跨文化交际英文案例

跨文化交际英文案例Case 1 Girl-nessAs a visiting professor in an American university, Zhang Hua was invited to give a lecture to a group of American students. He talked about universitystudents in China. During the question-and-answer period after the lecture, onefemale stude nt asked a questi on that surprised Zhang Hua.“Whenyou talkedabout female stude nts, you referred to them as girls. Why?“ Because they are girls. Thats what they are called,” Zhang Hua tried to“I“In the States, we call ourselveswome nif we re old eno ugh to go to theuni versity. Calli ng usgirls is in sult ing.answer, but he knew he did not really unders tand the intent of the question.m afraid. ”don t quite un dersta nd your questi on, IDo Chin ese female college stude nts prefer to be called wome n?Case 2Many years ago, a Chin ese man showed a photo of his wife to some America nvisitors. Out of courtesy, they all said,” She is very beautiful.” Also out ofcourtesy, the man replied with what he would have done in Chin ese un der the circumstanee, ” Where! Where! ” Quite taken aback, nobody said anything formome nt, un til the most ingenious one among the visitors, tak ing ano ther look atthe photo, said,“Oh, everywhere! ”What did the Chin ese intend to mea n by repl ying with“ Where! Where! ”？Case 1 Girl-nessAs avisitingprofessor in anAmerica nuni versity,Zhang Hua was invitedto give alecture toa group of American students. Hetalked about uni versity stude nts in Chi na. Duri ng the questi on-an d-a nswer period after the lecture, one female student asked a question that surprised Zhang Hua.“ Whe n you talked abfemale students, you referred to them as girls. Why?“ Becausehey are girls. That w hat they are called, Zhang Hua tried to answer, but he knew he did not really un dersta nd the intent of the question. “I don quite understand your question, I m afraid. ”“In the States, we call ourselves women if we re old eno ugh to go to the uni versity. Calli ng I)IXus girls is in sult ing.Do Chin ese female college stude nts prefer to be called wome n?Case 2Many years ago, a Chin ese man showed a photo of his wife to some American visitors. Out of courtesy, they all said, ”he is very beautiful.Also out of courtesy, the man replied with what he would have done in Chinese under thecircumstanee, ”Where! Where!” Quite taken aback, n obody said anything for a mome nt, un til the most ingenious one among the visitors,taking another everywhere! ” What did thelook at the photo,said, “ Oh,replyi ng withChinese intend to“ Where! Where!mean by”？Case 3a I Just Wan ted to Talktong was a graduateuniversity. Like manydays, he was very kee n on lear ning En glish. He would talk with English speakers as often as he could.WuChi nesestudent in astudents theseOne day, he saw a new foreig ner on campus, Leonard Ramsay, and overheard him speaking English. When Mr. Ramsay finished speaking with the other pers on, he tur ned to go, but Wu Tong stopped him. He went up and said, speak En glish, is that right?”“ Yes, why? ”“I d like to practise my Eglish with you,if you don t mind. ”Mr. Ramsay looked a little annoyed. “I prefernot to, if you dont mind. ”Case 4 An Unwan ted Food ServiceDuring a lunch buffet at a conference in Chi na, Wu Fa, the in terpreter of the conferen ce, sat with four foreign participants. They were hav ing a good time talk ing. Whe n Wu Fa stood up for more food, she asked whether she could bring anything back for them.No”Every one tha nked her and said “ n o”A while later, Wu Fa came back with a plate full of food, and asked whether the others would like to have somethi ng from her plate.Aga in, the four others said ,t eat th“ Oh, please take somethi ng, I can much food myself. ”The foreig ners shrugged and one or two of them eve n frow ned a little.Case 5 Simple Can Be SpecialWen Hong had an American professor in her economics class in China. She had given the professor a lot of help during the course. At the end of the semester , the professor and his wife invited her to their home for dinner. They said they were going to cook her an America n meal.Wen Hong felt very flattered and excited , since McDonald , KFC and Pizza Hut had bee n her only exposure to Wester n cook ing.They had salad to start with , then steak with potatoes , followed by ice cream.Wen Hong had expected more courses but the meal came to an end. She knew the professor and his wife were being kind to her , but somehow she was a little disappo in ted. She won dered whether America ns do eat like that at home.Case 6 Chin ese Coffee CustomsWhile studying in the United States, Lin Jun made a few American friends.One day he invited two of them to his apartment and cooked them a meal. When his friends said they would like some coffee, he started boiling some water.Without ask ing them any questi ons, he made threecups