Readers' Comments Visa workers face tougher language test
If people want to come to Australia, or any country for that matter, they should have a good, strong command of the local language.
Posted by: fresh breath of Melbourne 10:16am today
Comment 49 of 49
Ha! Funniest blogfest I've read in a long time.
Posted by: Mark of Sydney 10:16am today
Comment 48 of 49
If you cant get a 7 in that test...you shouldnt be in this country. I went to that test hungover and got an 8.5 average
Posted by: RA of Sydney 10:11am today
Comment 47 of 49
Grow up tired and ignorant nation. This is the world we live in. Australia isn't an island nation, girt by sea anymore- In reality we are part of the greater world, connected by trade, technology and humanity....governments and borders are imagined, rather than real....you will find no lines on Earth dividiing our nations...slamming people because they don't know the 3rd most commonly spoken language in the world is more indicative of poor education, ignorance and xenophobia, than based on any real facts.
Posted by: Fight against racism of Bri*****ane 10:08am today
Comment 46 of 49
what about the refugees huh they will not go this test they will still get in for free. thanks labour!
Posted by: jacki 10:07am today
Comment 45 of 49
"The highest score on the ELTS is nine, which is equivalent to a native speaker". Haha I know a lot of locals who would struggle to get 6.5. In fact one friend I know tried it for laughs and found it pretty hard! The standard of English here in Australia is pretty poor - just look at half the comments that get posted on this website. (I'm aussie by the way, before you all start pre-judging my statements)
Posted by: Bob 10:07am today
Comment 44 of 49
I think that people should be left alone to speak whatever language that they want. I love going to our local market and hearing sometimes 4 to 5 non english languages! It makes me feel as if I am truly in a Loving cosmopolitan city! We are all the same people! Rejoice and love your brother from whatever part of the world that they are from, I can only pray that melbourne becomes the most diverse and multilanguage city ever!
Posted by: robert smith of melbourne 9:43am today
Comment 43 of 49
Oh about time ! I was doing a technical support enquiry yesterday for one of our remote sites and had to spell out my name as in "S" for Sam, "C" for cat etc etc as the worker (based in Australia) could not understand my short first name. Then came the very arduous task of trying to work through a routing issue with an E1 connection... Totally hopeless. We will spend 000's dealing with this issue and mostly because of poor communications standards that us the client have to bear with no recompense by the supplier for their poor staffing levels. Hopefully with the new levels we can move past spelling a 5 letter first name and on my surname, this will save me about 5 minutes. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Posted by: ScottW of Perth 9:38am today
Comment 42 of 49
Yeah, make it easier for the Pommies to move here when things turn pear-shaped in the UK. The whingeing will go on
Posted by: Brigitte 9:36am today
Comment 41 of 49
Totally agree Enough of Bri*****ane - our population is growing waaaay to quickly.
Posted by: Loz of Melbourne 9:33am today
Comment 40 of 49
About time..............
Posted by: dylan of melbourne 9:32am today
Comment 39 of 49
This'll piss the call centres off (Specifically Telstra and the ANZ). They seem to pride themselves on employing people who cant understand nor speak English.
Posted by: Pete of null 9:29am today
Comment 38 of 49
Brilliant (if not obvious!) idea by the Government. I was standing inline at the supermarket deli counter with my numbered ticket in hand last weekend when a foreigner started fighting with the poor staff because they couldnt understand what number was on their ticket.
Posted by: Ben of Adelaide 9:28am today
Comment 37 of 49
From the people that ridiculed the Liberal Government for introducing a test - what a bunch of two faced dogs. The political arm of the Union movement is just hopeless. Well, I guess they live up to their standards.
Posted by: Rodo 9:26am today
Comment 36 of 49
Adam of Adelaide - ahh, the irony. The words are 'extend', not 'expend', 'post-graduate', not 'post graduate', 'their', not 'there', 'without', not 'with out' and 'MBAs', not 'MBA's'. Good try, though.
Posted by: Matthew of Adelaide 9:26am today
Comment 35 of 49
At the rate that English in Australia is being decimated by Gen Y, complements of mindless Australian free to air media influences from the good old USA, we will need to look at introducing a few initiatives. Acronym conversion tables as part of the test, as well dropping G's and other complicated letters which fall at the end of common words.
Posted by: Thinker of Gold Coasy 9:26am today
Comment 34 of 49
Adam (Comment 28), the word is 'extend', 'their' not 'there' and MBAs is a plural and therefore has no apostrophe. Three mistakes in two sentences ... good effort. Hopefully the same language requirement will apply to Australian citizens.
Posted by: Nigel of NSW 9:25am today
Comment 33 of 49
Please increase the score and apply the rule to permanent resident seekers. I work with enough people from overseas who cannot grasp english let alone compose a proper sentence. By the way - lets stop migration for awhile - there is enough people here who do not classify themselves as Australian.
Posted by: Enough of Bri*****ane 9:23am today
Comment 32 of 49
That makes sense, throw open the doors to boat people and make it tougher for those taking a legal path. With rising unemployment, neglected state infrastructure, water shortages it's time for just a teensy hint of rational behavior from this government.
Posted by: Vixen 9:20am today
Comment 31 of 49
What about TELSTRA phone operators who can neither speak or understand English? Are not TELSTRA practices deliberate devises to avoid our immigration regulations?
Posted by: John Hodgman 9:17am today
Comment 30 of 49
We should ban Scottish people from coming to Australia. Whilst they may speak a dialect of English, nobody can understand what they hell they are talking about!
