The Oscars come to Dominion

This month we had a video competition.  We asked our students to make a 2 minute video marketing Dominion to future students and to upload it to our Facebook page.  The video that received the most likes by 3.30pm on 29 May would win 2 free movies tickets.

Well, we were amazed at the entries we received.  All of the videos that entered were so professional, creative and represented Dominion perfectly, so we decided that we couldn't have just one winner.  We awarded 3 prizes in the end, for 3 very special videos:

Adipong (Arty) Suwannachairob (Thailand) - Most Popular Video - Arty's Video
Shingo Tokugawa (Japan) - Most Professional Film Making - Shingo's Video
Gwangho Yoon (Korea) - Best Interpretation of the Dominion Message - Gwangho's Video

You can watch all 3 of the videos on our YouTube channel, just follow the links above.

Here are the 3 lucky winners with their prizes.  Congratulations again guys and thank you so much for giving us these amazing videos!!

For more information about our school and our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz.

Special Guests

Last week Dominion had some very special visitors.  A group of VIP agents from countries all over the world visited our school as part of their IALC tour, after the conference in Brisbane 10-13 April.  The group included agents from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, Ecuador, Spain and Germany. 
Our guests were given an extra special Dominion welcome, which included an informative presentation, a mingle with our students and a tour around Auckland's best tourist sites.  The highlight of the day was our student mingle activity in the morning.  We invited students from our Cambridge classes to attend a "speed dating" session with our guests.  The session consist of 5 minute long mini-interviews with the students. The agents were allowed to ask the students anything they wanted about our school, courses and teachers.  At the end of the 5 minutes, the students moved to a new group so the agents could talk to a new group of students.  The activity was highly enjoyable for both the students and the agents.  There is nothing like real-time testimonials to show what it is really like at a school. 
We would like to say a big thank you to all the agents that visited us as part of this IALC tour and, of course, a special thank you to our students who participated in the day, making it an unforgettable experience for all.

 

Competition Time!!!

At Dominion English Schools, we hold regular competitions and award our students with great prizes.  This month we had a "selfie" competition.  We asked our students to get out and about in Auckland and take some photos of themselves in front of some iconic Kiwi backgrounds, with a Dominion logo.  The winner would receive free tuition for one week!! The competition was run via our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DominionEnglishSchool).  The winner was the photo with the most "likes". 

We had some great entries, but Carolina Henao from Colombia won in the end with over 160 "likes".  Congratulations Carolina, we hope you enjoy your prize!!! Thank you to everyone else who entered. 

The best bits from the competition (including Carolina receiving her prize) are below: 

For more photos of our students around New Zealand or to find our more about our school and our courses, please visit our website www.dominion.school.nz.

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’

 

When deciding to study in an English speaking country, there were plenty of destinations to choose from, but it was New Zealand that caught the eyes of Lucas da Silva Fontes, a young teenager from Brazil. Lucky us, as we had the opportunity to welcome him to the Dominion family – and what a great student Lucas has turned out to be!

Lucas started his studies at Dominion as a General English student. His dedication and commitment soon led him to our Cambridge course, which he successfully completed last week. The beautiful country of New Zealand alongside the high quality education and student support Dominion provides, made Lucas realise that his studies were bound to help him in his future goals and that he could count on us to support him.

‘Mum, Dad, I am not ready to go back home yet!’ The more, the better! After all, English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world! From General English to Cambridge, Lucas is now part of our IELTS class and we are very proud of him and even happier to have him longer!

Studying English abroad is a big decision and requires a lot of work, but equally can be the best experience of your life. No matter what your goal is, Dominion will work with you towards achieving it and provide you with an outstanding language education!

 

Cambridge Course Testimonial

We have been running Cambridge courses for many years and it's always great to see a student successfully completing one, with a great opinion of the course and a fantastic grade!  Here is Irina's story about her recent Cambridge course.  She got a grade A in the end and was understandably thrilled! Our Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE courses run a regular times throughout the year.  Please see our website for further details http://www.dominion.school.nz/courses/exam-courses/.