of 3-i n-1 coffee, theway he usually took it.Both frie nds tasted the coffee and frow ned. One said she always took coffee black , the other said he preferred to have less sugar in his coffee. They also told him that the spoon is for stirring the coffee , not to drink from like he did. Lin Jun was embarrassed. He had thought that every one drank coffee the same way as he did.Case 7 Noise from NoodlesJane and Peter were Chen Dong s Iandlord and Iandlady when he was in theStates. They had become good frie nds by the end of his on e-year stay. They keptin touch with each other after Chen Dongretur ned to China. Jane and Peterdecided to visit China soon after Chen Dong left the States.They made a special stop in Guan gzhou where Chen Dong lives. Chen Donghad promised to show them around the city and let them try some authenticCanton ese food. One thi ng , in particular , he wan ted them to try was no odles. He knew several restaura nts that served good no odles and took the couple to one of them for lunch one day.Noodles typically come in soup in Canton ese cook ing. Chen Dong startedeating the noodles with chopsticks , while Jane and Peter exchanged a look at thenoise that came with his eating. After a little hesitation , they asked for forks. A waitress told them that they did not have forks , and Chen Dong explained that noodle restaurants do not usually keep forks because no one would think of using forks for no odles.In the next half an hour , Jane and Peter had a hard time trying to roll thelong noodles onto their chopsticks. Chen Dong said ,“ that s not the way we eatno odles. You put the no odles directly to your mouth with your chopsticks.“ But that s not the way we eat noodles Jane and Peter said, frowning.Case 8 Dinner in a Chin ese HomeBesides tak ing Peter and Jane to restaura nts, Dong Chen also in vited themto his home for dinner on ce. Dong Chen s mother is a nice wife, and made eightcourses for four of them.“Im sorry there isn t much for dinner, she said.”“ God this is much more tha n eno ugh food,” Jane said. Peter was toooverwhelmed to eve n resp ond to Dong Chen motherDong Che n was a little embarrassed.“ This is wlauawesay to guests, even though there s plenty of fobd explained.What bewildered Jane and Peter most was that though Do ng Chen s mother kept saying that the food was not good , she constantly served helpings to Jane and Peter. Peter did not like two of the courses very much , and felt bad that his plate was full with whatever he would not be able to eat. At see ing Dong Chensmother s next move to serve him foqd he said in a begging voice,“ Please don tgive me any more food . Let me do it myself .Case 9A Not-sociable Drinks birthday.Martin was sent by an America n compa ny to work in a special econo mic developme nt zone in China for a year. He became very frie ndly with a few Chinese colleagues. Soon, he started to go out with them. He noticed that Chinese like to have someth ing , such as pea nu ts, whe n they have beer, i nstead of just drinking beer without anything to eat as many North America ns do.One day he was in vited to a dinner party to celebrate a colleagueThey ordered alcoholic beverages and toasted the guest of honor freque ntly.Soon Martin realized that the plan was to get their friend drunk. Each colleaguewould offer a toast, concluding with a cheery“ gan bei! ” and tried to get Martinto join in, even though he was unwilling to do it. Martin didn t think it a good idea, and tried to talk them out of the game. However, he was accused of not being a good frie nd for not co-operati ng.Mart in rema ined an outsider duri ng the rest of the dinner. He was gett ing in creas in gly worried as he watched the poor guest become in creas in gly in ebriated.Case 10 A Misun dersta nding at a Dinner TableRoger was a student majoring in East Asia Studies in an American uni versity. He started an e-mail corresp ondence with Zhang Li, a sociology major in Chi na, who was in troduced to him through a mutual frie nd.Upon graduatio n, Roger got a big gift from his gran dfather. Gran dpa would pay for a roun d-trip ticket to China. He told Zhang Li the good n ews, and the two decided to meet.Zha ng Li decided to give Roger a very special welcome: she and the three women students in her dormitory would cook him an authentic Chinese meal, as Roger had told her that he loved Chin ese food.However, whe n Roger was prese nted the dinner, he was almost terrified by some of the food: pork stomach soup, pig liver with gin ger and spri ng onion, chicke n with mushrooms in which the chicke n had bee n cut to pieces with bones attached to the meal.Fort un ately , there were courses like tofu, stirred fried beef, steamed fish and vegetables that Roger loved. He tried to stick to them but Zhang Li kept putting food he did not like on his