Posted by: Fred of newtown 9:07am today
Comment 29 of 49
A score of 5??...Come on.... I would say a 6 would be appropriate... Though I am not a citizen here, I feel really pissed when some ppl who live here cant even speak simple English....
Posted by: Non Citizen 9:06am today
Comment 28 of 49
Great idea - I just hope that the language tests expend to university students also. Many post graduate students are passing through there MBA's with out having a strong handle on spoken or written English.
Posted by: Adam of Adelaide 9:04am today
Comment 27 of 49
Now can we please make them sit their car licence in English and not their language of chioce?
Posted by: Jamie of Sydney 9:04am today
Comment 26 of 49
andre of sydney you are an idiot and a perfect example of why this test is pointless!
Posted by: Chris of Gold Coast 9:04am today
Comment 25 of 49
Shouldn't we be testing ability to speak American ?
Posted by: Mick of GC 9:02am today
Comment 24 of 49
While I agree with the plan - it's still amazing that this lot in power was criticalover the previous governments rules in this area. Ah the wonders of politics
Posted by: Hekler of Bris 9:00am today
Comment 23 of 49
What about all those immigrants that labor allowed in over 20 years ago that still can't speak (or refuse to learn) the national language? certainly forced the multi-culturalism issue of course but created a very disassimilated society.
Posted by: First Geoff of Sydney 9:00am today
Comment 22 of 49
To Andre....Learn to write in English before commenting.
Posted by: GH of Melbourne 9:00am today
Comment 21 of 49
I am here on a 457 and never had my English tested.. though I stand behind this one fully and personally would rather see the minimum rating pushed up to 6. I can't believe how many people I deal with on a daily basis who have no grasp of the English language,
Posted by: Gavin of Bri*****ane 8:57am today
Comment 20 of 49
What's the point? I've done this test and you have to read a page of a book aloud. This is a joke, Australian's can't speak the language phrases like "as dry as a dead dingo's donga" are hardly Shakespeare!
Posted by: Chris of Gold Coast 8:57am today
Comment 19 of 49
@Andre Comment 1, and get a licence and drive a car and not speak a word of English
Posted by: Geoff of Melbourne 8:56am today
Comment 18 of 49
Andre - I can think of a couple of countries where you can have a passport,be a citizen and speak no English.
Posted by: jj of Fremantle 8:52am today
Comment 17 of 49
Where will then Telstra and the ATO get staff for their help lines from, if speaking english is a requirement!
Posted by: Mission Chris of FNQ 8:52am today
Comment 16 of 49
andre of Sydney, There are crowds of people who were born here and are illiterate. I found that approximately 6 out of 10 small business owners can't spell and have very foggy idea of grammar. Coincidentally, all those people are xenofobic (just like yourself). Shall we deport them all?
Posted by: Michael of Sydney 8:51am today
Comment 15 of 49
Also have to say finally! We have a large amount of Chinese nurses at work that have come over to plug the staff shortages and most of them speak terrible English, can be quite a issue when they are discussing patient medications with family members.
Posted by: Jason Harris of Adelaide 8:51am today
Comment 14 of 49
This is rong. I come here work for little money and i am persecuted for non speaking of english. it a racist country . i receive only small welfare from government and only see doctor when i sick. My children school here as well. Why must i speak your language. how about you learn mine.
Posted by: A.Troll of Sydney 8:51am today
Comment 13 of 49
Good. About time.
Posted by: Voltaire 8:50am today
Comment 12 of 49
This country and our federal government are a joke.All immigration should be stopped completely except for skilled labour. The 14% cut announced by Rudd & co is an absolute joke - immigration should be halted completely until the recession passes!
Posted by: Colin of Kirrawee 8:49am today
Comment 11 of 49
A good move me thinks. I find it hard to believe that you can take the driving test and it doesnt have to be in English!!!
Posted by: Karen of Sydney 8:48am today
Comment 10 of 49
Andre of Sydney - I will show you a dozen countries where its citizens don't speak english. Those people who have an Australian passport are as Australian as you or me - just because they don't speak english doesn't make them less Australian. Its people like you who bring this country down. What a disgusting comment.
Posted by: Aaron of Adelaide 8:47am today
Comment 9 of 49
Can't believe the government didn't cap the number of temporary workers allowed into the country. In an environment where Australian's are loosing their jobs and unemployment is forecast to rise, these jobs should be reserved for Australians.
Posted by: Jason 8:47am today
Comment 8 of 49
Great, I am sick of going to the shops and having to repeat my self when i speak english and have a clear voice. If we went to live in Thai land we would need to speak Thai
Posted by: Mal of Sydney 8:46am today
Comment 7 of 49
Sounds good to me. What¿s not to like about more people speaking the same language? If I wanted to live in a country I would defiantly want to be able to speak the local language before I become a permanent resident.
Posted by: Scott of Melbourne 8:45am today
Comment 6 of 49
THANK GOSH. I believe its getting out of control how many people cant speak our English. It's stupid. & there is nothing worse than going somewhere, and they can hardly speak English and you cant even understand them. But the worst thing is, you have to talk to them if its places like the hair dressers etc.
Posted by: B. 8:44am today
Comment 5 of 49
About time!
Posted by: jayson - melbourne of Melbourne 8:38am today
Comment 4 of 49
Does this mean Gorden Ramsey wont be able to visit Australia ?
Posted by: Mark of Balmain 8:23am today
Comment 3 of 49
Finally!! Australia is probably the only country where you can be a citizen , have a passport an speak no english.
Posted by: andre of sydney 8:22am today
Comment 2 of 49
That test is a joke!
Posted by: Immigrant 8:20am today
Comment 1 of 49