Flame Trees – song by Cold Chisel

Flame Trees” is a song by Australian pub rock band Cold Chisel from their 1984 album Twentieth Century. It is one of their best known songs, and was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and organist Don Walker.

According to the band’s official website, Walker’s inspiration for the lyrics was a combination of his memories of Grafton where he had lived as a youth, and of his romantic dreams.  It’s really a story of love, regrets about “the one who got away”, and realising that you can never go back to the way things used to be.

The song title refers to Illawarra Flame Trees which grow on the east coast of Australia and often line roads. They turn vivid red in late spring when flowering.

These song lyrics can be used to teach vocabulary and the music video shows a typical Australian country town.   Continue reading to watch music videos and read the lyrics.

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The Australian Food Challenge

A saw a list of Australian foods titled “Australian Food Challenge” asking how many items you have tried. I made a PowerPoint showing these foods. But first of all, which of these have you tried? Read on to see the list.

Talking about the future in English

I wrote this post to share a 4 page document on talking about the future.    There are many ways to talk about the future in English depending on the purpose. In this document I give reasons for using the following forms, with examples of positive and negative sentences, and questions.

Australian and American English – 6 Confusing Words

This blog post is for sharing a short video about six words which have different meanings in Australian and American English. Enjoy!

Continue reading to see the video on YouTube and a transcript of the video.

Where did Australia get its name? (Video)

Here is a video about how Australia got its name and why it is called Down Under.

The Vocabulary of Mobile Phones

This article is a summary of vocabulary I have taught on the topic of smart phones.

A mobile phone a telephone with access to a cellular network  system so it can be used over a wide area, without a physical connection to a network.   Before mobile phones there were land-line phones. In Australia we call it a “mobile” and in America they call them cell-phones.

A smart phone is a mobile phone that performs many of the functions of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, camera, and an operating system capable of running downloaded apps (programs downloaded from the Apple iStore or Google Play). A user needs to find a service provider and a plan of which there are many kinds – prepaid, SIM Only, or a monthly plan. Often there is a contract which includes the purchase of the phone.

The main service providers in Australia are Telstra, Optus, Virgin and  Vodaphone . Do you use another provider? Let me know in the comments.

What do you call smart phone in other languages?   keita-denwa (Japanese),  handphone 핸드폰 Handeupon  (Korean),  teléfono móvil (Spanish),  cellular (Portuguese).

How did Australia get its name?

The name Australia comes from the Latin word Australis which means Southern.

As far back as the 2^nd century there were legends of an unknown southern land  –  Terra Australis Incognita (Latin).  It was believed there had to be a large land mass in the south to balance the Northern land mass of Europe.