Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Dear All,

Thank you for your hard work and support throughout the year.

IIA is closing from 27 DEC 2010 to 9 JAN 2011.

Enjoy your 2 weeks Christmas Holiday.

All the best for 2011.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! 

[Student's Essay] Who won the Gingerbread house?

Hi guys, we had a Gingerbread house competition last week.

Guess who won the gingerbread house?

<Raul & Zoe, Elementary teacher>

Raul from Elementary class won the Gingerbread house!!! He wrote a very interesting story :)

You will enjoy and laugh at the characters of this story if you know who the people are in real life.

This is a True Story!

It's about Gingerbread houses and their power dangers. In a little country very far away from here, a certain type of Gingerbread houses dwell in the jungle. Anyone who catches them becomes very sick and dies. In this country there was a dude that liked to go hunting the damned gingerbread houses in order to exterminate them.

But the real problem was the man who was making them and our dude had been looking for him for ten years. He finally found him in a city named Brisbane, where this ruthless person lived, his name was "Darth David"and his major weapon was hypnosis by grammar, he has two very wicked assistants, their names are Pam and Zoe, their major weapon was homework from the red book.

The wicked staff worked in an institute named IIA. When the dude came to the institute the evil "Darth David" was making the gingerbread houses in a classroom with his two malicious assistants that have caught a few poor Chinese guys with their homework of the page 65 & 92.

When our dude entered the classroom everyone was impressed so they asked him "who are you?" but he didn't speak any English, Darth David immediately offered our dude a general English course. After some negotiations our hero accepted the course with a 25% discount.

Sadly, after the events, our dude completely forgot about his mission.

P.S. Gingerbread houses keep still killing people with their bad flavour!!



Surprising Birthday Party!!

Celebration is the theme to our module in Upper Intermediate class this week.

As it turned out, we had a good reason to celebrate because it was Danila’s birthday.

Today we began our class by surprising Danila with balloons and a birthday song from her classmates.

We had a wonderful Celebration buffet with foods such as….

Brigadeiro, Coxinha, Bolinho de Queijo and Good old Aussie Chocolate Mud Cake!  

Soooooo delicious!

We mingled for a while, played a couple of Christmas songs….

And then it was time for grammar J

News from our Upper-Intermediate Class :)
 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Win the IIA Gingerbread House!!!

The IIA Gingerbread house goes to the writer of the best Christmas story...

Your story must be between 150-200 words and include :

                                                             - IIA

                                                             - Brisbane

                                                             - Christmas

                                                             - Gingerbread House

The winner will be announced Friday 17th of December

IIA Christmas Party just finished!

3 Dec. 2010. The IIA Christmas BBQ party  just finished!

Delicious BBQ sausages, salads, drinks and snacks!  All for IIA students!

It was not just a normal BBQ party. We also had a lucky draw for all the students.

Some students received Christmas prizes like $50 gift cards,

a free airport pick up voucher, gingerbread and so on....

Natalia said "I got a prize!!!"

All our students, teachers and staff had a fun day.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!



[Student's Essay] My First Impression Of Brisbane's City

MY FIRST IMPRESSION OF BRISBANE’S CITY

Beautiful! That was my first impression when I arrived in Brisbane.

It was late at night, but that wasn’t a problem because I could see all the lights in the city, the buildings and the calm of the river. It was very nice.

Brisbane is wonderful, you can find a lot of different things to do, my first day here was an absolutely shock! Because the first thing I noticed when I got on the bus to come to the city was the diversity of people. There were many different nationalities on the bus and there are even more in the city.

I am certain that coming to Brisbane was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. And choosing international institute of Australia to study was even better! The standard of education is really high, and all the staff and teachers are incredible, always trying to help you to improve your English or with anything else you need.

There are a lot of things waiting to be discovered, people to meet and things to learn. I hope enjoy this opportunity as the much as I can.

Victoria from our Intermediate class

IIA Christmas BBQ party!!!

