Back to 80: My Literary Life

The English name of the English Corner is English Corner, which is a new thing that has only emerged in the past two years.

With the opening of the door to reform and opening up, there has been an upsurge in learning English in society. Suffering from a lack of English learning materials and a lack of environment for practicing spoken English, many people have the enthusiasm to learn but no way to learn.

Against this background, young people in major cities across the country spontaneously gathered in parks, squares and other places to learn English from each other on weekends and holidays, and the English Corner was born.

Xijing, a city with a large number of universities, is no exception. Today is New Year's Day, and there are activities at the English Corner in Xingqing Park.

Fang Minghua didn't want to go at first, but he finally couldn't take the correspondence class, so why didn't he rest at home? But the younger sister couldn't hold back her enthusiasm and studiousness, so she had no choice but to agree to accompany her.

No, it was only around seven o'clock in the morning, and Fang Minghua was sleeping in his dormitory. There was a knock on the door outside: "Brother, get up quickly! Or you'll be late!"

Fang Minghua had no choice but to get up, get dressed and open the door. He saw his sister wearing a cotton-padded jacket and a red scarf standing at the door with a schoolbag on her back.

A cold wind blew in his face, making him shiver.

"Brother, we agreed to leave at 7:30, why are you lazy again!" Fang Mingli complained.

"Going to the English Corner so early, there is a ghost."

"Who said that? Last time Dongmei and I went so early, there were already foreigners!"

Are foreigners so diligent and eager to learn?

After Fang Minghua washed up, he was fully armed, put on a locomotive cotton hat and cotton gloves, rode his bicycle and took his sister out of the unit and rushed to Xingqing Park. On the way, he didn't forget to buy two steamed buns to satisfy his hunger.

Fang Mingli was in a very happy mood, and she didn't forget to practice her spoken English while sitting on the back seat of the bicycle:

John: Hello. This is John. What's the weather like in XiAn? John: Hello. I'm John. How is the weather in Xi'an?

Mike: It's cold here today. Mike: It's cold here today.

John: Put on your sweater, please. John: Please put on your sweater.

Fang Minghua took his sister on a bicycle and walked for almost an hour before arriving at Xingqing Park. He stored the bicycle, bought tickets and went straight to the northwest corner of the park.

When he arrived at an open space by the lake, Fang Minghua was shocked by the scene in front of him. There were two to three hundred people, crowded, not only young people, but also middle-aged people in their forties or fifties.

Each one was holding a book, and they were surrounded by groups of Chinese people, all of whom were yellow-skinned and black-haired, chatting enthusiastically in English.

Also, it has only been a few years since the reform and opening up, and there are very few foreigners coming to the inland. Except for foreign teachers hired by some universities, there are very few foreigners who come to travel.

Here, it is just a place for people who want to learn English well and want to understand the world to communicate with each other.

"Brother, I'm going to practice speaking." Fang Mingli asked.

"Go. Pay attention to safety!" Fang Minghua warned.

Because he found that where there were beautiful girls, there seemed to be more people gathering around them.

"What about you? Come and practice with me."

"Me? My English is too poor. You can go ahead."

Fang Mingli didn't force herself. She walked toward a group of people with her schoolbag on her back, and soon a young man took the initiative to greet them.

Hello.

Hello.

My name is zhaogang I'm inNorthwestern Polytechnical University（My name is Zhao Gang, from Northwestern Polytechnical University）

My name is Fangmingli, I'm inNorthwest University(My name is Fangmingli, from Northwest University)

Fang Minghua stood aside and listened for a while. The two of them exchanged some school matters. The young man didn't say anything outrageous, so he left with peace of mind.

He's not very interested in this stuff.

Many of those who are actively learning English want to learn about the vast outside world through this. In the eyes of these young college students, the closed country has just opened, and the outside world is so fresh and interesting.

But he has seen too much in later generations, good and bad, and there is nothing new about it.

But he still admires these diligent and studious young people. Some people say that the 1980s were the country's adolescence, including disco, hazy poetry, and the English Corner at TV University.

Fang Minghua walked around the lakeside alone for a long time, and finally came to the English Corner to see where his sister was.

There were more people than before. He didn't see his sister, but he saw a foreigner.

The real foreigner was blond and gray-haired. He looked to be in his fifties. He was wearing a ski shirt and jeans that were rare in this era. He was communicating enthusiastically with a group of young students around him.

There was a familiar figure among the students, a girl with short hair, who turned out to be Li Li.

Fang Minghua stood aside and listened for a while.

These people were not communicating about simple oral exercises, but discussing literature, which seemed to be French literature.

"Professor Mi Ruizhe, I once read "Les Misérables" written by the famous French writer Hugo. It was very well written." Li Li talked to the other party in very proficient English.

"Oh, "Les Misérables" is indeed a great work, a model of the combination of realism and romanticism, but after all, it represents French literature in the nineteenth century."

"I suggest you read the works of Proust. Proust is the greatest novelist in my country in the 20th century. His masterpiece "In Search of Lost Time" had a great impact on the evolution of French literature in the 20th century. , this is a stream of consciousness literature, very well written.”

The foreign old man replied, also in English.

Stream of consciousness?

Li Li was stunned. She had never heard of this term.

The English proficiency of the young people around them was obviously not up to par with theirs. They could only hear the two chattering. Li Li quickly translated the old man's words into Chinese.

"Do you know what a stream of consciousness novel is?" Li Li asked.

Everyone around shook their heads.

"Li Li, don't ask. I don't think anyone here understands. Who has read this novel? You have never heard of it, let alone stream of consciousness." The person who spoke was a boy, who seemed to be the same as Li Li. Li knows.

"Yes, could it be that this foreign professor made it up?" Someone whispered.

"Nonsense! How could someone make this up? Maybe she translated it wrong!" The speaker was a girl. She whispered to her companion and glanced at Li Li.

Li Li felt anxious and angry after hearing this.

How could I translate it wrong? Stream of consciousness means stream of consciousness.

Really.

"Stream-of-consciousness novels are a novel style that emerged in foreign countries in the first half of the century. Its outstanding feature is that it breaks the expression method of traditional novels and adopts a method of directly narrating the flow of consciousness to organize the structure of the novel and shape the characters."

Suddenly a young man's voice came from the outside of the crowd. Li Li looked at it and a smile appeared on her face.

Isn't this Fang Minghua?

"Happy New Year's Day!" the girl greeted with a smile.

"happy New Year!"

"Fang Minghua, do you know stream of consciousness novels?" Li Li asked.

"I can't say I understand it, but that's probably what stream-of-consciousness novels are about."

Yeah?

The surrounding students looked at Fang Minghua with suspicious expressions, and started talking in low voices.

Fang Minghua was calm and composed.

Li Li didn't care so much and hurriedly translated Fang Minghua's words into English and spoke to the foreigner.

When the foreigner heard this, he immediately looked at Fang Minghua and muttered a long paragraph in English.

I can't understand it.

Fang Minghua also learned English as a mute at the beginning. He could do simple daily conversations, but when it was more complicated, he couldn't understand or understand it, let alone speak it.

But Li Li is a very good translator.

Li Li smiled brightly after hearing this.

"Fang Minghua, Professor Mi Ruizhe said that what you said was very correct. Have you read Proust's "In Search of Lost Time"?"

Fang Minghua nodded: "I've read it, but it's really difficult to understand."

Seen?

The surrounding students exclaimed in low voices again. He actually said he had seen it? !

When the foreigner heard this, he immediately became interested in Fang Minghua. "

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