Sydney, Australia
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Rebecca
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Todd
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Todd: Hey, Rebecca, can you talk a little bit about Australia and just your thoughts about your home country?
Rebecca: I guess I spend most of my time in Sydney, but one of the things l really love about Sydney is that it's very multicultural, so it's an interesting place to live because every day you can meet people from all around the world and on the bus going to work you can hear maybe five or six different languages around you. You can eat food from lots of different places and of course you can talk to people with all different sorts of points of view, different backgrounds. I think it's exciting for that reason.
Todd: So you're saying that Australia is basically a very multicultural place. Is this mainly just in the cities or is this all around Australia?
Rebecca: Well, to be honest, that is mostly just the cities. I guess the other really big thing I like about Australia is it's nature. Australia is a very clean and beautiful place. It has true wilderness, which is not very common in some countries in the world. You can go places and you will see nobody. I really do mean nobody. I love that, so you can go to a beach and you can be the only person there.
Todd: Actually, speaking of nature, you know, when you think of Australia you think of the Barrier Reef or maybe the jungles up north or like the desert in the middle. What landscapes have you been to?
Rebecca: Um, I'm really lucky actually because when I was a kid my parent took me out of school for a few months and we traveled all around Australia in a van so I got to see all different kinds of landscapes in Australia: desert, Barrier Reef, mountains, forests, anything, yeah, but actually most of Australia is desert so I've seen a lot of desert.
Todd: If you had to choose, besides Sydney where you're from, your favorite place in Australia, where would it be?
Rebecca: Mm, that's difficult. Probably somewhere with an island and a beautiful beach. Maybe not too many people but somewhere where I could go scuba-diving or snorkeling. That would be great.
Todd: OK, and where are the best beaches in Australia?
Rebecca: Everywhere. We've got so many you couldn't count them all. Yeah, Sydney has some lovely beaches but most of Australia has a coast so all the way around you can find a beach anywhere.
different sorts of
You can talk to people with all different sorts of points of view, different backgrounds.
'Different sorts of' is used to tell us that there are a
variety of things, in this case, points of view.
Notice the following:
- There are all sorts of different clothes in her wardrobe.
- I like to try different sorts of cuisines.
multicultural
You're saying that Australia is basically a very multicultural place.
When something is 'multicultural,' it means that it encompasses many different cultures and ways of thinking.
Notice the following:
- I go to a very multicultural school.
- The restaurant has lots of multicultural dishes.
all around
Is this mainly just in the cities or is this all around Australia.
If something is 'all around,' it means that it is everywhere and not just in one place.
Notice the following:
- The smell of the fresh flowers was all around.
- The gossip is all around school.
the other really big thing
I guess the other really big thing I like about Australia is its nature.
'The other really big thing' refers to another important topic
or subject that you want to talk about.
Notice the following:
- The other really big thing that you have to consider is the cost.
- The other really big thing is the length of time that it will take you to get there.
true wilderness
It has true wilderness, which is not very common in some countries in the world.
'True wilderness' refers to an area of a country where there is no civilization and nature has taken over.
Notice the following:
- I have always wanted to go camping in a true wilderness.
- There are very few true wildernesses left in the world.
Vocabulary Quiz
big thing • wilderness
