Expo Park serves as a world of learning for kids

• Source: Global Times
• [09:36 July 14 2010]
• Comments

Chinese students interview an Izmir Pavilion worker (left) Tuesday inside the Expo Park. Photo: Craig Curtis

By Craig Curtis

English language training schools in the city are taking advantage of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, using it as a classroom during the summer vacation to help Chinese students practice their foreign language skills, and to teach them about cultures from around the world.

The schools have taken to assigning students to interview foreigners at the Expo Park about their home country and delivering lesson plans on the countries of the pavilions, while others have set up presentations to be delivered by foreign volunteers working at pavilions.

All of these activities are done simply in the name of having students get more out of the experience, said Robert Lockyer, principal of Shane English Schools, a privately run foreign school that teaches English to Chinese students.

He added that most children visiting the park are simply rushed through crowds and pavilions, and are therefore, not absorbing any useful information from their tours.

"We have an 'East meets West' philosophy," he told the Global Times Tuesday. "We want these kids to learn about other cultures, and have the chance to share knowledge with others."

Lockyer said that guided lesson-based tours through the park, which are provided to students in small groups of eight by teachers, which includes interaction with foreigners, ultimately enable children to build important social skills that are useful to an increasingly globalized world, one that they will live in long after their school years are over.

Among other schools taking students to the Expo is English First, where its schools have charged kids with finding foreigners to interview at the park to help them open their minds to foreign ideas, said Mary Bai, regional director of English First Shanghai.

"It's a good opportunity for our kids to learn more about the world," she told the Global Times Tuesday. "The Expo presents new technologies and fashions, and provides a wide range of exposure to people from across the globe.

"Though the little ones get tired quickly during their day at the park, they get energized immediately when they get the chance to speak with foreigners," she added.