[originaltext]J: Bob, I hear you’ve just come back from Sri Lanka. What’s it li

J: Bob, I hear you’ve just come back from Sri Lanka. What’s it like?
B: Yes Jane, I’ve recently returned from a business trip to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is one of my favourite countries. A very beautiful country, with very high mountains, towering jungles, beautiful sandy beaches, and lovely blue seas.
J: Mmmm, sounds like heaven. More business than pleasure was it?
B: Yes unfortunately, more business than pleasure. I was only there a short while and did not get any opportunity to travel outside of Colombo, the capital.
J: Well I’m sorry to hear that, but what sort of business are you actually in?
B: I’m involved in attracting overseas students to come and study in Australia, to undertake degree studies at Australian universities.
J: Right. What subjects are they mainly interested in?
B: Well, I’ve found that students from Sri Lanka are particularly interested in accountancy and business, and also computing. Engineering is another field of study which is also quite popular.
J: Well I take it that they all speak English then, obviously before they come here.
B: Yes they do. In fact, Sri Lanka has quite a long tradition of English speaking. So we rarely have problems in English with students from Sri Lanka.
J: Well, when they go back, are there any problems with finding employment?
B: At present I would say yes, because of the current internal strife in the country, the economy is in a slump. It is not booming at all. So students returning from Australia with degrees, at present, are finding difficulties in getting appropriate employment.
J: Mmmm, that’s unfortunate after all that study. How do you go about giving all the students the information about universities in Australia?
B: Jane, my visits to Sri Lanka have always been very brief, about three days. On the first evening I’ve always conducted a seminar presentation at one of the leading hotels in Sri Lanka. The seminar presentation is advertised well in advance and I’ve been successful in attracting large numbers of Sri Lanka students and their families who are interested in hearing about study opportunities at Australian universities. On the two days following the seminar presentation, I’ve conducted interviews for students who are serious about studying in Australia, and on each visit, I’ve interviewed a total of about 40 students over those two days.
J: Did all of those 40 decide to come here, or about how many per year?
B: No, certainly not the total of 40 decide to come to Australia. I would say that there would be about 25 percent who would finally make the decision to come and study in Australia.
J: Bob, what sort of help is given to those students when they come here?
B: Universities in Australia now have developed quite sophisticated support services for overseas students. Overseas students are met at the airport, they have accommodation arranged for them, they are transported to that accommodation. During the academic year, if they have study problems, they can get help from a number of academic counsellors at the universities. Similarly, if they experience welfare problems, particularly things like culture shock, which all students experience when they first arrive, there are skilled people who can assist them.
J: I see. What sort of questions do parents ask?
B: Parents are obviously concerned about how much it’s going to cost them to send their children to Australia. That’s probably the number one priority. But very high up in the list of priorities is security, How secure is it for their children in Australia. Given that the situation in Sri Lanka at the moment is not very good, naturally they’re very concerned about how safe their children will be in an overseas country.
J: Bob, you mentioned culture shock. Are they really concerned about cultural differences?
B: In my experience, Sri Lanka families aren’t really concerned that much about cultural differences. Sri Lanka has had many centuries of exposure to Western lifestyles, and they’re quite familiar with them. I don’t think that’s a major concern among Sri Lanka parents.
J: I see. Bob that’s been really interesting. Thanks a lot.
B: It’s my pleasure, Jane.
J: Right. Goodbye.
B: Bye-bye.