• DAY:            Friday 3rd December
• TIME:           12:00pm
• LOCATION:   7th Floor
• COST:          FREE to all current IIA STUDENTS

             Delicious BBQ sausages, salads, drinks and snacks!
             You will enjoy a HOT christmas party!! Also, there are Prizes to be won!!!!!

             ** See our BBQ party photos  => http://iia-diary.blogspot.com/2010/09/iia-bbq-party.html **

Christmas FREE events in Brisbane!

Hey guys, Christmas is coming soon!!

I guess this is the first Christmas in Australia for many of our students. You must be excited already! 

Christmas in Australia is celebrated during our Summer Months. No snow and log fires for us, though our Christmas Cards and traditions usually depict those of colder climates. Australia is a multicultural country and with this, our traditions are often mingled and derived from a mixture of other countries.

Do you have any plans for Christmas? Brisbane has a lot of exciting events for FREE before Christmas.

Don't miss out on these exciting events!

Lighting of the Christmas tree

* Dates : Fri 3 December 2010
* Times : 6:45pm
* Venue : King George Square
                 (between Adelaide Street and Ann Street, Brisbane CBD)

Join Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, a host of special guests and Santa for the lighting of the Brisbane City Christmas tree.

Entertainment for the event will feature performance excerpts from Queensland Ballet’s The Nutcracker and plenty of your favourite Christmas carols. Presented by Brisbane City Council

IGA Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols in the City

* Dates : Sat 4 December 2010
* Times : 7:30pm; gates open 5pm
* Venue : River Stage
                 (City Botanic Gardens, Alice Street, Brisbane CBD)

Come and join the stars as we celebrate the reason for the season at the Brisbane Riverstage on Saturday 4th December 2010 the IGA Lord Mayor's Christmas Carols.
Stars for the night include Stan Walker, Paulini, James Morrison, Emma Pask, Colin Buchanan, The Idea of North, Troy Cassar-Daley plus many, many more.

World by Night

* Dates : Fri 10 December 2010
* Times : 7pm - 9pm
* Venue : King George Square
                 (between Adelaide Street and Ann Street, Brisbane CBD)

Take a trip around the world in Brisbane’s own backyard!

BEMAC are pleased to present the city’s best world music, including a special performance by the winner of 2010’s Q Song World Music category.
Bring a blanket and stretch out under the stars, or kick up your heels and tango. Take your pick from the amazing array of food from across the globe; discerning Christmas shoppers can browse for gifts with a world flavour.
http://www.bemac.org.au/ Presented by BEMAC and Brisbane City Council

If you need any more activities or Christmas event information,

please talk to our student service officer Erika.

[Teacher's Story] A few things you may not know about me

 A few things you may not know about me:

I went to 5 different primary schools and two high schools. My father was in the Royal Australian Air Force when I was young so we moved around a lot. I have lived in NSW and Victoria but I am proud to call myself a Queenslander! I’ve been in Brisbane for more than 15 years now.

I have also spent a lot of time abroad. In 2003, when I was 20, I went on a 12-month working holiday to Ireland and met some of my mother’s aunts, uncles and cousins. I came home to finish my tertiary studies in International Business and Japanese at Griffith University and then went back to London for another 14 months. In my travels I visited several countries including France, Spain, Scotland, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the USA. There are still many places I would like to visit especially South America, Japan, and Italy. 

The most exciting place I’ve visited is Villamarxante, near Valencia in Spain. In August they have a really big party that lasts for a whole month. They have parades, fireworks and bulls running around the streets. I got to light the horns of one of the bulls on fire so that at night the people could see it coming.
  

I think I am a good example of your typical Australian female. I love to play outdoors. I love camping, hiking, rock climbing, going to the beach and playing soccer. I love the Australian way of life and although I still want to see other parts of the world, Queensland will always be home to me!

[Student's Essay] Impression of Brisbane

Having grown in a little place where mountains and plains are the only thing that fill one's eyesight, skyscrapers and tall edifice of modern world are never been a part of my vision since then. Brisbane has all that. It is a place where people of different races seem to rush everyday. It’s a busiest place to be in. The coolest place I have been to as its temperature is degrees below to what I have been used to.

