What makes Australia's version of English so popular is it's very colourful history, as it is a mixture of various foreign influences, primarily from within the United Kingdom. Starting in 1788 and continuing well into the 19th century, a 'melting pot' of different social backgrounds came together and, with children growing up in an environment of such diverse accents and vocabulary of the English language, they forged a new accent unique to Australia, stemming from the variety placed before them. Not only did this affect our accents as Australians, but to a much more detailed extent it affected what we say and how we say it. The major linguistical influences of this era of the birth of Australia, came from the convicts who were transported down under from Ireland and southern England; mostly people of the working class. More influences were introduced later in Australian history but this basis for Australian English saw the usage of a lot of abbreviations and colloquial language, which is definitely an identifying feature of modern Australian English.