On China - People (2)

getting to know the Chaoyang Library English Corner

Yups, the in-thing in China now is English corners where foreigners can drop by and talk with Chinese people - they have in in universities and libraries, as far as I know. Out of curiosity, went to one in Beijing, and.. well I guess you could see from the photo that I had a great time =D

The very inspiring thing was that there were grandpas and grandmas that speak way better English that some youngsters I spoke to, simply because they really aren't afraid to speak up. It was very interesting to speak to them as well, because they grew up during the Mao era and saw how China changed.. we were talking using lots of vocab like "reactionary", "Red army", "commune".. Heavy stuff, hey.. *btw the Chaoyang Corner is made up of around 50 people, the people on the photo were part of my group hehe*

So yeah, the 'system' is that the class gets divided into groups based on how many foreigners come in, then we just chat around. Surprisingly in my group there was a guy who knew a lot about Indonesia, because he was a travel agent. I learnt how to say 'Bandung' in Mandarin hahaha.. And being a 'hua qiao' *overseas Chinese* put me in the exotic category, somewhat.. there were some people from my grandpa's region! *Fujian* Was speaking Fujian with them though my Fujian accent is waaaay lousier compared to my Chinese accent.. The thing about language is, as with everything, it's not just what you say but how you say it.. I don't mean the accent, but the sincerity and the desire to communicate.. We were also using a lot of hand gestures and smiles, and well, let's just say I felt really at home I was sad to leave the class..

There were other foreigners of course, and they really spoke Mandarin! Hardcore man, one American guy even told a Chinese joke which instantly earned him enormous favour. Actually, some foreigners I met in China were really into Chinese culture and language, which.. made me a bit ashamed... *sudden awakening of Chinese roots..yeah..* The student I met on the night train also said it's kinda amazing how these foreigners come and learn so much about China that they actually know more stuff than the average Chinese person.. Hats off to them..

But back to Chinese people. Am glad to say that the friendliness and sincerity of the people I met *At least the Beijingers and Dong Bei people.. Shanghai people supposedly aren't that friendly...* spurred me to really learn Chinese culture and language.. Three weeks of travelling did more to me that years of forced Chinese tuition, parents' prodding, desire to read comics.. I believe now that the very strong longing to communicate with other people is the best motivation to learn a language.

On an additional note, a lot of Chinese people are excited to learn English, I think. On one occasion, I was going to have lunch in a small restaurant with a friend, and we had difficulties with the menu. *Photos but no English* So, we asked our waiter if anyone there could speak English.. She went to the back room and a few moments later came out together with another girl.. Before that girl came to our table, she looked hard at the other waiter as if asking for encouragement, then shouted *yeap, shouted, the whole restaurant could hear* "ALRIGHT LET'S GO!" like she was going for a sports competition =D China is fun fun fun!