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GuestBob
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 270
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 Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 11:26 am Post subject: |
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| I must admit that I don't like the subtext of FT centered English corner - that to speak English, you need to be in the presence of a native speaker. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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The FT ain't the subtext baby it is the reason for the event.
It's a petting zoo as someone has said. |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:00 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| It's a petting zoo |
I like that! Also apropos. |
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 8:48 am Post subject: |
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| johntpartee wrote: |
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| It's a petting zoo |
I like that! Also apropos. |
..and in this petting zoo you get to ask the one on show
Do you like Chinese food?
Can you speak Chinese? |
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DosEquisX
Joined: 09 Dec 2010
Posts: 361
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:25 am Post subject: |
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If it contains uni students, it's a nice place to go if you're intent on banging a student.
I find them boring. Good place to go and meet some people. You can spend time with them and stop going to the corner when it gets boring. |
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kungfuman
Joined: 31 May 2012
Posts: 1749
Location: In My Own Private Idaho
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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English Corner is just a monkey cage without the bars. Just DANCE DANCE DANCE and be happy.
It's a waste but the students demand it. |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:44 pm Post subject: |
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I'm still reading through the threads about English Corner. I didn't find the thread about Stanley's book particularly helpful, as it seemed to be a bunch of people whining about the idea of being associated with the subjects of the ethnography. I've read Stanley's book and almost everything she wrote about rings true, right down to the untrained teachers resenting teacher training from their DELTA qualified DoS (if I only I were so lucky as to have a DELTA qualified DoS). |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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| johntpartee wrote: |
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| English Corner - what is the point? |
None. Biggest waste of time imaginable. I usually won't sign contracts that require my attendance at English Corners. |
Golden advice, my good sir.
Perhaps I should do an English Corner about how terrible English Corners are and my imminent plans to flee China because of them..... |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Really? You're leaving strictly because of English Corners? I can't stand them (and have made no secret of my disdain to administrators and attendees), but I wouldn't chuck it all because of them. But then I'm not you. I just find it difficult to believe that anybody dislikes the petting zoos more than I. |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| johntpartee wrote: |
| Really? You're leaving strictly because of English Corners? I can't stand them (and have made no secret of my disdain to administrators and attendees), but I wouldn't chuck it all because of them. But then I'm not you. I just find it difficult to believe that anybody dislikes the petting zoos more than I. |
It was a joke which referenced to the original post, where I mentioned a co-worker giving an hour long monologue at an English Corner about his relationship problems and plans to flee the country because of his nagging Chinese girlfriend. |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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| doogsville wrote: |
| I thought the point of English corner was for the students to practice English. I take lots and lots of questions with me. Some on sheets of paper, for me to ask, and some on cards, for the students to ask. I have them ask each other the questions, If their really shy or don't understand I might demo the question, but then they have to do it. |
I've tried this approach too and found that it only works with the handful of dedicated B2+ students.
| doogsville wrote: |
| I find that the numbers drop off radically after the first one, when they realise it's not a 'lets go to the English corner/petting zoo and look at a foreigner' kind of thing. The ones that come back genuinely want to practice. |
To be fair, I've found the same thing. I personally think this is a good thing, but have noticed that the administration responded by only giving me English Corner hours on off-peak days. This reinforces the idea that English Corners are intended to be a gawk at the goofy foreigner hour. |
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janeal
Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 29
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:46 pm Post subject: English Corner |
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| The English Corners I attended were a lot of fun and gave me a good chance to meet with and discuss virtually anything with the students. It also gave me a chance to improve my chinese. I really don't understand all the negative comments. My experiences were very positive. |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:00 pm Post subject: Re: English Corner |
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| janeal wrote: |
| It also gave me a chance to improve my chinese. |
How does speaking in Chinese fit within the goals of an English Corner? |
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muffintop
Joined: 07 Jan 2013
Posts: 803
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:14 pm Post subject: Re: English Corner |
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| Harbin wrote: |
| janeal wrote: |
| It also gave me a chance to improve my chinese. |
How does speaking in Chinese fit within the goals of an English Corner? |
What goals would you be referring to? I often dip into Chinese in class and during English corners too. I guess having the students understand you isn't one of the goals? If we were talking about some total immersion thing I would agree that breaking into L1 would be a mistake. However, an hour or three a week is pretty far from immersive.
My only goals are not to talk for the entire time and to keep the questions on or as close to the topic as I can. |
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Harbin
Joined: 19 Feb 2013
Posts: 161
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| Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:42 pm Post subject: Re: English Corner |
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| muffintop wrote: |
| What goals would you be referring to? |
Creating an immerse English language environment where students must use English to communicate.
| muffintop wrote: |
| However, an hour or three a week is pretty far from immersive. |
You're right - we should abandon all efforts to create an immersive environment because of time constraints. Why don't we just turn the entire thing into let the foreigner speak funny Chinese hour? Just imagine the entertainment value this would provide for the students! It's even funnier than listening to Uyghurs try to speak Chinese! |
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