Speaker 1: Settling into a new country as a migrant is not an easy task. And being a migrant myself, who moved to Australia from India 17 years back, I can certainly relate to that. But if you follow these six tips that I'm going to give you in this video, will make your life somewhat easier when settling abroad in a new country. And the tips I'm going to give you in this video are pretty much the one that I followed myself in my journey as an international student to adopt to Australian culture. And in the tip number five, I will talk about one of the most important issue that you will face when moving to a new country and some suggestions on how to deal with that. So if you want to know all these tips, make sure to stick around till the end. And without further wasting any minute, let's get started with the first tip. Now the first tip starts before even coming to the country. So in this case, we're talking about Australia. If you are coming to Australia, make sure you research about Australia itself. So things that you can research into are what sort of culture that Australia has. Some of you might know about Australia's laid-back culture, understanding Australian values, things like diversity, equality and respecting each other. Also the city you are going to come in as well as there are many different factors in each of the Australian city. And some cities you might find it more suitable for yourself and might be easier for you to adapt to the culture when you are comfortable in the city you're coming in. Also about the local lifestyle, how it works, Australian workplace culture, how it works, if you're going to work you need to know about this. We actually have a whole video on Australian workplace culture which we will put the link of that in the description box below. Make sure to watch it after watching this video. And I suggest you to research about many other things about Australia itself. Things like weather, public transport system, healthcare and if you're planning to study obviously about your university as well. Now you might ask how to do and where to do this research. So there are plenty of useful resources online these days where you can find information about Australia itself. So there are many government websites like Australia.com or Australia.gov.au, Department of Home Affairs website. If you are planning to study there is a website for study in Australia. And we have plenty of good resources on our own website as well which is Overseas Students Australia including a 190 page e-book that you can download for free from our website. Specifically designed if you are an international student who's planning to study in Australia. We update this guide every year so please check the link in the description to download this guide. And as I mentioned it is free. So that was the first tip. Let's move to the second one which is about learning the language. Now some of you might be surprised that Australia does not have any official language. That's the reality. But English is the most commonly spoken language here in Australia. So if you are coming to Australia and you want to settle here ideally you should learn the language. Because it will be very hard for you to survive in a country where most of the people do speak English. I understand that in certain areas in certain parts of Australia itself you might be able to get away with your own language as well. So for example in certain suburbs there are specific communities that you come from. There may be a chance that you may not speak English as much if you are living in those suburbs. For example in Melbourne where I'm living at the moment there are many specific suburbs where you'll find specific communities living there. Like there are suburbs where there is an influence of lot of Greek communities. There are obviously areas where there is an influence of Chinese people and the areas where there are a lot of Indian influence as well. And people from many other ethnic backgrounds and countries come and settle in different areas and parts of Australia like that. But it is still ideal if you learn the language that we speak here. It will be way easier for you to find jobs and do many other aspects and obviously adapting to the culture here. So you might be wondering how to learn the language. Obviously if you are coming as an international student you might have to take an English test before coming. So you will have to learn an English language over there. But if you are a migrant who's moving to Australia then the chances that if you haven't learned English in your home country you may have to come and learn over here. Even if you are an international student who's moving to Australia there are plenty of opportunities for you to improve and work on your English here itself. As a migrant if you want to learn English you can use the Australian government's program called AMEP which is adult migration English program. It will help you to learn not only the English communication skills but also learn about Australian culture as well. Which can be very handy if you are moving here. But it's not for everyone who can do this course. So we'll leave a link of that in the description box below where you can check your eligibility for this course. Apart from that there are many other options. So you can participate in a language exchange programs. There are many language exchange programs that happen here in Australia. So you can participate in some of those programs. And apart from that there are many apps that you can download these days where you can learn English. There are plenty of useful content about learning English on YouTube itself. So feel free to use that. And last but not the least recently as you know the AI revolution is changing many things. So you can use chatGPT to learn and improve your English skills. If you want me to make a video on how you can use chatGPT for your studies in Australia legally and ethically. Please let me know in the comment section below. Type chatGPT in the comment section below if you want me to make a video on that. Moving on to the tip number three. Connecting with people. Now you might have heard about a saying which goes something like it's not about what you know it's about who you know. So connecting with the like-minded people is a key to success for adapting to a new culture. And how you can do that? By obviously working on your network. And to build your network you can do many things. Things like attending events. There are usually many cultural or professional events that happen here in Australia. So you can participate in that. You can even join some community groups in order to connect with the people from your home country or from other countries as well. And there are many work-related conferences, events, seminars, webinars that happen. So participate in those things in order to connect with the people here. Now you might ask me where specifically I can find these events. I would suggest couple of apps that you can utilize to do that. The first one is Meetup