Learn about Australian Cities

Today and in the next lessons, you're going to learn about some Australian cities by listening to people who describe them to you and by doing some research yourself.

You're going to find an mp3-file for each city together with some activities on the Podcards Website. The name of the site is a pun (Wortspiel) on the words “podcast” and “postcard” because every podcast on the site is like a postcard from a different place.

How to work

Read the following tips carefully before you start working.

• You can work at your own speed but keep an eye on the time. For most tasks, there's information about how long they should roughly take.
• To listen to an mp3-file, right-click it and choose Ziel speichern unter. Save the file in your Eigene Dateien folder and open it from there by double-clicking once the download has finished.
• The Podcards have different levels of difficulty. If you find one of them too difficult, choose a different one.
• You should also use the online dictionary dict.cc to look up any unknown words. Write them down in your vocabulary book.
• For this whole activity, it's best to use the Firefox browser and open this task page, the Podcards site, the dictionary and the other sites which you're going to use in different tabs so you can have them open side-by-side while you're working. (Learn about using Tabs in Firefox.)

So your working material for the next couple of lessons is:

1. this task sheet,
2. the Podcards website,
3. the online dictionary,
4. the flickr photo website,
5. a map of Australian cities, and
6. your exercise book.

Overview

The tasks below can be divided into different sections:

Task 10 is optional (= freiwillig) if you finish earlier than your class mates.

Now let's get going!

Tasks

1. Start out by listening to three different Podcards. Choose from the following cities (and look them up on the map):
   • Canberra,
   • Darwin,
   • Alice Springs,
   • Melbourne, and
   • Perth
   Don't pay attention to details yet, just get an overview. Then choose one city that sounds most interesting to you and listen to the Podcard once again. (c. 10-15 min)
2. Have you understood the main points? Make sure by doing the two activities that come with each Podcard (click the “Worksheet” link at the bottom of the Podcard). There is also a transcript (= written version) of each Podcard but don't read it yet (c. 10 min).
3. Check your answers with the help of the transcript for the Podcard you listened to. You can find it below Activity 2 (c. 10 min).
4. Summarise your text by making notes about it in your exercise book. (c. 10 min).
5. Get a visual (= optisch) impression of the city you chose. Go to the flickr search page and find photos from this city. (The search field is in the top right-hand corner of the page. The search works best if you use two search terms, e.g. “darwin, australia”)
6. Browse (= stöbern) through the photos for a couple of minutes, then choose three pictures that you like best and save them to your Eigene Dateien folder (right-click an image, then choose Bild speichern unter...). Make sure you use the largest version of the image and not just a small thumbnail (= Vorschaubild).
7. Find a partner who chose a different city. Tell each other about “your” city and use your notes to help you speaking. Show each other the pictures you chose to illustrate your talk. Explain to each other, what the photos show and why you picked them. Each of you should speak for about 2-3 minutes.
8. Find our more about the city you chose at Wikipedia on one of the following pages:
   • Canberra
   • Darwin
   • Alice Springs
   • Melbourne
   • Perth
   Don't look too long for information, try to get an impression and the most important facts in about 10 minutes.
9. Add information from Wikipedia to your speaking notes so that you can present “your” city to your class mates. First, you should give them an overview of the city, then you could talk about the following questions (or similar ones):
   • Why did you choose this city?
   • What's interesting about it?
   • Would you like to visit it?
   • What time of the year would be good for a holiday trip there and why?
   • What could you do on such a visit?
   • ...
10. [Have you finished before the others?]
    While you're waiting for your class mates to finish their work, you can learn about another beautiful spot in Australia: Kangaroo Island.
    • Go to the Podcards website once again.
    • Listen to the Podcard on Kangaroo Island.
    • Find out where the island is located and why it is such a special place (look out for information on wildlife and national parks especially).
    • Enjoy some photographs of Kangaroo Island on the flickr website.
11. [With the whole class]
    Tell your class mates about your city by giving them a mini-presentation (about 3-4 min). Use your notes to help you speak in a well-structured way. You can also print out the photos you downloaded to illustrate your talk.
12. [Homework]
    Write an essay about your city based on your notes. The essay should introduce the city you chose, name the basic information (Where in Australia is it? How large is it? What's the climate like?) and then describe some interesting aspects of it.