Lesson summary
Video transcript
Hi everyone. My name is Shane. Today you are going to learn how to speak Australian. Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking ‘Australian isn’t a language’ and you’re right. But if you come to Australia and you listen to Australians speaking to each other, you may think that Australian is a language because we like to use a lot of interesting words.
So in today’s video I am going to teach you the meaning of 25 words that Australians like to use. For example, ‘avo’, ‘biccy’ and ‘postie’. You will see five stories and you will learn five words from each story. So if you’re ready to start speaking like an Australian, let’s get started!
Story #1
You know what? Straya is a very interesting place. You can go down to the servo and see all types of people. You can see tradies. You can see posties. You can see doctors. Another thing you’ll always see at the servo is biccies. People from Straya love eating biccies. Last week there was a story in the newspaper about tradies and posties trading biccies. Can you believe that?
Okay let’s talk about the words. The speaker said ‘Straya’. Straya means Australia. The speaker also said you can go somewhere. He said you can go to a ‘servo’. A servo is a service station. A service station is a place where you can buy petrol for your car and snacks.
What types of people can you see at a servo? You can see tradies and you can see posties. Now a tradie is a tradesperson. A tradesperson is someone who works in the building industry. For example, someone like an electrician or a plumber.
Now a postie is a postman. A postman’s job is to deliver mail. Now another thing you may see at a servo is biccies. A biccy is a biscuit. A biscuit is a small, flat round cake like you can see right here.
Story #2
The only way to get to the footy is by taking a taxi. If you walk to the footy, you may meet a roo or two. Whenever you see a roo in Australia, they always have a cuppa. Maybe that’s why they always have a lot of energy. The only problem with having a cabbie pick you up is they might not be able to find your house. That’s okay though because I am a muso. I normally just stand at the front of my house and play some music. Cabbies never miss that.
Okay let’s talk about the five words. The speaker said the only way to get to the footy is by taking a taxi. Footy means football. The sport that you can see on the screen right now. The problem with walking to the footy is that you might meet a roo. Just like that one there! Did you see that? Now a roo is a kangaroo. A kangaroo.
The speaker also said that roos normally have a cuppa. A cuppa is a cup of tea. Now another problem was that a cabbie may not be able to find your house. A cabbie is a cab driver or a taxi driver. The speaker said he was a muso. A muso is a musician. Someone who plays music for a job.
Story #3
Maccas is one of the best places to go if you need something quick to eat. It’s funny though because last week I went to Maccas in the arvo and they tried to see me an avo. I said no to the avo but then they tried to sell me a choccy. I was a bit confused because I didn’t know Maccas sold avos and choccies. I actually went back to Maccas s’arvo and there was not an avo or a choccy to be seen. Maybe I was dreaming. Oh! Sorry guys! I was having the weirdest dream!
Okay! Let’s talk about the five words from that story. The first word was Maccas. Maccas means McDonald’s. Now when did the speaker go to Maccas? He went in the arvo. Arvo means afternoon.
What did they try to sell the speaker at Maccas? They tried to sell him an avo and a choccy. An avo is an avocado and a choccy is a chocolate. And when was the last time that the speaker went to Maccas? He went s’arvo. S’arvo means this arvo and arvo means afternoon so s’arvo means this afternoon.
Mini review
Okay time for a quick mini review. You have learned 15 new words today in English so quickly have a look at the meanings again and then we will look at the last two stories for today. The meanings will be on the screen for five seconds.
Story #4
I was using my lappy today and I saw the weirdest thing. There was a man inside a bottle-o asking to buy a chewy. The shop attendant was devo that the man didn’t want to buy any alcohol so he called the police. The police asked the man if he was drunk and the man replied ‘Defo. I’m defo drunk.’
Okay let’s talk about the five words. The first word was lappy. Lappy means laptop. Now the man saw someone inside a bottle-o on his lappy. A bottle-o is short for bottle shop. A bottle shop is a liquor shop. A place where you can buy alcohol, wine, beer and spirits.
The man wanted to buy a chewy. A chewy is a piece of chewing gum. Now the shop attendant felt devo about this. Devo means devastated. If you’re devastated about something, it means you’re really unhappy or really upset.
And the finally the police were called and they asked the man if he was drunk. The man replied ‘Defo.’ Defo means definitely. Definitely can sometimes be used to answer a question as ‘yes’.
Story #5
A garbo and an ambo are sitting down together eating lunch. The ambo has a toastie and the garbo has a pizza. The ambo says to the garbo ‘You must use a lot of petty in your truck.’ The garbo replied ‘Yeah I do but sometimes if I need a little bit more power, I give the truck a tinny.’ The ambo replied ‘Oh! That’s not very healthy for your truck!’ The garbo replied ‘It’s fine! The truck is used to it by now!’ The ambo replied ‘Well, that explains why your truck looks pretty drunk.’
Okay let’s talk about the five words from that story. The first two words were garbo and ambo. A garbo is a garbage truck driver. An ambo is an ambulance driver. The ambo was eating a toastie. A toastie is a toasted sandwich.
Now the ambo said to the garbo ‘Your truck must use a lot of petty.’ Petty means petrol or in America they would say ‘gas’ or ‘gasoline’. And the garbo said if his truck needs more power, he gives the truck a tinny. A tinny is a can of beer. We call it a tinny because cans of beer normally come in tin cans.
Challenge
Okay you have learned 25 new words today. Quickly look at the meaning of all of these words again and then I have a little challenge for you. The meanings will be up on the screen for five seconds. I hope you can see that after watching this lesson, Australians love to shorten words. So my challenge for you is to write a story in the comments using five of the words that you have learned today. I can’t wait to read your story and I will see you in the next video.
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