Talented Students!

Last week the students in Martin's class were studying current events. As part of their writing class, Martin challenged the students to write a class newspaper.  We were so impressed with their work that we had to share it with you here. 

This newspaper was prepared as part of an afternoon General English class.  Our General English course is structured so that students get time to practice all areas language learning.  Morning classes concentrate on grammar and vocabulary, whilst afternoon classes focus on key skills, such as speaking and writing, with a new topic each week.  For more information about our General English course, please visit www.dominion.school.nz.

Why we LOVE Auckland

We are very proud to be in a such an amazing city.  Auckland has so many things to see and do, and it's a great place to learn English and meet new people.  Last month we had a writing competition at school and we asked our students; "what do you love about Auckland?".  Here are some of the best bits:



The winner of the competition was Dina Reichenbach from Switzerland.  Here is Dina's writing in full and a picture of her with her prize.  Well done Dina!!

 



 

 

Words of Wisdom from Dominion Students

Students have so many choices nowadays.  However, so much choice means they have to make a lot of difficult decisions.  One of our General English classes were tasked with writing some advice for other students on making some of these decisions and the below is what they came up with. Read and let us know what you think.

 

ACADEMIC UPDATE

 

 

It's the end of term here at Dominion, so our students have been busy sitting exams and (hopefully!) will be moving onto new classes on Monday - well done to all! 

Good luck to those students who still have exams to do this week such as our IELTS class.  These students have all worked very hard over the last 6 weeks, so we hope you get the results you deserve. 

Another course that finished this week was our first Business English/TOEIC Preparation class.  These students have been studying part time for 5 weeks on this new course and have had a great experience.  Some have even chosen to sit the TOEIC test here at Dominion next week - good luck guys! 

Starting next week is one of our English for Academic Purposes courses.  Dominion offers 3 levels of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses that focus on skills, strategies and language for academic studies. The course starting this month is EAP1, which is ideal for students who are aiming for IELTS 5.0 or further study.  This course gives students direct entry into the Dominion EAP2 course and into lower level certificate courses at external institutes such as Crown institute of studies, AMES IT Academy, Whitecliffe College of Arts & Design, Media Design School and NZMA.  If you want to know more information about the courses we offer please visit www.dominion.school.nz or email marketing@dominion.school.nz.

 

- Pizza Selling Project -

When I heard about our project that was selling pizzas, all our classmates including me thought that might be a fictional project. However Chris who is our teacher wanted to do real business ourselves! In addition, we had to compete with 2 groups to win this project. Although it was just small project in our school, it wasn’t easy or simple.

At first, we made our brand name ‘Yummy’. We wanted that when our customers hear

our name, we’d  stimulate their desire to buy our pizzas. That’s why we chose

the name ‘Yummy’. And then before selling our pizzas, we surveyed  our classmates. For

example, “How many pieces of pizzas do you want?” “If you buy 1 piece of pizzas, how much would you pay?” “What kind of pizzas do you want?” with options.

When we made survey question, we were careful about the  level. Because our school has various levels, we tried to make simple and easy questions. I think thanks to survey, we could estimate our quantities of pizzas and price.

Next, we divided the roles of our team members, because we didn’t have enough time. For example, someone made our posters, someone surveyed price of pizzas and other supplies and so on. After comparing pizzas taste and price, we chose ‘Pizza hut’ and we tried to get a discount pizza price. At first we ordered 10 pizzas because our pre-sales customers were almost 40 people. (By the way we managed to get a discount instead of receiving cokes. Actually we bought pizza sets including cokes and bread but we didn’t need cokes and bread so we tried to negotiate and finally we succeeded.)

After we made our posters, we started our promotion in earnest. Our strategy was emphasizing the cheapest price, discount and lottery. One piece of pizza at our original price was $2 but if someone who had our coupon wanted to buy over 3 pieces, they could get a discount of $1 each with 1 cup of drink and participate in a game. As a result, many of our customers bought 3 pieces. The lottery was also popular with customers so a few people just wanted to participate in lottery. We thus sold $1 coupons  for customers who wanted to just join the game and lottery.