Modernized is the word I can associate Brisbane with.  The tall buildings and modern infrastructures around the city are the things modern world has. This is the first thing that caught my attention the first time I step and it still continues to amaze me until today.

Also, it’s hard not to notice how busy this city is. People are rushing to work every morning with their suitcases and cups of coffee. They walk very fast like there always something they have to catch.

Brisbane temperature is way too cold that keeps me wearing jacket everyday.  It goes degrees below compare to the humid and tropical temperature of Philippines. However, it is not cold enough that I have to light a fire inside the room.

Having been here is the best treat life has presented to me. The experience and the good things it has brought surpass all the inconvenience it may have caused, if there is any.

Dante Bacareza

Upper Intermediate class

IIA goes Flexible Learning Program

Well the wait is over.  Beginning on the 15 of November 2010 IIA will be entering into a new era by offering 3 Streams for students in order to maximize their study as well as leisure/work time while in Brisbane.

Starting Date  :  General English 15th Nov 2010
                        IELTS Direct     10th Jan 2011

We understand that coming to Australia is not just about studying English but the out of school experience also.  The whole student journey needs balance between study, leisure and work so we painstakingly devised a new system to meet those 3 needs.

Students can choose to either study 20 hours per week in the morning, afternoon or evening stream depending on their lifestyle. 

Time Table

• 20 contact hours per week.

• Optional supervised self study before or after class.

To make sure every second counts while at IIA we also revised our class content to provide a more intensive, practical and enjoyable experience.  Increasing intensity while decreasing time was a challenge but we will actually improve on our current high quality due to the flexibility of the new system. 

Some changes for General English:

• 5 Different elective classes per week for Intermediate to Advanced classes in addition to Core studies
• More practical out of class teaching.
• Grammar workshops in addition to class times.
• Skill development classes for Elementary and Pre-Intermediate levels focusing on Survival English in addition to Core studies to help new students adapt to living in Australia
• Classroom excursions (monthly) E.g. Art gallery, library & Farmers markets balancing classroom theory with real life practice

IELTS Direct Examination Preparation Course (6weeks)
Platinum Program :

• The big change here is that weekly mock tests will be run every week after or before class to provide authentic examination practice.  IELTS students can do as many tests as they wish during their course so that a level of comfort and understanding can be reached before they do the real thing.
• Intake Dates 2011 : 10 JAN, 21 FEB, 04 APR, 16 MAY, 27 JUN, 08 AUG, 19 SEP, 31 OCT

Another benefit is that more students will allow for more activities and we are all brainstorming some great ideas for the future.

I have just briefly outlined some of the great changes occurring at IIA but rest assured we aim to make 2011 an even bigger year for IIA and its students. 

David Hlupic

Director of Studies



Who is the winner of Murder Game??

Did you have a fun Halloween weekend?

Just before Halloween, IIA students had a fun friday afternoon.

Delicious snacks and drinks!

Our halloween game: making a mummy in 5 minutes...
Ready, set, GO! 

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5 minutes later!!!

Who do you think is the best Mummy?

1. Sweety Mummy with candies - Ana Paula

2.One-eyed Mummy - Erin

3. Sexy Mummy - Pam

4. Terminator Mummy - Andres

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The winner is Terminator Mummy!!!

Do you remember our Murder game? (refering to " Halloween Week - Murder Game")

Friday was the last day of the game. Guess who was the person with the most knives?

See how many people they killed!!!

The winners were Andres and Ana Paula. They killed 18 students each. Good job!!

They got gift vouchers for a Brisbane city cruise. Congratulations!!

It was a fun and exciting Halloween week at IIA!
Everyone tried to survive the game at school and got to know each other.

[Student's Essay] Scholarship at IIA

Hi everybody my name is MARCELA, I’m from Colombia. I have been in Brisbane for 15 months and here at I.I.A for 6 months.

 Last month something great happened to me, I.I.A. awarded me a scholarship. This means I can stay longer and learn more English.

