SIECA held the English corner for the first time on the evening of 20 October this semester. The activity took place in the Mobile Café next to the No.4 dormitory area where there is a relaxing atmosphere to have fun and proper for us to chat with each other.
The department for activity decided to divide members into different groups, then there was a host in each group with well-prepared topics to carry on the conversations. What is beyond expectations, as the foreign students arrived, they seated themselves at the table naturally and started to give self-introductions. All things went on smoothly. All of us had been involved in such a relaxing atmosphere and hoped a wonderful night chatting.
At the beginning, Chinese students were too shy to talk much, for not being accustomed to communicating in English. However, it did not take long for them to jump into it. Gradually, the members began to talk about where they had been in the National Day holiday. Then they talked about many other topics gradually. For example, some were sharing their experiences on trips, ranging from the dinning culture in France to the jewelry in Sri Lanka so vividly that made others feel being on the scene. Some recommended food in their own countries, while Chinese students were also introducing fine restaurants serving Chinese traditional food. Others were absorbed in the movies, guessing the actors based on the photograph, and recommended the movies to each other in which their favorite stars were involved. Despite some occasional improper and awkward expressions with some grammatical and syntactical errors, all the conversations went on successfully without any disturbance because this was just a relaxing time for us to communicate with each other and share different experiences and anecdotes rather than a serious spoken-English class. Although there is no enough time for us to enjoy, the event ended smoothly. Some still left in the café] and continued the unfinished topics with their friends.
The laugh with fragrance of coffee had an especially warm feeling. A “Hello” with a comforting smile can touch others’ hearts. That is the very charm of this activity, through which Chinese students were impressed by various experiences of exchange students, and exchange students have to know the culture in China and Nanjing deeper. We are looking forward to the next Chinese corner bringing more surprises.