Finally D-DAY came. We ordered pizzas a day before but we suddenly had to change the

number of pizzas from 14 to 20. However, they didn’t answer the phone so we had to go to there on foot. Fortunately we could change our order and we asked no them not to cut the pizzas because when we ordered them before, their shapes were irregular so we decided to them cut ourselves. While we were selling pizza, many more customers came to our stall than we expected. As a result, we could sell out perfectly! Our profit was just over $70. We decided to donate all our profit to IHC (Intellectually Handicapped Children).

Thanks to this project, I could learn about cooperative spirit and experience of real business. Sometimes we had  trial and error but I think every failure is a stepping-stone to success. While we did this project, we just made an effort to enjoy our situation. Nobody could beat a person who enjoys everything. Youths need to just try to do anything and enjoy their lives!

Blind Tasting - Teenage Full time PM class - NZ Food

BLIND TASTING

This Tuesday afternoon we played an amazing and funny game: THE BLIND TASTING GAME! I liked it. As its name shows, this game consists of wearing a blindfold on your eyes. Another person gives you a piece of food and the player tastes it. After you you take off the blindfold and describe what the flavours and textures are of the food on a paper.

So I tasted seven different pieces of NZ food and I will describe my feelings.

1. Pinky bar – it was a sweet snack. There was smooth marshmallow with caramel and covered in dark chocolate.

2. Pavlova – it was a sweet dessert with smooth meringue and sugar.

3. Pixie Caramel Bar – it was my favourite thing. It was sweet and chewy caramel covered in dark chocolate.

4. Anzac biscuit – it was a crunchy coconut and oat biscuit. I loved it too!

5. Jaffas – they were crunchy chocolate candy.

6. Grainwaves – it was a sort of salty, fatty and crunchy chips – the flavour was cheese.

7. Marmite – it was sour, salty and creamy. I just hated it. It was disgusting!!

 

 By ELISE CABEDO

Class 5PM - Newspaper articles

Have you ever had a secret lover?

8.Dec.10 Rose who is a domimion student from Taiwan had her picture taken with her prowestler boyfridend while holding her secret lover's hand.
It has just been revealed that Andy hwang, who fullowed Rose to New zealand, has been seeing Rose secretly while she is still dationg Jack.
They both looked very happy. but it is very risky situation.
They had started their secret love affair one month ago. When she was travelling in Queenstown, unfortunately, she got injured in a car accident. At the time, Andy took her to hospital and their chemistry became more intense due to this traumatic event.
Now she disappears. Nobody knows where she is.

“I might not be my father’s son!”

On Monday the 6^th of December a well known boy came to Dominion.

He is a very famous actor’s son. The actor’s name is Robert Curuze. Basically he is really really handsome. He can speak over 5  languages and he is brilliant singer. But unfortunately the boy  doesn’t look like his father. In addition, he couldn’t enjoy his previous school. Because his school mates bullied  him. He didn’t want to be bullied anymore.

So he moved to Dominion.  At that time a lot of girls was surprised and screamed

During his first class he said to his class mates. “ I might not be my father’s son! But I want to become good friends with you.” Fortunately his new mates understood how he felt. They thought that even though  he was very famous, he could be lonely.

So then Dominion became famous. Since then a lot of students have enrolled due to this celebrity appearance.

By Eun-sil & Mario

Ghost of Dominion English School

Last week when the classes at Dominion were over some students were doing their homework in room eight. They heard someone knocking on the door in the front of the elevator, then students went to the door and they didn’t see anybody. Then they went back to the class, while they were going back to class they heard the knocking again, so they ran to the door. Surprisingly they didn’t see anybody, when they were in front the door, they suddenly heard the knocking again. Immediately everybody got scared. Quickly they ran out the school.

Today it’s still a mystery as to who was knocking at door…!!!?

Margaret voted Best Principal in NZ

We interviewed Margaret Jillings (Dominion English School Principal).

