AUSTRALIAN Culture and Language Help!

[Fainting Fancies]

Another point I wonder about. I have been studying the Australian system of goverment, wondering if this would be a good way to study how the Australian wizarding government works. Maybe some Australian natives could offer some ideas and imput.

I'll try to offer some imput, but I apologise in advance if I'm absolutely no help.

I don't know how much you've researched and what jumped out at you, but I had a quick look at Wikipedia (although I live here, I have very little idea about the government), and a couple of things stood out to me that might relate to how the Australian wizarding government woks.

First of all, because Australia is part of the Commonwealth, the Queen is still sort of the head of state, and her representative in Australia is the Governor General. The Governor General doesn't have a very high profile in Australia, but depending on the relationship you develop between the Australian and British wizarding worlds, there could be a wizarding counterpart.

Another feature of the Australian government that might play a part in the wizarding world is the existence of state governments. While there is a federal goveenment, state governments have quite a bit of power, I think. They handle quite a lot of stuff, off the top of my head, they handle education, so the school system is slightly different in every state. In New South Wales, a year 12 student would sit for the HSC but in Victoria they would sit the VCE. I think state govenments also look after transportation, infrastructure and possibly health. So things can be a bit different depending on what state you're in. Drivers licences look different in different states, some states don't do daylight savings, etc. Maybe the wizarding world would divide responsibilities in a similar way so that not everything is handled by the countrywide ministry.

One last thing that I think is really important to take into account is the fact that Australians have a healthy disrespect for authority, and poking fun at our politicians is something of a national pastime. Think of the ridicule that Fudge got in the books, and multiply that by about ten. When John Howard was Prime Minister, he was constantly lauged at for his eyebrows and his penchant for going powerwalking wearing an Australia tracksuit. I imagine that the senior political figures are in the wizarding world would come in for similar jokes

So yes, I think that the Australian system of government can give you some great ideas for how the wizarding system would work. Sorry if this doesn't help at all.

~Hannah~

[OliveOil_Med]

This is a great deal of help. Is the British system of goverment very similar to the Australian government in the Muggle world? Do you feel like the wizarding governments would have the same similarities? How do you feel the Australian government would be different from the British one?

[Phia Phoenix]

*rubs hands* Molly, I had no idea you were applying for Aussie citizenship, or I would've come over earlier and helped you study for the immigration tests!

What are some typical pet names in Australia that a parent would use when talking to their little girl, or really any small child? The more specifics I could get, the better.

A common one seems to be "Miss Muffet", for some reason. Other than that, the usual... "darling", "honey", "sweetie", etc et al. But really it depends on the kid's name... we're very keen on shortening names as much as possible (a lazy bunch, we are), Hermione would never get away with such a long one. I've even managed to shave a syllable off mine.

I am writing a story where my Australian character is currently in the fifth grade (year five, you call it, I think). I certainly remember what I used to study in the fifth grade, but I am not sure if Australia is much different. Maybe if one of you could tell me what you all remember about your fifth grade years, and maybe even answer the question I posted before, I would be oh so very happy!

My brother Gabe's in year five, so I can help. They learn about basic maths (please note, we call it mathS not math), learning the basic properties of shapes, units of measurements (metric, people, not imperial!), no algebra or trig or anything like that. It's compulsory for them to learn abou Australian Aborigines and Australian history - I distinctly remember having to learn about the Gold Rush in year five. Boring stuff, Aussie history sucks, white people have only BEEN here for a couple hundred years! Year fivers would be studying a book, too... I think we read The Secret Garden in year five, but Gabe's class did a Paul Jennings book (Aussie author). What else... they'd probably learn to play recorder or something, and have an art lesson each week, not to mention PE and sport.

Do many people use the train in Australia? I need a way for my characters to get from Victoria to Sydney. If trains are not very common, what would be some other ways to get there? They are tourists, and, as wizards, they obviously wouldn't own their own car, and probably not even know how to drive.

