On the evening of April21st,2023,the fifth edition of the “UPCEnglish Corner” and “UPCFrench Corner” wassuccessfully held at the U-shapedplazaandRoom346 of the Arts and Sciences Building, respectively.Organized by the Department of English Language and Literature, the Department of Russian Language,the SFS GeneralOffice and the Youth League Committeeof SFS, and hosted byClass2203of English majorandClass298of French major, the themeswere“How can college students benefit from volunteering?”for“UPC English Corner”and “Specialties of FrenchFestivals”for“UPC French Corner”. The hosts and hostesses for English Corner andFrenchCorner includedDing Zihang, agraduatestudent majoring in English Interpreting,Li Yufeifrom Class 2203of English major,Zhao HongleiandTan JiangmeifromFrenchoptional course.Teachers fromDepartment of English Language and Literature and Department of Russian Language and Literature, as well as English foreign teachers Neville and Steven served as tutors.More than 600 attended thisactivity, includingstudents and teachers fromdiversemajors and international students from Russia, Mexico and Africa, as well asstafffrom the Foreign Affairs Service Centre of the West Coast New Area,etc.
Full Shot of English Corner
Hostsand hostessesof English Corner
The English Corner continued with the model of group discussion featuring student-teacher cooperation. Afterbeing divided into groups, students were instructed by teachers to carry out in-depth exchanges around the theme of “How can college students benefit from volunteering?”.
Teacher-StudentInteractionat English Corner
The swelling pool of volunteers and theircontributions to society are clear in absolutely every sense. Thus, the students discussed the topic heatedly and expressed their views on volunteering. Duringthis process,all presentwere fully aware of the benefits of volunteering for personal and social development.In terms ofpersonal development, volunteering can impart communication andcoordinationskills to us, andexpand our outlooks.In terms ofsocialcontribution, volunteeringdistinguishesitself asaneffectiveway tomotivateandinspirethe youngfor undertaking moreresponsibility.
The grand finale of the English Corner featured a fierce competition between six contestants whogaveimpromptu speeches on the stage. Finally, Lu Junwen from English major 2202wonthe championship.
“Thanks to the Foreign Language Corner, I had an in-depth knowledge of the benefits of volunteer work. Hereyoucan find many excellent studentswho areinterested in learning English, and we have actively communicatedina particularly good atmosphere,” said Feng Yu from English major 2203.
Professor Wang Shuting awarding the champion of English Corner
Thecontestants andteachers
Atthe beginning of the French Corner, the UPC students andtheinternational students present introduced themselves fluently in French, ensuring an initial understanding of each other.
First, Mrs. Feng Hongyan illustrated the special food and its cultural background of French legal festivals. Then,students were divided into groups to compete in games based on different themes.All the participants not only learnedabout French food culture, butin additionimprovedlanguage skills.With enthusiasm,all presentmadeclay handicraftsof thefoodsandexchangedthemas gifts, furtherimprovingthe interaction on the spot.
Later on,Zhang Xiaoyu and Xie Jiarong,studentsfromEnglish major,shared effective methods oflearningFrench andexperience ofpostgraduate examinationfor French course. The international and other studentstook turns to performtheir talent show, such as singing French songs, reciting French poems, playingthebamboo flute and playingtheguitar. Mrs. Li Xiaohua also sang the French songElaine.
At last, after several rounds of competition, CaiYuxiao,English major from EnglishClass2202,wonthe championship.
Adhering to theprinciple of “Practice Together, Progress Together”, theUPC Foreign Language Cornerencouragesparticipantsto show themselves within alively atmosphere for language practice.TheUPC Foreign LanguageCorner is a key step towards the creation of a foreign language learning environment, and it promises to cultivate national pride and global perspectives among the students.
