The English corner

    is not just about

    language learning. It’s also a stage where participants can gain confidence that will help them through the ups and downs in their lives.”— Gu Peihong, who has been running a free weekly English corner for eight years Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    AFTER running free English corners in Shenzhen for almost eight years, Gu Peihong has finally been rewarded.

    Gu was selected as one of Futian District’s top 10 volunteers among more than 40,000 candidates. She received the award Thursday.

    The local government will sponsor her to hold another free English corner in the city next year. She also recently received support from the Shenzhen Alumni Association of her alma mater, Guizhou University. The university will fund her as she expands her English corners to other Chinese cities.

    “I had gone through some hard times,” Gu told Shenzhen Daily. “But now my life seems to have turned around.”

    Ivy English Corner

    Every Saturday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., more than 50 people from all over Shenzhen gather at the Ivy English Corner organized by Gu at the Litchi Park in Futian District to learn and practice English.

    Activities at the English corner include teaching inspirational aphorisms, singing English songs, making small speeches and having group discussions. Among the participants are students, office workers, children and their parents, retired residents and expat volunteers.

    Gu tries her best to cater to every level and learning style. She teaches catch phrases that are used in daily life and pop songs, both of which are effective tools for learning spoken English.

    Some students are not confident enough to speak, but Gu patiently and skillfully brings them out of themselves. After a few weeks, even the shy ones are confidently speaking in public.

    “The English corner is not just about language learning,” Gu said. “It’s also a stage where participants can gain confidence that will help them through the ups and downs in their lives.”

    Working through hardship

    Gu loves English and likes to make friends. She had participated in many semi-official English corners in Shenzhen, most of which, she said, disappeared when life got in the way. Tired of having to rely on other people, Gu decided to set up her own English corner in 2005 and named it after her own English name — Ivy.

    “It was initially just for fun,” Gu said. But as the number of participants grew bigger, Gu began to see the English corner as a full-time pursuit. She said she wanted to hold the city’s best and most enduring English corner.

    Subsequently, Gu quit her full-time job in international trade and devoted herself fully to teaching the English language. She supported herself by teaching English while focusing all of her spare energy on organizing and promoting the English corner.

    “I am the kind of person who believes in getting things done and finishing what I started,” Gu said.

    The Ivy English Corner has been held on more than 400 consecutive Saturdays and Gu has hardly missed any. One of the few times she missed it was to attend her father’s funeral in 2009.

    Gu said the year of 2009 was tough for her because her father was seriously ill. “I flew to my parents’ home in Guizhou Province to take care of my father from Mondays to Fridays and flew back to Shenzhen to hold the English corner on Saturdays. I did this every week until my father passed away,” Gu said, adding that she has often had to live off money borrowed from friends and relatives because she seldom has time to do her English teaching job.

    By May this year, she was nearly 600,000 yuan (US$95,000) in debt.

    “Being so deeply in debt is depressing,” Gu said. “I often used to think about giving up the English corner.”

    Cause for optimism

    Things started to turn around for Gu after the 400th Ivy English Corner was held last month. The event got much media attention and local government officials were interested. Gu will be paid by the Huafu subdistrict office in Futian District to continue the free English corners next year.

    “This means a lot to me,” Gu said. “There is now hope on the horizon.”

    She is now thinking about the next eight years, including plans to train teachers to organize more free English corners. And her plan has gained support from the Shenzhen Alumni Association of Guizhou University. The organization, established only a month ago, has promised to help Gu open an English corner in her native Guizhou Province and then spread it to other Chinese cities.

    One of Gu’s hobbies is growing vegetables. On the balcony of her apartment are piles of tanks filled with green beans, tomatoes, green onions and eggplants.

    Gu said she believes her free English corners will flourish like her vegetables.