Er... they're not Apparating? Australia is VERY BIG and if I were magical, no way would I be using any type of Muggle transport to travel trans-state! I'd suggest Floo Powder, but I don't think Floo would be very useful in Australia, as the climate means that not as many households have fireplaces as in Britain. What Aussies are fond of, though, (especially the menfolk) are their sheds... I'm not sure if the holy shed is found overseas, so basically it's just that, a shed, where the male of the family tends to have a shrine dedicated to tools, motorbikes/tractors/lawnmowers/whatever, where they retreat for mantime to themselves. So, perhaps a sort of transportation system that involves a type of Flooing between sheds?

What could be a possible structure for Australia's wizarding school?

Please... don't put it in the Outback. Seriously, that's so cliche and unlikely, virtually nobody lives out in the Outback because despite its beauty, it's HORRIBLE - hot, dry, and so far removed from the rest of the population. And with a population spread like Australia's, you hardly need to go out into the desert to find somewhere secluded... all over Australia there are patches of uninhabited bush that stretch for thousands of acres, position your school in some gully in New South Wales (the most inhabited state). As for structure, I'd go for a whole heap of one-storey, verandah'd houses- arranged in no discernible order, just clustered around, each building being either a classroom or a dorm, and kids just wander from one class to the next in open air. That to me seems very Australian.

Haha, reading over that description I realise it bears a striking resemblence to my own school... unintentional, I swear. Just very common and Aussie.

This is a great deal of help. Is the British system of goverment very similar to the Australian government in the Muggle world? Do you feel like the wizarding governments would have the same similarities? How do you feel the Australian government would be different from the British one?

OK, the way I've always imagined Australia's Wizarding government is as follows: a Board or Committee-type assemblage who sit around and pass vague laws, and only if those laws are voted in by the majority of the wizarding population. They then have their hands full keeping these laws on a low budget and even lower respect from the wizarding population, who basically just carry on as if the Committee didn't even exist. In other words, a very relaxed and useless form of government, nothing like the Ministry of Magic in Britain. Hannah's dead right, in the Muggle world the Aus government is first and foremost a target for general derision - if you want to see what I mean, look up The Chaser's War On Everything, I think they have free podcasts from their site. (Aussie comedy team who I absolutely adore - they do a lot of political skits, but they truly do wage war on everything. They're very daring, however, and have been taken off air for going a bit too far and offending too many people.)

Hope this helps, Molly! And I don't suppose you're still looking for a beta, but if you are... Or I could even just read over it and be your Aussie consultant? I haven't had a beta job in ages.

xoxo Phia

[OliveOil_Med]

Yeah, I feel like a school in the desert might be a bit miserable. But these were some old post. Now, I'm think of having school exist in a more plaines/grassland area. I imagine these areas are also quite extensive within the country of Australia. Maybe our lovely returning Aussieclaws would be willing to shed a little light on this pondering?

[Annalise28]

Well, I'm not a Claw but... I can still help?

I really like your ideas, Phia. The shed is a good idea!

With year 5, and the classes, we also did Music, Drama, Library (It was almost like english, but it was a lot to do with books), Library Borrowing. I think it depends a lot on the school you go to, as well. Just a note, we don't do algebra in primary school but we most certainly study it in maths in high school.

About the school, I like your idea Phia, by just having it like a normal Australian school, but somewhere in a cool, abandoned field. In that case, somewhere towards the middle of NSW would be good, or even north a bit further. Apparently something like Yamba to Brisbane has the best climate in the world? I may be wrong, but I remember being told quite a few times. Our schools are all just random buildings in a big patch of grass. At both my primary and high school, we had the buildings at the front of the land, and at the back there is an oval with a few trees and a basketball court. Different schools ahve different sized ovals, depending on where they are. My high school has an incredibly large oval (compared to the others anyway) because it is known for producing great athletes.

i hope that helped even just a little.. *tries to be a good, helping aussie*

~ Annalise x

[OliveOil_Med]

Also, what are the primary school classes called in Australia? In the United States, this is what they are:

English (Reading, Spelling, Language)
Science
Math
Social Studies--history, government, and the like

Art
Phy Ed./Gym--sports class
Health--first aid, taking care of yourself
Computers/Tech

Also, in the United States, children are split up in various classes due to apptitude. Does this happen in Australia as well?

