Hi Yaghoub,
Many thanks for your comment. You might care to try Podcast 60, Multicultural Australia which talks about migrants in Australia.
Best regards,
Rob

Hi,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, an interesting difference. The Myki must be validated again at the end of the journey, so that the system knows how long the journey was, and therefore how much to deduct from the balance on the card. I assume the French system has a different way of calculating the fare.
Best regards,
Rob.

Hi Lilua,
Many thanks for your comment. I am pleased that you like my podcast.
Have fun learning English.
Best regards,
Rob.

Many thanks for your quick and detailed explanation, Rob. So what you mean is that the sentence without ‘the’ implies the tram may not pass by some attractions. Actually, what I expected at first was it passes ALL stations as leaving ‘the’ out of the sentence because for me, No article sounds signifying something general. And I also expected you could point some specific attractions where the tram doesn’t pass by as putting ‘the’. But it was totally opposite! It’s fun getting to know this kind of delicate thing. Thank you so much again.

Hi Eunhye,

Many thanks for your comment and your kind words. That is a great question you have asked about the article. The sentence you refer to is – ‘It goes in a circular route around the city centre passing major tourist attractions and shops.‘ You have asked if there could be a ‘the‘ before the word ‘major‘. If I had put that word in at that spot, then it would imply that the tram passes ALL the major tourist attractions and shops of Melbourne. In fact, the tram passes some, but not all. By leaving the word ‘the‘ out of the sentence, I am inferring that there are some tourist attractions and shops which the tram doesn’t pass by.
I hope that explanation is useful. That was a great question and shows that you are really understanding English very well. Nice work!
Cheers,
Rob

It’s been a week since listening to your podcasts. I’ve only visited Sydney but your podcast really makes me want to visit Melbourne one day as well. In Sydney, I had to use the ‘opal card’ for any transportations but here it’s Myki ! Interesting.

I wonder if I can ask you about some grammar here. (If it bothers you, just skip this question :p) It’s about article. In this podcast, there was a sentence like :

…the city centre passing major tourist attractions and shops

I thought adding ‘the’ before major sounds natural as well. The presence of ‘the’ is not important here? I really don’t get when it’s allowed to omit articles.

The contents are really enjoyable, cheers.

Eunhye

Hi Francesco,
Many thanks for your message. I’m pleased that you find my website useful.
Your English seems very good, so well done. Learning a language is not easy.
Have a great day.
Rob

Hi Eagerbeaver,

Thanks for your comment. We have lots of young people in Melbourne, like any big city. Our population is growing so you will find lots of children, teenagers and young adults in Melbourne. I took my pictures in the centre of Melbourne on a normal working day, so you would expect there to be fewer younger people in the city on that day.
The term ‘to and from’ means that the trams carry people to their destination, and also back again. For example, they may catch a tram to the Victoria Markets, then they catch a tram back home again (from). I hope that explanation helps.
Have a great day.
Rob

Thanks Silvia.