English Corner
People’s Park, in the centre of Shanghai is pretty busy on weekends. Some people (including me) go to see the lotus blossoms when they’re in bloom; most people there seem to be parents looking for a match for their children, as I’ve previously mentioned. There’s a section of the park, though, informally known as “English Corner”. Locals go there to practice English, so if you show up as a foreigner you’ll quickly gather a flock of Chinese conversationalists ranging in age from small primary school kids to octogenarian professors.
English Corner at People’s Park
Many people ask where I’m from (“guess!” is my reply), what I do, how do I like Shanghai, and other such banal but useful topics. I quickly get bored with discussion of my job, and at least half of the people practicing seem to be computer programmers or engineers, which makes the problem worse. We had a discussion about porting the Linux kernel to embedded systems, which is interesting but probably not good vocabulary for a general audience. It’s easy to change the topic, as the speakers aren’t shy – “How much do you earn?”, “Are you married?” and the ubiquitous “Do you want to marry a Chinese girl?” have to be parried (“I’m not rich”, “No”, and some good-natured wisecrack).”Do you like Mao”, “what don’t you like about China”, these questions require more delicate handling and I generally deflect those too.
Some learners have a (literally) encyclopedic knowledge of Australia which borders on the bizarre. A few people have been there, but some have only studied the country’s geography, so will ask me where I’m from, then list the states and territories of Australia and name landmarks near my house. “I’m from Melbourne, MEL-BUN,” I might say, to which the reply might come, “Oh, I like Londsdale Street,” or “Bendigo! Ballarat! Geelong!” Last year in Germany I ran into a woman who lived in Clayton while working for Bosch, and this year met one or two students who studied there at Monash University, so it’s funny to think of that rather unexciting suburb as a world city, but there you go.
There are a few characters – short bandanna-guy (pictured) seems a self-appointed organiser and facilitator, often shepherding reluctant learners and shy children towards expats. A garrulous English teacher claims to have swum the Yangtze for four and a half hours as a child, started English Corner, and can act, sing and dance like a pro. Dissident guy likes to talk only about the poor human rights record of the Chinese Government, causing – perhaps in my imagination – the other learners to glare and shift impatiently.
The kids are especially cute. They are often pushed up by eager parents, dreadfully shy, and then, after overcoming the stage fright, launch into their routine: “Hello-my-name-is-Alice *pant* I-am-in-the-5th-class-where-are-you-from-do-you-like-Shanghai?” Last time, a boy from Harbin who must have been seven or eight years old spoke conversational English with perplexing ease – “Are you married?” “No.” “Oh, so you’re available?”
Perhaps I should be practicing my Chinese, but where else can I simply stand around and have people flock up eager to talk to me, be my friend, and pry about my life? It’s like being a minor actor in an episode of Star Trek show and going to a Trekkie convention, only without the figure-hugging Lycra uniform.
Hello,
I was wondering where exactly this is in People’s Park? My husband and I just came to Shanghai and we use to be in Shenyang and really enjoyed being part of the English corner there. If you could help me out I would appreciate it.
Thanks!
Hi Anne,
I’m not in Shanghai at the moment, and it’s a little bit difficult for me to reconstruct from memory. I think it’s quite close to the entrance that has the mini-carnival stuff set up; not far from the lotus pond. Try metro exit 20, enter from Jiujiang Rd. But in any case I think it’s towards the center. The matchmakers won’t be far away.
I found it by accident, I hope you can too! It’ll look like the photo I posted – groups of people standing around talking, often including a solitary foreigner.
Good luck.