“How do you feel to have been voted to the best principal in New Zealand?.”

Margaret was chosen out of 100 principals in New Zealand. As the No.1 principal. Why? Because of a number of reasons, here’s what some Level 5 Dominion students had to say about Margaret: “She always smiles and has time for students.” Christina Park.

“She always arrives at the school early and leaves the school late” Harumi Niimi. 

“When students have problems, She always gives them some useful advice”. Si-Rong He.

Margaret attended the annual English Language Teachers and Principals Awards ceremony last Friday night. She looked gorgeous in a versace gown and accepted the award graciously.

 She is holding “The Dominion Christmas Dinner Party” which is happening on 24^th December. Hershey asked her why she wanted to have the party for students. Margaret answered that she wanted to make her students happy. They might be lonely over the Christmas season.

Congratulations and Merry Christmas Margaret from the Level 5 Dominion Students!

Written by Harumi, Hershey, Christina

Dominion Restaurant Opens!!!

  Finally, our lovely Dominion restaurant that a great deal of students have been expecting has just opened today! The restaurant has a great chef “Margaret Jillings” who is known as awesome chef all over the world, and she serves us foods from many different nationalities.

  The famous critic ‘Yasuhiro Saito’ strongly recommends the restaurant. He said, “The restaurant has splendid atmosphere and absolutely fantastic meals. Especially, a meal which I would like everyone to eat is ‘Takowasa-don’ made from lots of octopus and tasty wasabi. I’m sure everything in the restaurant will make you happy if you go to the restaurant.”

  For first 10 days, you can eat every foods, for example green curry, sushi, fish and chips, kimchi, for free!!

  Why don’t you come to the restaurant today?

 

Class 6A PM Project work by Anja & Mayumi

Japan – New Zealand - Germany

These Countries offer interesting Destinations for everyone

Photo Stories - Level 4

Ghost Stories - Level 5A

TOP TIPS for BETTER ENGLISH by Auckland Class 4A

Top Tips for Improving your English
By Akiko, Albert and Carlos


We know that learning English is so difficult but we think that with our experience we can help you. Read our tips below.


1. Practice speaking English as much as you can. You can go out with your classmates every Wednesday because it's a popular activity at Dominion school. We also recommend that you live in an English speaking homestay.


2. Enjoy studying English. Sometimes people think that studying English is an obligation and they don't enjoy it. You have to change that way of thinking because optimistic thinking can give you more confidence and energy, so that you can work hard. If your mind believes in what you are doing, your English can improve.


3. Watching English programs and movies, even listening to English music, are good ways to practice English, especially when you listen carefully to what they say in movies or programs. You can also try to learn the way they speak to improve your English speaking.



Top Tips for Better English
By Silvana, Claire and Peggy


If you want to have success learning English you should follow these tips which are really useful for your improvement.


1. Review vocabulary. You should learn 5 words per day because if you use these words it's going to be easy for you to explain or say what you want.


2. Speak and Listen to English only. It's a good idea to live in a homestay because you can practice your English as much as you can. Also, we recommend you make friends from other countries - that make you speak just English.


3. Don't be afraid of making mistakes. If you are often afraid of making mistakes you're not going to speak too much. Also, don't think about grammar, just try to speak fluently.


4. Don't give up. Learning English is difficult but if you try and practice all the time you'll see that learning English is not such a big problem!


5. Read the newspaper every day which would help you with your reading skills and you can learn more vocabulary.


In our opinion learning English is nothing special you just need to practice and if you think that is difficult, just try as much as possible and never give up.


Top Tips for Better English
By Yurie, Alex and Bona


We know learning English is very difficult because we've been learning English at Dominion School for ages. We'll give some tips for you to refer.


1. Go Abroad

We think being in an English environment is the most important thing that helps you to improve your English. You have to speak English everywhere and think about your English improvement. You can also improve English much faster if you do this than spending a lot of time studying English in your country.


2. English Only Policy

When you go abroad, please don't speak your own language, even if you're outside of school. We think it' a good idea to improve your English quickly. If you live in a homestay, you can talk to native speakers and make lots of friends who come from different countries.


