I’m chatting in English to a medical student from Germany who is visiting Sydney, Australia, and we’ve already talked about how I lived in Germany for a while and speak…
Hanna TorshMay 15, 2012
Many things have changed in Australia since I first came here in the mid-1990s. One of these is a noticeable increase in displays of national ardour: for instance, there is…
Ingrid PillerApril 20, 2012
Inside Story has a must-read article about language testing for citizenship in Australia today Citizenship for beginners The Howard government made it harder for some nationalities to become citizens, and…
Ingrid PillerApril 16, 2012
Erosion caused by rabbits in a gully in South Australia I’ve spent this morning decorating Easter eggs and making origami Easter bunnies with my child. Tomorrow I’m going to host an Easter egg hunt and in…
Ingrid PillerApril 7, 2012
Cabramatta, Australia Last week an email was sent around my office about our upcoming Harmony Day celebration on 21 March. The email suggested that to mark the occasion, interested staff could…
Sheila PhamMarch 21, 2012
Have you recently had a manicure or a pedicure? I haven’t. In fact, I’ve never been to a nail salon in my life. Until about a decade ago that would…
Ingrid PillerFebruary 27, 2012
It is now widely agreed that human beings have moved into a phase of modernity in which they have to tackle the extreme dynamism in modern institutions and provide an…
Vahid ParvareshFebruary 11, 2012
USD 254,000: that is the cost of raising two children bilingually in English and German in Denver, Colorado. That’s a lot of money, and inspired me to do some number-crunching…
Ingrid PillerNovember 25, 2011
Recently, I watched a TV documentary about the proliferation of Nomura jellyfish in Japanese coastal waters. It was a shocking tale of the devastating environmental, economic, social and human impact…
Ingrid PillerOctober 19, 2011
In the past three decades attention has shifted from communicative competence to discourse as a frame for understanding the challenges faced by language learners. Yet, the question of how stereotyping…
Vahid ParvareshOctober 12, 2011
Corporate double-speak is plummeting to ever lower depths and is insinuating itself into every aspect of our lives. Many see through this sustained assault on our collective intelligence, no doubt.…
Ingrid PillerAugust 21, 2011
“PR” is probably one of the abbreviations I have heard most since coming to Australia. Despite the fact that PR – “permanent residence” for the non-initiated - is the much-coveted…
Grace Chu-Lin ChangAugust 5, 2011
Much of my work in recent years around language learning and migrant settlement has questioned the straightforward link between language learning and settlement success. Policy makers as well as migrants…
Ingrid PillerJune 6, 2011
Recently, the British royal wedding made international front-page news. It was globally portrayed as an auspicious occasion for the world to remember; much like a well-written fairy-tale. The outcome was record-breaking:…
Vahid ParvareshMay 12, 2011
Richard Lemon Memorial at Lemon Hill, TAS On The Science Show they recently had a program about how unfamiliar sounds, rhythms and tonalities can drive people crazy. I learnt that…
Ingrid PillerMay 6, 2011
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