Which country to visit?

[N4D13]

Hi! I'm looking into English courses in summer - if you've read any of my previous messages, I'm pretty sure you know why I need them. I've looked into several possible destinations and the most interesting ones were Australia (Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane), New Zealand (Auckland) and Canada (Toronto or Vancouver).

Australia and New Zealand look like really nice places to visit, but travelling there might be a pain in the @$$. It's not just expensive (plane tickets cost no less than 1600 euro), but I'd also have to spend around forty hours in airports or planes, which isn't really nice either. Anyway, for some reason, these countries are the ones I fancy the most, so, please, tell me - are they really worth visiting*? Which city would you choose?

* I know there's a lot of Australians on this forum. Please don't jump at me! I'm sure Australia (and also New Zealand) are absolutely worth visiting - I'd just love to hear why.

[Rollo]

If you're a traveller, depending how long you have, New Zealand is a better place to take a holiday in. Both Australia and New Zealand are broadly similar but NZ is a lot lot smaller. Australia is vast and unwieldy with vast distances to get anywhere.

[N4D13]

If you're a traveller, depending how long you have, New Zealand is a better place to take a holiday in. Both Australia and New Zealand are broadly similar but NZ is a lot lot smaller. Australia is vast and unwieldy with vast distances to get anywhere.

Thanks for that! I'll try to keep it in mind.

[Mark]

I'd say your written English is better than a lot of native speakers I've seen here and elsewhere!

[pino]

New Zealand on top of my list too followed by Japan

ps: and how is my English Mark ?

[odykas]

I'd be tempted to go down under

[Mark]

ps: and how is my English Mark ?

'orrible

[schmenke]

... Australia is vast and unwieldy with vast distances to get anywhere.

Similar to Canada, although with more agreeable weather : .

Stay away from Toronto. Big ugly city

Vancouver is nice although it would be easier to learn Mandarin there .

Montreal would be my choice .

[Gregor-y]

I'd say Montreal and Quebec City; I need to visit up there myself. Plus everyone will be driving on the right side of the road.

[janvanvurpa]

Vancouver. It is in a wonderful location, nature bursts out of the Northern side of the metro area:


NZ has beautiful nature too but not a bus ride from downtown.

OZ you would mainly learn some of the 75 or more words for what most spend therir time doing when they quaffed too many frosty flaggons of the local ale
barf – bark at the ants – blow chunks – blow groceries – bob – boke it – boot – boot and rally – bow down before the porcelain god – bow down to the porcelain god – bow to the porcelain queen – burl – cack – call dinosaurs – call Earl – call for Huey – call for O'Rourke – call Huey down the big white telephone – call Ralph on the big white phone – call Ralph on the big white telephone – call Ralph on the porcelain phone – call the whales – call Uncle Ralph on the big porcelain telephone – call up some dinosaurs – chuck – chuck (one's) cookies – chunder – cry Ruth – de-food – dial the porcelain phone – do the Technicolor yawn – drive the porcelain bus – dry heave – earl – fail a fortitude save – feed the fish – fergle – gack – gag – gragg – heave – Hendrix – honk – honk Smurfs – horf – hork – hughie – hug the porcelain goddess – hug the throne – hug the toilet – hurl – kak – kiss ralph – laugh at the ground – laugh at the toilet – launch lunch – liquid laugh – lose (one's) lunch – multicolor yawn – paint the walls – pash the porcelain princess – pray to Dionysus – pray to porcelain gods – pray to the great ceramic idol – pray to the porcelain god – pray to the porcelain gods – psychedelic yawn – puke – ralph – readjust fluids – retch – see (one's) lunch again – sell the Buick – shomit – shout for Hughie – speak Dutch – spew – tactical chunder – talk to Ralph on the big white telephone – Technicolor yawn – throw up – toilet hanging drunk – toss a sidewalk pizza – toss cookies – toss (one's) cookies – uneat – un-swallow – upchuck – url – urp – vurp – whistle beef – woof (one's) cookies – worship the ivory idol – worship the porcelain god – worship the porcelain goddess – yack – yarf – yark – yawn in Technicolor – yodel groceries – york


Australian English Glossary from A to Zed

So if you want to have a good time go to OZ, but after you're drunk as a skunk and collapsed face down in a pool of spew, you might not learn a lot of useful English.

Now Vancouver (and my city Seattle just 220km South into the best part of America) are amazingly situated and offer everything from the sea to the Northern most rainforests in the world to alpine areas and glaciers to prairie in just a few hours drive. I have been from sea level and 25*C and sunny to in a snow storm and 5m visibility just 25 minutes drive later.