3. Improve your Listening
We think listening to music, watching TV or movies is good for your listening skills. We recommend listening to English songs, sometimes read lyrics at the same time. If you like watching TV or movies then choose a channel which has subtitles, because you can check what you hear. When you watch a movie please put on English subtitles.
4. Revise Vocabulary and Grammar
When you go home, keep trying to revise what you learn in class every day or regularly. If you don't revise, you'll probably forget it much more quickly. We recommend reading as much a you can, and when you find new vocabulary, please write it down and look up the word's meaning and try to use it constantly.
In our opinion, if you try these tips, your English will be more fluent, and you'll improve more quickly. Good luck!!!
Tips for Better English By Jenny and Makiko
As you know, it's hard to study English. Also, you might think studying English is boring. For people who have problems with speaking English, here are some tips. Read and keep them in mind.
1. You should find interesting ways to study English because studying English is not that exciting. So, you need to make it intersting. For example, you can watch American TV dramas or you can write a diary in English. Choose your favourite TV programs and try to watch them over and over.
2. Make friends from other countries. It will be a great chance for you to talk in English. I'll give you one example. One student in Dominion had an American boyfriend so her English skills improved a lot. The power of love =D
3. Go abroad. Travelling around other countries or living with people from other countries would force you to study English. Also, your goals would be more specific. For instance, living with a host family in NZ is one great way.
4. Check your level. If you are a beginner, start from the beginning. Don't be too ambitious at the first stage when you study English. We can't speak like Kiwis at the beginning.
5. Keep practicing English everyday. For example, try not to speak your own language when you are in language school. I mean 'make rules to improve your English'.
Studying English is not boring as you've thought. To be honest, it's very exciting because if you speak English fluently, you would have more chances to make lots of friends from other countries. I hope these tips help you to improve your English. Thank you for reading this.

Auckland Afternoon Skills Class Survey Reports

Auckland's afternoon Skills class conducted a survey as part of a class project. In groups of two they invaded Queen St harassing unsuspecting passers-by to partake in their individual survey topics. At the end of the day they submitted their reports and the best 2 reports were chosen to grace the pages of our blog for all to enjoy!

1. Report About 'Fur & Fashion's" Survey by Barbara and Anthony

The purpose of the survey was to ask people about fur and fashion.

Most of the interviewees think that wearing clothes made from fur is fashionable. However, if the majority could buy some fur clothes, they wouldn't because it's not fair on the animals.

On the other hand, kiwis do not agree with killing animals for fur, but they agree to kill possums because they are a pest in New Zealand since they destroy the environment.

It is important to highlight that our interviewees eat meat. They were very confused when we asked why they think that it is fair to eat meat but not to wear fur, because all of them think that eating meat is very healthy, never-the-less they agree that lots of people can live without eating meat.

People usually don't like wearing fur because it's not fair to kill animals just to be fashionable. However, they eat meat because it tastes good and is healthy.

2. Survey - Beauty / Cosmetic Surgery by Sunock & Roman

Introduction
Our teachers forced us to do a survey about beauty and cosmetic surgery. We randomly asked people on Queen Street.

Results
The results of the survey were as following:
Surprisingly only 1 out of 8 people would consider undergoing cosmetic surgery.
As a matter of fact this person was the oldest woman we had interviewed (50).
For the question about which part of the body is the most attractive one, the majority of the people answered, 'hands and eyes'.

Conclusion
Every person interviewed had their own point of view about beauty. To leave you with one last thought: beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Culture shock and advice - Level 4

Culture shock

Culture shock is when you have a shock when you arrive in a new country. Nothing is the same as in your own country. You might feel lonely, nervous, confused, homesick and nobody is there for you.

Our experience of culture shock in NZ

When we arrived in NZ we all had different types of culture shock because we all come from different countries.

For some students the weather was very strange because in Christchurch the weather is really changeable. Sometimes the sun is shining then comes the rain and in the winter there is snow! Some people in our class have never seen snow!