which you can find it on any Play Store or App Stores and download it and will give you the list of events happening in your local areas. Apart from that there's another website called Eventbrite which you can also utilize to see what sort of events are happening across the city you are living in. And obviously you can filter out these events based on your likings, interest and so on. You can also find some of these events on social media pages as well like on Facebook groups, on WhatsApp groups and things like that. And if you're really serious about building your network here in Australia then I highly recommend you to watch one of our previous videos where I talk about how to do networking properly here in Australia. So make sure to check that video after watching this video. And now let's move on to the tip number four which is to understand the rules, laws and regulations of the country. If you're moving to a new country the chances are that the laws might be different than what they were in your home country. So very importantly coming to a new country means learning about their local laws regulations. If I have to give you an example on things that might be legal in your home country and it is illegal to do in Australia, let's talk about bicycle riding itself. In many countries you don't need to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. But in Australia if you are going to ride a bicycle you must wear a helmet. There are specific helmets designed for bicycle riders itself. So you need to be at them before you jump on any bicycle here. And I understand that some of you might find it bit weird but that's the reality. So there are many laws that you have to be mindful of when you are living here in Australia. Laws related to driving, workplace, your personal behavior, drugs and many more laws. Again as I mentioned earlier the laws can vary from one country to the other. So you need to make sure that you learn about the local laws here in Australia. And how to learn about these laws or understand these laws? Ideally you should get started that on the Australian government websites. So for example if you are coming to Australia I highly recommend you to check websites like Home Affairs. They have plenty of good information regarding visas. If you are going to work in Australia there are rules and regulations and you should definitely look into website like Fair Work Australia. And if you are going to drive in Australia then you need to check your local transport authorities website. Like here in Melbourne we call that authority BicRoads. So make sure to check their website. Now each state and territory may have their own local transport authorities or some other local laws as well. So please make sure to look up on Google itself what sort of authorities are there in the state you are moving to. And here comes the tip number five which is one of the most critical thing when moving abroad as a new migrant. And that is to deal with homesickness. Let's be honest homesickness is a big thing and it is a common feeling among many people who move abroad. Whether for studying, living or working. So that feeling obviously is there when you miss your family, your friends back home and it is a very big challenge that I face personally myself as well. You move to a new country you have to learn many things. You still have to adapt to the culture as well. And at the same time you are missing your family and friends. So I'll talk about some strategies on how to deal with homesickness. Then I will also talk about my personal experience of dealing with homesickness as well. So let's get started with some strategies you can utilize. First one is obviously to call your family and friends often. Especially when you move to a new country you need to speak to your family and friends quite regularly. Maybe even on a daily basis. To update them about your life, how it is going, some exciting things that may have happened, some challenges you faced and everything in between. So pick up your phones and don't hesitate to video call your family and friends back home. As they're probably missing you as much, you missing them as well. The next one is to join some community groups. So it could be joining community groups from your own home country. So you can research on some community groups that are available in your city that you're living in. And if you are a student you could join some student groups as well. And that will help you to get some support from those community members as well. And if you are studying in Australia and it's getting really hard then definitely seek some support from your university as well. University usually have some sort of support offices where you can seek help in regards to homesickness or mental health issues or other challenges you are facing. And apart from that there are many other mental health services that are available for anyone who is seeking those services in Australia. So please don't hesitate to reach out to those services if needed. Personally speaking to deal with homesickness, my strategy was very simple. Get yourself busy. If you are sitting at home idle, you're not doing much, then obviously you'll miss your family and friends back home more. But if you are working, studying and keeping yourself busy with other chores or other things in life, the chances are that that homesickness feeling will be much less. Obviously it will be always there because you will still miss your family and friends but it will be much less if you're keeping yourself busy. So that was what I did. It may work for you, it may not work for you. So give it a go and let me know in the comments what are your thoughts on that. So let's move to the last tip now which is being patient. While as challenging as it is to move to a new country and settle there, you need to keep in mind that everything takes time. It might feel frustrating at times. For example, understanding the Australian accent or understanding some of the local laws or understanding workplace culture. It can take a bit of time. Myself as an international student, it took me at least one term to understand how the study system work here in Australia. Understanding the assessments, plagiarism and all those things. It took me a bit of time to adjust. So my suggestion would be here to give yourself time, have an open mind and be flexible in your approach. And don't give up on your dreams very soon after moving to a new country because it takes time. So these were the top six tips that I wanted to share with you today. Now as I mentioned earlier, if you are serious about getting a job in Australia, you need to find the like-minded people and connect with them. And for that you need to be doing a lot of networking here. But there are not many videos that talks about how to do it and what are the ways to do it here in Australia. But we have recently covered in our video. So please make sure to check that video out. You can click on this link that's appearing on screen now to watch that video. And I'll see you there.