plate. Whe n she asked how he liked the liver, RogerThis seemed to make Zhang Lisaid, “It s very unusualand interesting.happy. And she gave him more liver. Roger tried to stop her, but she would not be stopped. Roger was so frustrated that he told her that he did not really like itthat much. “ But you said it was unusual and interesting!” Zhang Li said. “ Wethey both mean something less than positive,” Roger said carefully, try ng not to hurt their feeli ngs.So you don t like theZhang Li and her frie nds became concerned at this.food? ”1 m not used to eating liver, thats all. But I do like the chicke n, the beef,the tofu, and the vegetables. I have had more tha n eno ugh to eat. I n ever makethis much food at home,Roger was eager to let them know how much heappreciated their effort.meT rluSt m enjoying the food. I know what I like.Having said that, he found a piece of chicke n that was less bony, held it in hishand to eat it, and the n licked his fin gers. Zhang Li and her frie nds looked at each other in shock.It was not a perfect first meeting for either Zhang Li or Roger.Case 11 Over-dressed TouristsAs a van stopped in front of Niagara Falls, a group of Chinese officials streamed out. They were dressed in suits and ties, wearing leather shoes. Many of the men also had left the m anufacture s tag on the sleeve of their suit jacket.As they wandered around Niagara Falls, some of them started to smoke. Their attire drew the stares of North America n tourists, some of whom quietly laughed with their friends and pointed at the Chinese visitors. Others frowned at seeing the smok ing and shook their heads in disapproval.Case 12 Tie CultureJane was a tourist and spent some time staying with a Chinese friend at her home. They watched a children s porgram while having breakfast one morning. A young man, the host of the program, gave instructions of a game to a few childre n, and the n joined them running in a circle.“My, he s wearing a tie and running crazy with the children!” Janeexclaimed.The Chinese friend shrugged,” Is this very unusual?”Case 13 An America n in Chi naProfessor Smith and his assista nt , Che n Mi ng , were doing fieldwork in a small city in China. It was hot and humid, and both were casually dressed. One evening as they were leaving for dinner , a local administrator told them that the mayor of the city, who was in terested in the type of research they were doing, would like to say hello to Professor Smith. As luck would have it , the Mayor was dining in the same restaura nt as Smith and Che n Ming.Professor Smith said he had to go back to his room to cha nge.“You look fine, Come on, the mayor is waiting , ” the administrator said.“ No, I can t meet the mayor in my shorts ”Case 14 The Gen erosity of a Chin ese Stude ntMatt was invited to a Chinese university to give a few lectures. During his short stay there, a graduate student volunteered to show him around the city. Matt accepted the offer gratefully. It was summer and soon both Matt and the graduate stude nt bega n to get quite hot. While Matt took some pictures, the graduate stude nt went to buy some drin ks.“Thank you. How much do I owe you? ” Matt asked.“ Nothing. ” The student smiled.“ Are you sure? ”At lun chtime, Matt suggested they have a quick meal. They stopped by aMcDon ald. Aga in, the graduate stude nt tried to pay for Matt.“ No, this is my treat. You re a student, I m a professor. You ve given me thtime to show me around. You already paid for my drink. I can t let you pay for my lunch aga in.Case 15 A Gift from a Chi nese Stude ntXie Dong did his graduate study in an American university. He came back to China for summer vacati on. Whe n he went back to his program, he paid his supervisor a visit and prese nted him a gift.The professor opened the gift. It was a ginseng with its many tiny roots spread ing out in a very artistic patter n. It clearly was an expe nsive gift.The professor s eyes shone at the ginseng, but he then began to feel uneasy.t take this as a gift“Xie Don g, I appreciate your kindn ess, but I can“ Why? Don t you like it? ” It wasigCies turn to be uneasy now.“ Oh, sure, I love it. But I can t accept it. ”“Why?“ Because I didn t do anything to deserve such a gift.Case 16 Teleph one CourtesyKathy and David, a couple from the US, sig ned a on e-year con tract to work in Chi na. Both were extroverted and soon made some Chin ese friends.Before long, people started calli ng them at home. David was sometimes away on bus in ess trips for a few days, and if some one looked for him, Kathy ofte n would find the con versati on awkward.“ Wheredid he go? ” The caller typically would ask.“ Can I pass on any message? ” Kathy asked politely, trying to avoid the questi on.“Is he out of town?” The caller was usually very persistent.