The food here in NZ is very similar to the food in England. Most people like fish & chips. In some homestay families they always cook potatoes and beans! It’s not like the weather, it is unchangeable!

Young Kiwi people sometimes wear very interesting clothes. They wear sandals, hot pants and a winter jacket! And all that in very strong colours like pink, blue, green and orange!

Some of us had a picture in our heads about NZ, that NZ has a lot of nature, the ocean and animals! But in Christchurch centre you can’t see anything like that. That was, in the first moment, very difficult for some people. But then, on the weekends some of us have gone on trips to the West Coast, Mount Cook or Akaroa. And so we have seen NZ like it is on the books.

Advice on how to adapt to Christchurch

The wind in Christchurch is very strong so you should not bring an umbrella. You should bring a raincoat.

You should wear suncream because the sunlight is very strong.

You should go to Worcester St. because this street has a lot of places you can go to for example Arts Centre, Art Gallery, Canterbury Museum, Botanic Garden, punting and so on.

You should get a Metro bus card because it’s cheaper and easy.

You should go to cafés. Christchurch has a lot of cafés and they are really nice.

You should go to Cathedral Square. If you go there on the weekend, there is a market. You can buy some NZ souvenirs.

Advice on how to enjoy Dominion

You should speak only English in Dominion because there are 21 different nationalities.

You should try to play table tennis & pool to make some friends.

You should open your mind because you’ll meet some new people from very different cultures.

You can borrow some books and DVDs from the Dominion library. It’s an opportunity to learn English quickly.

You should join activities on Friday and the weekend and explore the best places in NZ.

If you have some problems anytime, anywhere you can ask Georgina or other Dominion staff.

25 things you may not know about New Zealand - Level 5

By MISHAL & ALVARO

1 - Cook's cure
Captain James Cook, the man who navigated New Zealand, is said to have discovered a cure for scurvy, a disease that results from Vitamin C deficiency, when he played around with medicines.

2 - More births
New Zealand births exceeded deaths by 29,890 in the September 2005 year.

3 - Older brides
New Zealanders are getting married older. The latest statistics show that the median ages of men and women marrying for the first time is 29.9 and 28.1 years. These brides and grooms married, on average, nine years older than their parents did.

4 - Big on butter
For each person who lives here, New Zealand produces 100kg of butter and 65kg of cheese each year.

5 - Clever Kiwis
A New Zealander invented the tear-back velcro strip, the pop-lid on a self-sealing paint tin, the child-proof pill bottle and the crinkle in hair-pins so that they don't fall out.

6 - Olympic gold
New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals a head than any other country.

7 - Sheep dip
In the early 1980s, New Zealand was home to more than 70 million sheep, but now has 40 million, or about 10 sheep to one person. This decline hasn't stopped New Zealand from bringing in 50 per cent of all international trade in sheepmeat.

8 - Golf swings
Measured by club memberships, golf is the most popular sport in New Zealand, followed by netball.

9 - Curious Kea
The kea, native to New Zealand, likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows.

10 - Quick work
The shortest interval between separate births in the world is 208 days. New Zealander Jayne Bleackley gave birth to Joseph Robert on September 3, 1999, and Annie Jessica Joyce on March 30, 2000.

11 - Why bother?
Two Massey University students broke a Guinness World Record in December for the world's largest tape ball. The ball, which weighs 53kg and has a circumference of more than 2.5m, was made by winding Scotch tape continually around itself.

12 - Spelling test
The longest place name in the world still in use is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukaka-
pikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a hill in Porangahau in the Hawkes Bay. The Maori name translates to "the place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as Landeater, played his flute to his loved one."

13 - Middle age
The median age of New Zealanders is growing. In 1901 it was 23. By 1991 it was 31 and in 2001 it was 35. By 2021 it is expected to be 40.

14 - Rising prices
In 1984, $43 in New Zealand would buy approximately the same as $100 today.

