language learners, but you can search for city and languages and I just found someone who speaks Hungarian in Medellin, but log ins on this site are less frequent so you may not get a reply depending on who you write to. Some sites like Livemocha let you search for countries but not cities. I got several results for Esperanto in Colombia, but they could be at the other side of the country. However, it’s a start.
    Listing all the possible sites you can do this on would make this post ridiculously long, but most popular websites that allow you to search and send messages can work fine to find people who speak or want to practise particular languages.
    
    http://www.fluentin3months.com/social-search/
    

    • Language meet-ups

    It’s important to remember that the purpose of a language is communication, and thus requires you to be social. If you are introvert, you should still try hard and there are many ways to get out there and meet new people. So, how do you meet natives or other learners? There are so many resources, that it’s impossible to list all of them as this depends on the city you live in. A little digging and you will find something. In the mean time, I can suggest a few websites and other resources that have been useful to me.
    Meetup.com This site’s goal is to gather people with similar interests, to get unplugged from the Internet and to actually meet up in person to share and discuss that interest. It has many regular meetings based on a huge range of interests and is especially popular in English speaking countries. One of those interests is of course languages and you may find that there is already a regular meeting for the language you wish to practise (usually meeting up in a bar or restaurant). If you don’t see a language meeting in your city then suggest one!
    Couchsurfing.org I have already written an entire post about how Couchsurfing can be used to learn languages, in such a way that is especially related to non-travellers! You can host natives of the language in your home for a couple of days, or if that idea scares you, then you can still be a part of an amazing international community by attending the regular meetings, or suggesting one, in the groups and meetings page of the site. These meetings already have an international crowd, which may have lots of people willing to speak the language you wish with them. But you are also more than welcome to suggest meetings especially to practise a particular language.
    Basically any modern social networking website (including Facebook; by searching for your city’s name + the language and then clicking “Events”, but especially by clicking “Groups”, e.g. French in London) can be searched for meet-ups that may include particular language meetings. And if they don’t, then take the initiative and create one! Or contact the members individually (without spamming or being a creepy guy only contacting girls) that are a part of a language interest group and ask that person if they want to meet up for an orange juice or coffee (or a beer if you must) and speak in the target language.
    It doesn’t have to be through a social networking site; you can put an ad up on Craigslist or your country’s equivalent (there are several in the links at the bottom of this page, as I discussed in trying to find accommodation). I’m sure there are other sites I have overlooked so feel free to mention them in the comments!
    Then of course, there are the ways that don’t require any use of the Internet! By word of mouth, or asking your friends you may see that someone shares a common interest in learning the same language and you can arrange to meet up to try to chat and practise whatever you know. You can also put up advertisements, especially in universities. If you feel you are ready to talk with a native, you can of course get private lessons, but to avoid paying for them, you could arrange for a tandem exchange.
    
    Link: http://www.fluentin3months.com/practise-a-language-without-travelling/
    Nếu bạn có thời gian, chắc chắn bạn nên đọc thêm trong các link trên hay blog của Benny.

Có rất nhiều cách để bạn tham gia và hòa nhập vào cuộc sống ở Úc.Get out there and embrace the opportunity while you're here. Some people wish they could learn English in an English-speaking country so while you're here, don't waste it.