Chapter 3 – Introducing the basic family words in English
The third chapter of Emily and Lucas – A Journey to Australia is essentially an introduction to some of the most commonly used “family words” in the English language. The opening sentence of this chapter tells us that the “twins” Emma and Lucas accompany their “mum” and “dad” to visit some of their “relatives”. It is worth mentioning that there are many other variants of “mother” and “father”, but in Australia, “mum” and “dad” are by far the most common. Chapter 3 also introduce the twin’s “cousin”, his “wife”, their “baby boy” and another young “daughter” as well as their “uncle” and “aunt” with a closing reference to the twin’s father’s “son” (i.e. Lucas).
“In Australia, “mum” and “dad” are by far the most commonly used terms for mother and father…”
Other important family words worth learning
In addition to the common family words you’ll find in this chapter, you will benefit from being familiar with a few others:
– child
– brother
– sister
– sibling
– grandfather / grandpa
– grandmother / grandma
Words of wisdom from Emma and Lucas’ father
In our story, the twin’s dad reminds his son and daughter to be “polite to strangers” and to “practice the speaking the local language“, stating an obvious fact that “…most people in Australia speak English,”
Australia is home to an estimated 1 million Chinese speaking people, and it is reasonable to assume that of these, up to several hundred thousand speak limited English or no English at all. As such, if you’re travelling from China to Australia, it won’t be difficult for you to find other Chinese speaking locals to link up with. However, beyond the familiar social contact, travellers will obviously get more out of their trip if they make an effort to use the English they already know.
Benefits of learning the most common family words in English
Reality English Coaching’s tutoring model lays a foundation by teaching our students over a thousand of the most commonly used words and expressions in the English language – with an emphasis on the way English is commonly spoken in Australia. From our experience with delivering our 3-month online coaching program, once a student has mastered the basic words and concepts, it’s relatively easy to “expand” from there. To emphasise the importance of mastering the most commonly used family words in English, we encourage you to imagine yourself (as a young Chinese national) visiting Australia. You make friends with one of the locals, who invites you for a Saturday barbeque, where some of their family will be present. As a foreigner with limited English, noone would reasonably expect you to be able to converse non-stop on an expansive variety of topics. But hopefully you can at least understand and provide a simple answer to questions like …
– What does your dad do (for work) ?
– Where do your parents live?
– Does your mum call you often?
– Do you have any brothers and sisters?
– Have any of your relatives ever been here?
It definitely pays to learn some English before you travel!
Below you can listen to the entire audio of Chapter 3.