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Q: English corners and all that cr*p. May I offer this?
Kchur's account really hit home with me. I have experienced bits and pieces of that idiotic student behaviour as well. And it doesn't matter where what city I am in.
Let me begin as will paint a broad stroke over a few of the topics that have been raised recently is various posts.. Three days ago I was asked to "go to a university and speak English". I asked numerous times what was expected of me. Each time I got a smile and a "don't worry about that, it will be fine". I knew it would be fine as this was not my first public speaking engagement in China. Almost 7 YEARS HISTORY! (that's a play on the 5000 years........you get it)
I got to the school and when my turn to speak finally came, after sitting like a goldfish in a bowl for nearly an hour of mind numbing Chinese speaker after another, half the students were fast asleep. This in itself was not strange of course so I jumped into action and began my talk. By the way, at this time I was briefed that the students were priming for the IELTs exam. "Ah, something to go on," I thought. I decided to forgo the formal aspect of the talk and get right into it by asking them how I could help them. This tactic usually prompts a question and answer session so I felt comfortable. So, I asked..........and crickets..........I quickly smiled and repeated my question again............crickets again. The "shenme's" and blank stares thoroughly confused me as surely they could understand me. I spent the next three minutes making an attempt to get through to no avail. Finally I asked one more time and when I got nothing, I thanked them and the organizers and walked out. The look on their faces was a sight to behold. lol
I knew at that time I was expected to be the proverbial white dancing clown. I wasn't informed of this cause anyone who know me knows I won't put up with that crap.
English Corners:
There is not a single Chinese student in this country who knows what an English corner should be!!! I would also say, with all due respect to the guys and gals here who pull their hair out when having to attend such a farce, that most teachers are not actually sure what to do either. So, they attend and answer questions ad nauseam. I hate this and won't participate in it...ever! It's not at all real and gives the students absolutely nothing in the way of English skill improvement as it is not based on anything remotely resembling English culture. I have torn apart the so called corners more times than I care to remember. Always to the utter disbelief of anyone in attendance. Chinese teachers and students alike.
So: what can be done?
I will tell you a few ideas of what I have done in the past and what I currently do. You can delete if u want or take the ideas and put your own twist on them. Have fun...
I currently conduct an English Corner at two of the local universities that consists of 170 students and myself. No assistants or other native English speakers. It is near impossible to get them all participating to the point where their experience with be somewhat memorable. That is if you use their methods of gathering in groups and making forced conversations. The problem with that is they don't even know it's not effective for them. They don't know any better.
1. TRIVIA
Yes, good 'ol trivia. Just like you may play in the pub. I have done this for years in Harbin with the local foreigners so I wanted to see if it could be done with students here in my new hometown as well. We are now in the 5th week and it has really caught on. I hosted and asked the questions at the first two events but now the students have totally taken over. They prepare 30 questions, the previous winning team provide three hosts, they print answer sheets,provide team names, take scores and have even decided on year end awards and stuff like that. Instead of an "English Corner" they now have a biweekly event that they love to attend and each 2 hour game is conducted 100% in English.
2. CCTV News
Groups of 6 prepare and present the news as if really on TV. They choose roles: anchor, sports reporter, athlete, weather reporter (draw a map on the board), entertainment reporter, actor or singer. They spend 20 minutes or so preparing their scripts and then I let 'em go at it. Each "show" lasts 15 minutes or so. I critique each one upon conclusion, kinda like American Idol. With the right direction, sometimes they are very surprisingly good.
3. Jeopardy
Topics on the board: China, Canada, Numbers, Slang, Spelling, "7", Grammar.....
Under each topics you write numbers 5, 4, 3, 2. 1...these are point totals. 5 refers to a tough question while 1 obviously means an easy question. Teams of 6, 7 or 8 choose the topics and if correct, they get the points, if wrong they get a deduction. You can figure the rest out here. .Oh, the students again must host and prepare everything under your guidance.
There are lots more ideas but if you have questions about the details of these three just ask or message me. Happy to help with this.
English corner should be an opportunity to empower the students. Change is not easy for them to grasp but they will and your will find that you will also have a great time at the "dreaded English Corner".
Like I said, I'm lucky. At this school, the English Corner is run by the students, so all I have to do is show up. After all, who knows better what students want than students themselves? It seems to go ok, not terribly painful, but boring for me. They try to start with introductions, but quite a few people show up, all talking, so you can't really hear it anyway. Someone prints out 5 sayings (like "get off your high horse") and the Chinese translation, they all pair up and practice for a few minutes, and then try to put all of the phrases together in one conversation. It can be quite funny, depending on who does it. A few of my students have a great sense of humor. Then some people might sing some songs (in Chinese). They play some sort of game like Up/Down. Then for the last bit, they usually have some kind of "debate," although the questions they pick don't seem to be the debatable type (for example "Should students care about being fashionable?"). It goes on for an hour and a half and takes place every other Friday.
Jnusb416:
Or you could just walk out the door...? It takes place on the first floor in a school building lobby. The doors are always open, but the windows have bars on the first floor. It's really not so bad, although this last time I basically spent the whole time talking to some students who didn't want to participate. Although I am supposed to go, I also go for my students. They're nice kids, even if they don't pay so much attention in class.
You sure did offer a lot of stuff for someone who doesn't have much experience!! 
Actually at my uni english corner attendence was optional, so nobody went. It was the worst ranked uni in heilongjiang though.
where did you have it at ? the best places are coffee shops , more people tend to come.
derek:
The coffee shop idea lends itself to informal chat which I am not really into.. My ideas are geared towards a large turnout for the event. More than 100 students could be accommodated and I usually use the large theater style classroom.
