Australian English

Many students have difficulty understanding Australian English early in their stay but usually adjust to the accent and expressions after a couple of months. The pronunciation of many vowel sounds, Aussie intonation patterns (especially some speaker’s habits of ending statements with an upward intonation), articulation and speed of speech may all cause some initial problems that you will need to adjust your ear to.

There are also many new Australian words and expressions that you may hear in Australia, especially in informal and social situations. Many Australians use swear words to intensify their speech and colourful expressions, particularly comparisons and metaphor, to describe something vividly. Australians are usually very informal and like to joke, and Aussie English often also reflects this. You will hear Australians use many words and expressions that end in either an “ie” or “o” ending, and these are actually shortened and more affectionate or informal versions of standard English words. For example, “barbie”, “Aussie” and “footie” are common Australian colloquial words for “barbecue”, “Australian” and “football” while “arvo”, “compo” and “muso” are Aussie words for “afternoon”, “worker’s compensation” and “musician” respectively.

The following quotes from Malaysian students illustrate some of the above points:

“I find that Australians from the country tend to mumble a lot & when they speak they mumble and tend to end with a high pitch that sounds like a question mark and I always feel like I should respond to it, but I don’t know how to ...” Xaviera

“The Australian accent, when I first came here I thought it was really funny, especially how they pronounce….say “hi” to you they say “hoy” to you – its so funny and er and apart from that, they do tend to talk very fast. I have an Australian flat mate and when he talks most of the time I just smile at him, just nod my head, but half the time I don’t know what he is talking about, just nod my head, ‘cause it’s so fast.” Phillip

“I think I am adapting a lot [to Aussie English]. It’s OK. At first it was a big problem for me. It’s easier for me now.” Malaysian student

Australian-American Dictionary – PDF format