english corner

English Corner Agenda for Feb 16, 2011

Theme: Valentine’s Day  

This is the first event after the New Year holiday.  Originally we were afraid that many friends would not be able to return from the lunar New Year holiday but the concern was unfounded.  We had over 50 participants and many had to stand through the session because there were not enough chairs.

 

The session started at 7PM sharp with the self-introductions.  Each person was given an opportunity to describe the following: name, hometown, job and hobbies and each speech was limited to 30 seconds.  Still, due to the number of people in the room, this part took close to 30 minutes.  In retrospect, this was probably a worthwhile exercise because self-introduction is the most common type of public speech we give.

 

The second part of the session is question and answer (Q&A).  The host asked the following four questions and invited the audience to share opinions in public.  We had many brave volunteers and some of them provided interesting and witty comments.  This part of the session took about 30 minutes.

 

a.       Tell us something that you know about Valentine's Day. (date, the origin, celebration etc.)

b.      If you receive 999 roses, what will you say?

c.       If it is available, which day will you choose as your own Valentine's Day? Why?

d.      What do you think about Valentine's Day? Do you always make special plans for it? Does your GF/BF have the different opinion with you on this point? If not, how will you deal with this?

 

The third part of the session is group discussion.  The following two questions were raised by the host and the audience was asked to form. about 10 small groups and conduct discussions within the group.  This way everyone present would have a chance to speak up.  Afterwards, the host asked one representative to speak on behalf of each group and summarized thoughts on the subjects.   This part of the session took about 30 minutes.

 

 

How did you spend the Valentine’s day this past Monday or how would you like to have spent it?
Do you expect to exchange gift on Valentine’s day and if so what would be your favorite gift that you want to receive from Valentine’s day?
 

The final part of the session is group debate.  The debate topic is with respect to how the Valentine holiday should be received in China and the two opposing positions are phrased as follows:

 

Position 1： Valentine's Day often leaves single people feeing sad and coupled people feeling pressured.  Therefore it should be abolished in China.

 

Position 2:             Valentine’s day creates a special moment to celebrate romantic relationship and should be promulgated in China.

 

The audience also broke into small groups and the members from the individual groups formed the two sides and debated each other.  Afterwards the host asked one representative from each group to summarize the debate by stating the arguments used in support of each position.  This part took 30 minutes.

 

The session ends promptly at 9PM, with the host reminding the audience to pay the 15RMB cover charge to the bartender.

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