While Australians might think we speak standard English, newly arrived migrants often struggle with the unusual colloquialisms that make up our everyday speech.

To overcome that language barrier, an Adelaide TAFE teacher has designed a website so people learning Australian English can translate some of the sayings they hear.

"No worries", "I reckon", "that'd be right", "flat out" and "give it a crack" are just a few of the phrases that leave some new migrants mystified.

The website's creator, Keturah de Klerk, says learning these Australian phrases is crucial for new migrants to feel part of society, and even to hold down their job.

Ms de Klerk, who teaches English at Adelaide TAFE, says it's not "coming the raw prawn" or other "bonza" cliched slang that confuses most new migrants to Australia.

She says the words she found the hardest to translate were often the ones in most common usage.

For example, the phrase "I'm stuffed" has at least three different meanings - "I'm tired," "I'm in trouble" or "I'm full".

"It's simple things, like last week I had some great news for my students. I said, 'guess what?' and they didn't know how to answer me," she said.

"[And there are others, such as] 'can you give us a hand' and 'take your time doing this'.

"Not to mention just irony and sarcasm, and giving a statement as a question like 'how good is this weather' - they think that they have to provide an answer."

And she says Australians have a habit of shortening words, which can confuse new migrants.

"Mozzies, sunnies, chewies, I'm defo - all these sorts of things," she said.

Ms de Klerk found students were constantly coming to her for advice on words they had never heard before arriving in Australia, even though they had learnt basic English.

"They would bring in their little tourist book with the lists of all the idioms and slang, but [it was always] the colourful stuff -"crikey", "sheila" and all that sort of thing, which is great but not overly helpful for them," she said.

'What's ta?'

Kavita Anil Gourd, who moved to Australia from India nine months ago, says it has taken time for her to get used to Australian vernacular.

"It is very hard for me because some words like 'hang on' and 'I reckon' I never understand," she said.

"Now I understand a little bit what the meaning of 'no worries','hang on' and everything."

Parvati Bhattarai, who came to Australia from Bhutan, says before doing the course she was constantly confused by Australian colloquialisms.

"They speak English but it is quite different from our tongue and our way of talking, and the most important thing for us is to learn the slang word and to understand the jokes," she said.

"When I get on the bus and the bus driver say 'ta'. Ta sound in my country has a very different meaning," said Kae Kwon from Korea.

"I tried to get on and he said 'ta'. What's 'ta'?"

And it's not just a matter of understanding casual conversation; Ms De Klerk says she knows of some migrants who have lost their jobs because of basic communication barriers.

"We have students who we get qualified and who have the English level to get the job, but ... can't hold onto it because the boss sees them as not getting along socially with everyone, which ... has a high level of importance in Australia," she said.

"Students were having that problem maintaining their job because they were not feeling comfortable to be social with Australian people at work."

The Aussie slang classes are now spreading around the country, with other TAFEs introducing similar courses.

Ms de Klerk simply hopes her classes and the e-phrase website help new migrants make sense of Australian sayings that most of us take for granted.