15 - Blacked out
The longest blackout in the world was on February 19, 1998, when the four main power cables supplying Auckland city, broke down. The disruption, which lasted 66 days, affected 7500 business and residential customers and cost businesses an estimated $300 million.

16 - The sea, the sea
No part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea.

17 - Lost in space
In the scene of Star Trek: First Contact, when Picard shows Lilly she is orbiting Earth, Australia and Papa New Guinea are clearly visible but New Zealand is missing.

18 - Bottom line
No capital city in the world is further south than Wellington.

19 - Animal farm
Less than 5 per cent of the population of New Zealand is human - the rest are animals. This is one of the highest ratios of animals to humans in the world.

20 - Pipebands galore
There are more Scottish pipe bands per head of population in New Zealand than in Scotland.

21 - Big readers
New Zealand has more book-shops per head of population than any other country; one for every 7500 people.

22 - Bad behaviour
New Zealand has the third highest rate of deaths in the developed world from maltreatment among under-15-year-olds; third to Mexico and the US.

23 - Freshwater spring
More fresh water flows up from cracks in the limestone at Waikoropupu, near Takaka, than from any other freshwater spring in the world - more than 2100 million litres every 24 hours.

24 - Trout heaven
More rainbow trout in the 2kg to 3kg category are caught annually in New Zealand than in the rest of the world put together.

25 - World-beaters
New Zealand is home to the world's smallest dolphin, the Hectors Dolphin, the rarest sea lion, the Hookers Sea Lion, the largest flightless parrot, the kakapo, the oldest reptile, the tuatara, the heaviest insect, a weta, the biggest earth-worms, the smallest bats, some of the oldest trees, and many of the rarest birds, insects, and plants in the world.

* Facts sourced from Statistics New Zealand, Strange Facts & True About New Zealand, Guinness World records, The Kiwi Site and the ENZ New Zealand Immigration Guide

Where to eat out in Christchurch - Level 4

When I feel lonely I go to Osaka – it is not far from Dominion. I usually eat tomkatsu. It is very nice and very cheap. Normally it’s under $12. You can eat sushi and curry. There is kareoke . You can have as much rice and misu soup as you want. Also you can drink beer and other kinds of drinks.

Su Jin

I often go to Tomato which is a Korean restaurant. I like cold noodle soup so I often eat it. Also mixed spicy noodles is a popular Korean food. Especially the tofu soup – it’s to die for. Tomato is located near Dominion. It also sells kinchi which is really delicious and cheap.

Dong Ki

City Express is a convenience store. It’s handy because it has Korean noodles, drinks, snacks, ice-cream etc. We can buy many things there – it’s convenient. In addition this store is near Dominion. It’s useful for us.

Yosuke

I prefer to have lunch from the Swiss Café. You can find it just across from the Dominion entrance on the other side of the street in Cathedral Junction. It’s open from 9am – 4pm, Monday – Friday. The menu is priced from $8 - $15. It also sells chocolate.

Li

Do you want to know an insider tip?

Pop in and look – test yourself:

· Test original Japanese food.

· Good and cheap.

· Lots to eat.

· Quality is the trump card.

· It’s just the right thing for you.

· Tell me a better place to eat … I’ll follow you immediately.

Erhard

This store’s name is Yellow Rocket. I usually follow the tram-line from school. You can see Yellow Rocket in front of a black building. They sell bagels, salads, smoothies, coffee and soup. The best of all the food is bagels – they are cheaper than salads or soup. They cost about $8.50. They taste really good. Soups and salads are more expensive than the other foods. You can eat inside or outside if you want. Yellow Rocket opens at 10.00am.

Ji Hyang

I usually pop over to Coupland’s Bakery to buy sandwiches. I think most people already know this place because it’s not too far from Dominion School and the price is really good for students. Also there are many kinds of food like doughnuts, cookies, muffins, bread etc. The taste’s also good. Sometimes I don’t know which one to grab. Finally it’s opposite the end of New Regent Street on Armagh Street, next to the ASB bank. The opening hours are Monday – Friday 7am – 5.30pm and Saturday 8.30am – 4.30pm.

Hyo Young