Job Discussion Forums

[igorG]

I am planning to set up a small reading room for my students studying for higher education abroad and I am wondering whether anyone else on forums has done that before. The idea is to get my students interested in the language as well as to expose them to it further.

To narrow down my objective here, I am committing myself to a few categories such as Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Geography/Traveling, Biology, and Science 'cause some of these these are also useful for my students' future projects that are a part of my program.

So, do you guys have any ideas what's available around? Also any further angles on how to set this up would be appreciated.

By the way, i have got no idea what the school's budget for this is yet.

[askiptochina]

I give my students stuff on USB sticks instead. No need for a reading room.

[7969]

A reading room is a good idea. USB sticks. while convenient, don't have any atmosphere where people can mingle and discuss topics of interest.

As your reading room needs books you need to find out where to get those. I had plans in the past to canvass for books that noone wanted back home and have them shipped to where I was and establish a reading room of sorts with those. But I got sidetracked and the idea went by the wayside.

One alternative is to find the info online and then print it off and staple it into some kind of book format. Stock the shelves with that stuff. Or you could prowl new/used book stores and see what you can find. Lots of the English language books come at lower prices, paperbacks for example.

[Miles Smiles]

If possible, make available to students the following url:

http://www.gutenberg.org/

It is Project Gutenberg. There are hundreds of books available for free download. It may be possible for them to download them onto their iPhones.

If you go to the sidewalks of some of the universities on weekends, students sell English language books pretty cheap. That's another source for reading.

[askiptochina]

[El Chupacabra]

The problem with reading rooms in China is that the English books available are mostly Chinglishy books on learning English, or Chinglishy abridged versions of public domain classics that have been vetted by the Party. Since most of this rubbish originates from public domain, the above suggestions for using USB drives or Project Gutenberg are sensible. With Android on more people's phones, electronic reading is a practical idea.

A hybrid reading room, that has places to plug in computers and e-readers, and any books you can scavenge that aren't pure Chinglish rubbish., seems feasible if you can actually find a room to use. You may simplly have to use an extra room of your free apartment, if you want absolute control.

[igorG]

Thanks all for the ideas.

USB sticks are a choice i am considering, although the limited access to computers spoils quite a few plans that i've had.

Before i had some access to a few uni libraries in Canada, the US and Australia. Even if i had that opportunity today, i wouldn't've been able to put it in use under the circumstances.

The idea of printing materials for my reading room is yet another option but again there are some obstacles i am unwilling to deal with. The school's leadership appears to be completely controlling and even paper is to be put on requisition form. However, I might actually buy my own paper to do this. I think this is the best idea here.

As for any available books on mainland China that i'd be willing to accumulate at my campus for the students, it's discouraging for one reason. On Monday, I was told my international department would have to share the library with the rest of the school, and so all the books from me would have to be put/filed there. There are a few issues with that; one that it's not convenient, one that it's available at limited times only, and one that too many others could put their hands on what we need (have worked for). Needless to say that on the floor where my classes are is a rather large room empty and available. The board of directors of my school seeks to blindly get the credit for everything as it seems.

[7969]

[El Chupacabra]

Igor,

You're also based here in Guangzhou, right?

I teach here at SCNU, and have recently completed studies for a postgraduate certificate in Postsecondary Reading/Learning. Last winter, through interviews for my final research project, I discovered that SCNU's School of Foreign Studies is developing a reading laboratory. But I don't think this will be an ideal reading room, the way you or I would see it.

In my interviews I realized that Chinese adminstrators will always favor publications approved by the MOE, which has somehow been hoodwinked by the extensive reading marketeers. They still don't really follow the extensive reading methodology precisely, but are willing to buy hundreds of graded readers for university students.

This is counter to teaching methods in the States, where college-level reading is never graded or abridged. The time for that is in primary and early secondary schools. But this contradiction is a major consideration in teaching reading here. We can see that many students gain interest in English from the 77-page version of "David Copperfield" rather than the 777-page version, for example.

I know of one used book shop just across from the south gate of Huashi Da, under the footbridge, that has several boxes of English language books. They all seem to be sloppy seconds from former laowai. A young couple runs this shop, and they are quite friendly. They will make deals on multiple books, but their marked prices are absurd.

Another option is to have a relative back home send an assortment of books from thrift stores and yard sales.

If your idea develops into a full-fledged project, PM me. I'd be glad to devote some volunteer time toward a prototype reading room here in Guangzhou.