Sometimes I think why me?
I think back to when I first arrived here in Brisbane, when I couldn’t say any words in English. It’s very difficult when you try to express what you like or dislike and you can’t think of the right words.

Now it is better for me at I.I.A. My English has improved. I’ve met many lovely people from different countries.
Every day I learn new things, the teachers correct my English and help me to improve.
I would like to say to every one “ENJOY EVERY DAY OF YOUR STAY HERE IN AUSTRALIA. This experience will change your future for the better if you let it. This is one of the most incredible experiences you can have."

Our first scholarship student Marcela

Halloween Week - Murder Game

Hi guys, Halloween week is coming soon.

Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31st. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day, but is today largely a secular celebration.
Common Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, ghost tours, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching horror films.(from wikipedia)

We are going to play a fun game for this special week with all IIA students. Here are the rules for our "Murder Game"

Remember!
The game must be played inside the school building (Don't kill your friends outside of school!)
The time is from 8:30am to 5pm
The game will start on Monday the 25th of October and finish on Friday the 29th.
The goal is to obtain more knives than the other students by the last day

Rules
- Each student will receive a knife with another student’s name on it.
- You must “kill” the student whose name is on your knife.
- To “kill” someone you must get that person alone and say, “you’re dead”. (If another student sees you, you cannot kill that person. If a teacher sees you kill someone, this is ok).
- If you successfully kill someone they must give you their knife. The name on their knife is your new target. They must also give you the knives of all the people they have killed.
- Keep the knife of your current target separate from the knives of the dead people.
- You must bring your knives with you every day in case you are killed.

At 12:30pm on Friday take all the knives you have won to the 7th floor

to find out who the winner is and for some activities and snacks.

Wait for it! If you survive, you will get a prize at the end  !!

[Teacher's Story] Life is journey...

When I left high school Australia was in the middle of a very bad economic situation and the only possibility of employment was as a teacher because my parents could not afford to pay my way through university. So, off to teacher’s college I went. I hated it but I managed to graduate and commenced teaching in primary schools , first in Brisbane and then in the far north at Normanton.

 I soon tired of Normanton so I resigned and sailed off to South Africa where I taught primary classes for a year before moving on to London where I taught for fifteen months.The British winter drove me back to South Africa where I stayed for almost three years before returning to Australia.

After five years I was thoroughly sick of teaching so I resigned and enrolled to study Environmental Science at Griffith University. After four years I moved on to Sydney University to study for a Graduate Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. The plan was to go to South-east Asia to teach Scientific English. It didn’t happen, did it?

Instead I taught prisoners in Sydney’s biggest prison for six months until once again winter weather drove me to the tropics of North Queensland where I taught Maths, Science and Agriculture or thirteen years.
I returned to Brisbane in 1996 and in 2001 I finally started at an ESL school and have been teaching ESL ever since. I joined the staff of IIA in March 2007 and have been teaching mostly IELTS ever since.

[Places to go in Brisbane] Maritime Museum

Tiffany’s and Elea’s Classes (Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate) went on an excursion to the Maritime Museum at South Bank. We got to see and hear about Australian Naval history.

Anyone for a shower?

First Gunner Juan said he felt like a kid again playing on the ship’s big guns.

The highlight of the tour was going on board the historic HMAS Diamantina. We got to see how and where the sailors lived both above and below deck. The ship was used during the war to hunt enemy submarines and later in 1959 as a Survey and Oceanographic Research vessel.

Leo the guide used to work as a Chief Stoker in the Australian Navy.

Here he shows the students the engine room.

I.I.A. Crew and Captain Leo

Leo was the tour guide and the students were impressed with his passion for the Navy, its ships and history. He had been in the Navy for many years and now he is retired. Leo has been working as a volunteer guide at the museum for over 20 years.

After their visit to the Maritime museum, the students said "It turned out way more interesting than I expected!!", " I was so impressed by Leo and his passion for his work", "I loved going around the ship. It was fun"... so a good day was had by all.