“ Yes, can I help you in any way?” Kathy tried to be polite, boudaoi helpfeeli ng un comfortable.Case 17“ Not So Close, PleaseHe Jia had lived in the Un ited States for 7 years before she came back to work in China. She found that she had become accustomed to social habits inNorth America and that some Chin ese behaviours now caused her some discomfort. For example, one day, back in China, she was in a queue to use anATM. She had noticed that people were standing very close to each other. In fact, the pers on beh ind her could, if she or he wan ted, to see her en ter the PIN of her ATM card. He Jia wan ted to make people aware of the discomfort of the user by keep ing her dista nee from the pers on in front of her. However, the people beh ind her pushed her to move forward.Case 18 The Privacy of the PageSimon and Cheng Feng ofte n studied together to prepare for exams. Oneheday, in the middle of a study sessi on, Simon said he wan ted to get a coffee. Heasked Cheng Feng if he wan ted any, but he said,“ No” . Whe n he came back,found Cheng Feng reading his notes. He was upset and, although he didn t say anything at the time, he never studied with Cheng Feng again. Cheng Feng no ticed the cha nge and won dered what had happe ned.Case19 The Privacy of PhotographsRose in vited Lili to her home one day. While they were hav ing coffee, Rose showed Lili a few pictures of her boyfrie nd in a photo album. Lili casually turned to other pages after that.Rose stopped her, “I d rather you not look at other pictures.Lili was embarrassed, and apologized,“I m sorry. ”Case 20 The Privacy of PriceAfter livi ng in the States for some time, Pi ng Li observed that America nslike to comment on each other s looks and clothes. So when she saw a fellowgraduate stude nt weari ng a nice dress at a party, she complime nted her bysay ing. “ This is a very beautiful dress.” “ Oh tha nk you , I bought it last yearbefore Christmas ,” the student very pleased.“ How much was it? ” Ping Liasked.“ Well I don t quite remember, ” the student seemed unprepared for the question, and answered a little hesitatingly.Case 21 The Privacy of the Pers onZou Qing and Nancy became frie nds after they met in a course they both took . Nancy had had gray hair much earlier than people of the same age , and had bee n dye ing her hair for several years.While they were hav ing a break one day in betwee n two classes, and ZouQing no ticed that Nancy had some inv isible gray hair on her. She told her so, butNancy cha nged the topic right away.Whe n every one else left, Nancy said to Zou Qing , “ Please don t men ti on my grayhair while the re were men around. ”Case 22 Un acceptable CuriosityMr and Mrs Peters on came to Chi na with a tour group. One eve ning, they decided to take a walk outside their hotel. They soon noticed that quite a few people stared at them. One man eve n quickly walked past them and the n tur ned back to look at them several times. Both Mr and Mrs Peters on felt un comfortable about the stari ng and went back to the hotel sooner tha n they had pla nn ed.Case 23 Con fusi on in Communi cati ng LoveLe, a Chinese woman, and Bill, an American man, were very much in love. Their relationship started with their shared interest in photography. As time went on, however, Le became depe ndent on Bill whe never she wan ted to take a picture,because she felt that Bill was a much better photographer tha n she was.Whe never she no ticed a sce ne that would make a good image, she would ask Bill to take the picture for her.s the mattertake aBill was not very pleased but did not say anything for a while. However, Le soon got to a point where she bega n to ask Bill to load and uni oad the film. Bill decided that it was too much for him to bear. He exploded,“ Whatwith you? Don t you know how to load and unioad a film? Can t youpicture any more? ”Le was so shocked that she burst into tears.“I askiiygsi ooilddothcauseyou do it better than me. What s wrong with that? ”Case24 Unwan ted Atte ntio nTeresa is a Chin ese America n teachi ng En glish temporarily at a Chin eseuniversity. She is very easy going, and soon the students got to know her well eno ugh to in vite her out regularly.Cross ing the very busy and wide streets in the city was a scary experie nee for Teresa, and she complained of it repeatedly. As a result, the female students bega n to try to help her by tak ing her hand or grasp ing her arm while the male stude nts seemed to be shy about protect ing her.Teresa was un comfortable with her female stude nts touchi ng her, and told the wome n they did not n eed to do it. Her female stude nts thought she was being polite and con ti nued to take care of her the same way. Teresa became so un comfortable that she tried to move away from her female stude nts whe never they had to cross the road.Case 25 Holdi ng HandsChris was a visit