[Fainting Fancies]

From what I remember of primary school (I was in primary school ten years ago!) classes were fairly similar. We spent most of our time doing english and maths. We also did science and social studies, but I think we called it SOSE. We had art, music, Phys Ed (which we called PE) and computers about once a week. Bear in mind though that this was back in the days when black and white laptops were a novelty! We also did LOTE (Languages Other Than English) which in my school was Chinese.

I don't know what it's like in the US but in Aus we have a class teacher who teaches the basics, english, maths etc and then seperate art, music, PE and LOTE teachers.

We didn't have a seperate health class as such, but I remember in grade 6 we did a first aid course, the joys of learning about 'the birds and the bees!'

I don't think I've forgotten any classes, but it's highly possible because I spent the last two years of primary school bored out of my mind! I moved to Australia from the UK when I was ten so I sort of repeated grade 5, and really, all that sticks in my mind is the teachers letting us have the afternoon off and taking us outside to play dodgeball.

My primary school didn't segregate students based on ability, but I know that some schools have special programs for academically gifted students, but I think these are the exception rather than the rule. Students that struggle with reading, for example, are given extra help but they are still members of their particular class.

Hope this helps a bit.

~Hannah~

[Annalise28]

Yeah, in primary school, we did English, Maths, Art, Science and SOSE with our primary teacher and LOTE (5-7), P.E., Music, Technology (computers; i'm not sure whether anyone else called it technology... maybe we were just weird?), Drama... with different teachers for each. Students that had troubles, or those with disabilities were in the same classes as the rest of us, but sometimes went with specialist Special Ed teachers and did special activites to help them. Some classes were also 5/6 classes. As in, both years 5 and 6 were joined into a normal sized class. I don't know whether it was based on skill, though.

We also, as did Hannah, got to go out in the afternoon sometimes to play sport. My year 6 teacher took us out ever afternoon, but he was just a cool teacher.

Also, we were split into reading groups and maths groups based on ability within our classes, as in, the children better at maths would be placed into group 1, where they did harder activities than those in, say, group 5.

I'm not sure whether that helped at all, I was really just validating Hannah. But I really hope it did!

~ Annalise x

[U-No-Poo]

Hey there!

I'm an Australian too and I've got some help for you with a few of the things here.

Number one - the government system. Seriously, the Australian government is almost identical to the British one. From what I know, Australia and England both have systems of parliament, which means that they have two different houses of representatives - the Upper House and the Lower House. The upper house is represented by senators, and from what I know they just approve the bills and new laws from the lower house. The lower house is also known as the House of Commons, and it is considered more important than the upper one. For instance, they elect an MP (Member for Parliament) in each region of the country. Not exactly sure how many there are but its probably around two to three hundred different regions. That's the federal goverment (we're a Federation - the unification of all the states). The state goverments are the exact same, except for Queensland (where I live). We're a unicameral state (we have no upper house). We abolished it in the early 20th century. If you were creating a wizarding goverment, I'd use the same system but on a much smaller scale as there wouldn't be many wizards compared to England if you were going by percentages of the population. You'd probably be looking at less than one wizard to every 250 Muggles.

With the location, I agree with going bush for the wizarding school. Do NOT put it in Ayers Rock. Aside from the fact that its a major cliche, being the only landmark in the Australian desert that internationals would recognise, it's sacreligious to use it. I would stay clear and avoid Aboriginal culture mixed with magic unless you know exactly what you're doing. For the architexture, I would just go basic brick buildings, as that's what most homes in Australia are. If you want a more modern look, go for the rendered look im a beige gray colour.

By the way, don't go excessively over-the-top to make things really 'true blue Aussie'. It gets really stupid to read. Australians are exactly like the British and Americans, but we live in a much warmer climate. Due to popular belief, we do NOT ride kangaroos and have pet koalas, and both of those things are ILLEGAL. Pretty much we're exactly the same as the rest of the world. And for 364 days of the year, we aren't patriotic much. But on Tuesday its Australia day and things get over-the-top Aussie. For instance, the other day, all I could buy was Aussie flag underwear. Go figure.

Anyway, hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.

[OliveOil_Med]

Are there any famous Australia child actors that you all know of? Girls, I mean. I'm looking for someone around the age of ten, and I am watching a lot of painfully bad kid shows to try and find someone.

Maybe you could ease my suffering and give me some hints.