Global Heart Tours empowers language learners to improve their proficiency, make new friends and connect with community. We also:

• Show you how to make friends with native speakers
• Give you opportunities to speak more English
• Introduce you to community groups and events
• Show you how to get around Melbourne city
• Help people better understand Australian people’s culture and values

Our personal mission is to connect Australian language learners with international students.

As a university student studying Japanese I benefited greatly from meeting Japanese international students. But I quickly found out that my story was a rare one. We need more outside of the classroom.

— Dan

We also need to engage international student not as just beneficiaries but as equal partners: language is the most obvious way in which international students can benefit local students.

On the tours we aren’t just learning about where things are; we also cover the contemporary values of young Australians and their interests. We teach people how to play cricket and footy because it’s that kind of background knowledge that can be a barrier for international students.

Many of our conversations happen in cafes, where students can talk about aspirations and relationships in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The problems we are solving

• Australians’ lack of Asian literacy
• International students coming here feeling isolated

Unfortunately only three per cent of all university students study an Asian language. Despite this, our two largest trading partners are China (13.2%) and Japan (12.3%), followed by Singapore (5.8%) and South Korea (4.7%) as our fourth and sixth largest trading partners respectively.

International education is our third biggest export industry behind mining and resources. It grosses AU$15bn in FY2009 and our place in the English-speaking world as an attractive friendly destination is very important to our economy.

Students come here, in most cases receive a high level degree or qualification, and then leave the country because they couldn’t connect with the people here.

Our key values

• We believe Australian language learners will benefit by speaking with native speakers outside the classroom.
• We believe we can connect international students and visitors to existing groups, and create new groups to facilitate friendships with native English speakers
• We want to give international students the tools they need to make friends, build confidence and love their time in Australia
• We believe that, in partnership, international students and language learners, can learn from and with each other.
• We want to make learning languages more mainstream and popular in Australian society

If what you read interests you, contact us today. We want to hear your story and what you want to achieve.