@yanke00, I would have to agree with tigertiger about the English corners. I had to do them 2-3 times a week when I worked for EF, as part of the job.

Inevitably you have a group of Chinese staring at the foreigner, while only 3-4 Chinese spoke to me. As students came and went in the school, I always ended up getting asked the same questions again and again. It gets tiresome and boing.

Occasionally I would end up having a real conversation when a higher level student would come in, which got interesting as we could talk about life in general and exchange culture.They were also able to help the lower level students to understand and participate in the conversation.
I don't think he is inferring that the the life of Chinese people is boring. i think it is only being asked the same questions every time that is boring.
A good English corner should be level specific, and then students grouped at those levels should be given topics to talk about appropriate to their level.

I also avidly believe the students from a high elementary level onwards should attend English corners. Beginners and low Elementaries just do not understand enough of the language, and they get bored and frustrated at the English corners because they simply just do not understand enough.

Although I know my English needs to be polished, last time I went to English corner was some 5 years ago. To me the problem of English corner is that the frequently asked questions & answers take up to too high % which eventually makes the corner ends up as a FAQ session.

Obviously both sides desire commonly to make in-depth communication so that it can go beyond language itself to become interesting, informative and insightful, but when the levels are not parallel, one side doesn't understand the counter-side enough, the conversation is dying then it has to be discontinued.

To ask the corner planner to organize better seems infeasible. What is the incentive or motivation? Moreover, I was wondering if the 'planners' really exist.

IMHO there is no solution to improve the quality of English corner. If one really wants to better the language skill, there are options like Toastmaster or participating in activity-specific mutual-learning as activity itself, say bicycling, makes the learning a fun.

@yankee. You have to remember that English corners are an event. We chose where we want to spend our spare time. Rather like a restaurant, if a place does not have anything to interest to me, I eat elsewhere. That is just pragmatism, not any kind of elitism.

It is also common for English corners to be organized, sometimes as part of a school's marketing. There is usually some organizer and they could do the planning. There is a saying, "remember the 5 Ps". Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

Right. I read 'language exchange' instead of 'English Corner'. My bad. Didn't prepare, didn't plan.

Well in my school we are planning to implement English corners, but the problem exists that there are insufficient students at a high enough level to warrant starting one now.

The aim of the English corner should be to allow opportunities for the students to practice the language they have already learned and also to possibly learn something new.
When we implement the English corner the students will be given topics based on their learning history in the school, so they have the opportunity to revise and practice.

Having said this, conversation should flow,so if the conversation moves moves off topic, then the facilitator should allow this and then guide the conversation to get as many of the participants involved.
I think that this is something that will never happen at the public English corners like the one at Green Lake. There is no facilitator, too many Chinese who are too shy to speak, and then there are those Chinese who can speak, but then try to dominate the conversation and the foreigners time.

I have been to the Green lake English corner a few times, and ended up getting bored quickly, because every time I would be asked the same questions, and felt like some Chinese were too dominating of the conversation to allow others the opportunity to speak. So I stopped going, bored with the whole situation.

There's a new one starting at Moondog on Tuesdays www.gokunming.com/[...]

the one at Moondog looks like a (few) step(s) up from the usual English Corner. A drink or 3 always helps to loosen those lips!

also adults with want to socialize

—-Yankeeoo
No one should please each other.It is just weird if they are being obsequious. However I do think in an English corner, if everyone could feel fully participated, either discuss some certain topics or share their life experience/story with others, the English corner might get more interesting, even some Chinese who cant speak much English, they could still try to talk about something in half English and Chinese, it is more about exchanging ideas and culture than the language itself. In this way, hopefully Chinese ppl could practice more English and foreigners could also get to know the difference/similarities of culture/thoughts..

it is just a personal view after taking part of a few English corners before.And I am not saying Chinese people's life is boring, that is too strong and not true.However I do think if many Chinese open their mind more,travel more, experience more, focus less on 'successful' and power, they can be more interesting (only very personal thinking). And of course I do not think that all the foreigners are living like it is in the drama (although a few years ago I did ask some people whether their life in high school can be so crazy like American pie and now I know it is just a silly movie :D)

I agree with what Mandrake mentioned—A good English corner should be level specific.

The students from a high elementary level onwards should attend English corners. Beginners and low Elementaries just do not understand enough of the language, and they get bored and frustrated at the English corners because they simply just do not understand enough.

I agree with that, and I have the same feeling when I join an English corner. If we focus on improving English skills, I perfer the activity goes smoothly and even a little intensive and I find the best feeling for me to see my English improved is making me feel—'wow, that is too much information, I feel like my mind is going to explode'..