10
Nov
2009
English for Tourism and Hospitality
Tourism and Hospitality
Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes, defined by the World Tourism Organisation as people who travel and stay in places other than their normal environment, for more than 24 hours and less than one consecutive year, for the purpose of leisure. Tourism can involve both relaxation and learning, participating in activities such as extreme sports or experimenting with local cuisine, exploring natural landmarks or visiting historic buildings. Hospitality is the practice of receiving and entertaining guests, and the industry covers hotels, restaurants, resorts, and places that offer tourist activities.
Hospitality and tourism often make up a substantial part of a country’s national income, depending on the opportunities and services available to tourists and the popularity of the destination. The tourist industry includes a vast array of goods and services, from transportation services, to amusement parks, shopping centres, cruise ships and more.
English Courses for Tourism
English courses that are designed for those wanting to work in the tourism and hospitality industries cover basic English skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as more specific topics. Topics covered could include types of accommodation, dealing with guests and tourists, handling customer complaints, learning related vocabulary to answer the phone and arrange tours, etc. They could also be very specific courses, such as English and Surfing.
One of the great ways to learn English for tourism is to study overseas and actually combine your studies with tourist activities. So for example, if you study at an English college on the Gold Coast, you could learn English related to activities such as marine sports (fishing, surfing, jet skiing, scuba diving), theme parks or sightseeing. Or if studying at a college in Sydney, you could learn how to interact with people actually working in the tourism and hospitality industries, including public transport officers, waiters, tour guides and so on.
21
Aug
2009
Studying English in Brisbane
Brisbane, QLD
Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia, after Sydney and Melbourne. It is the capital of Queensland, and is located in the southeast corner of the state along the Brisbane River. The CBD lies along the river, and is a walkable 2.2km with continual riverside tracks. The city has a humid subtropical climate, which means that it is always beach weather! The summers are hot and humid, while the winters are dry and mild. The city was named after Sir Thomas Brisbane, the Governor of New South Wales from 1821 - 1825, and was first settled by European freemen in 1842 (previously a penal colony). The land was originally occupied by the indigenous Turrbal people, who called the area Mian-jin.
Brisbane is a great place to both visit and live in, and is in fact a major tourist destination which plays a major role in the state’s economy. Some popular tourist sites include the City Botanic Gardens, Brisbane Forest Park, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the Story Bridge and the South Bank Parklands. The Story Bridge is one of the oldest bridges in Australia, and spans 250m across the Brisbane River. The South Bank Parklands is an entertainment precinct providing entertainment, cafes, restaurants, man-made beaches and playgrounds. Some of Brisbane’s major industries include financial services, information technology, higher education, petroleum refining, paper milling, metalworking, as well as tourism as mentioned above.
Studying in Brisbane
Brisbane has much to offer students whether they are domestic or international students, local Queenslanders or from other states, wanting to study at university, a TAFE college, or language college. Its universities include the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. Other Australian universities that have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University and the University of the Sunshine Coast. Other education providers include three TAFE colleges, the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, and Jschool.