探索中西文化差异

整理/张雪菲

Hello, my dear classmates from Xinyang Normal University! I believe you will always meet some foreign students when walking on the road in your daily class. You must be very curious about their country and cultural beliefs. Let Xiaobian introduce the differences between Chinese and western culture.

信阳师范学院的同学们，大家好！相信大家在日常上课时，走在路上，总会碰见一些外国留学生，大家一定很好奇他们的国家和文化信仰吧！下面让小编为大家介绍一下中西文化的不同。

◎趣事篇

1. A foreigner met a beautiful girl in the elevator and said, “Good, you!”

一老外进电梯碰见一个漂亮的女孩，便打招呼：“你吗好！”

The girl puzzled for a while,the foreigner saw it and thought the word order was wrong. Then she said, ”Ok , you?”

那女孩疑惑了一下，老外看出来了，便想着是语序出错了，便又说：“好你吗？”

The girl glared at him, and the foreigner quickly said, “Hello, mom!”

那女孩瞪了他一眼，老外又赶紧说：“妈你好！”

2. Peter ( American ) and Xiao Wang are chatting in the park. Suddenly, Xiao Wang was a little embarrassed.

皮特（美国人）和小王，在公园聊天。忽然，小王有些局促不安。

Peter asked, “What's wrong with you?” Xiao Wang said shyly, “I want to wash my hand.” Peter didn't understand.

皮特问：“你怎么了？”小王不好意思地说：“我要方便方便。”皮特不解。

He saw Xiao Wang walking to the public toilet. Only then did he know that “convenience” means going to the toilet.

只见小王向公共厕所走去，方知“方便”就是上厕所。

After a while, Peter asked Xiao Wang: “when will you come to America and I'll show you around?” Xiao Wang replied: “I want to go at your convenience.” Peter:……

过了一会儿，皮特问小王：“你什么时候来美国，我带你到处玩玩？”小王答道：“我想在你方便的时候去。”皮特:……

3. After visiting China, an American friend said to the translator, “China is amazing, especially in terms of writing. For example,ʻChina won the United Statesʼ means China won the American team. ʻThe Chinese team defeated the American teamʼ, which also means that the Chinese team won. In short, victory always belongs to you.”

有位美国朋友访问了中国后，对翻译说：“中国太奇妙了，尤其是文字方面。譬如:‘中国队大胜美国队’，是说中国队胜了；而‘中国队大败美国队’，又是说中国队胜了。总之，胜利永远属于你们。”

4. A professor who pretends to be a master of China said to his students when he was teaching Chinese: “The Chinese call things ʻthingsʼ, such as desks and chairs, televisions, etc., but living animals do not call things, for example, insects, birds, animals, people, etc. Therefore, neither you nor he are things, and naturally I am not a thing!”

一位自命为中国通的教授，向他的学生讲授中文课时说：“中国人把物品称为‘东西’，例如桌椅、电视机等等，但是有生命的动物就不称东西，例如虫、鸟、兽、人……等等，所以，你和他都不是东西，我自然也不是东西！”

◎手势篇

OK手势

·In China,it represents“0”or“3”;In Japan, North Korea and Myanmar, it means money;

在中国表示数字“0”或“3”；在日本、朝鲜、缅甸表示金钱；

· In Britain and America, it is generally used to solicit opinions from the other party or to reply to the other party′s request for opinions;

在英国和美国，一般用来征求对方意见或回答对方征求意见的回话；

·In Holland, it said that it was going smoothly;

在荷兰表示顺利进行；

·In Brazil, it is considered as an inducement to women or an insult to men.

在巴西则认为是对女性的引诱或对男性的侮辱。

v手势

·In occident, the V - shaped gesture is considered as a symbol of victory.

在欧美，v字形手势被认为是胜利的象征。

·In Greece, if your finger is turned away from you, it means insulting and belittling the other party.

在希腊，若手指背向自己，则表示侮辱和轻视对方之意。

竖起大拇指

·In our country, it is a great compliment.

在我国表示夸奖，了不起；

·In Britain, Australia and New Zealand, tourists often use it as a gesture of hitchhiking.

在英国、澳大利亚和新西兰，旅游者常用它做搭车的手势；

·If your thumb is tilted up sharply, it will be an insult.

如果将大拇指急剧向上翘起，就成为侮辱人的信号；

·In Greece, he said he would leave.

在希腊表示滚蛋；

·The Japanese use their thumb to indicate “the old man”, but use their little thumb to indicate“the lover”

日本人则用大拇指表示“老爷子”，用小拇指表示“情人”

◎礼仪篇

1. In daily life, Chinese people greet to each other mostly use: “Have you eaten?” “Where to go?” And so on, this reflects the intimacy between people; However, for western people, this will make the other party feel embarrassed or even disgusted. They will feel that it is only a kind of “questioning” and violates their privacy. They usually say “good morning” and “good evening” when greeting, while the English just say “nice weather today!”

 日常打招呼中国人大多使用：“吃了吗？”“上哪呢？”等等，这体现了人与人之间的一种亲切感；可是对西方人来说，这会使对方感到尴尬甚至厌恶，他们会觉得只是一种“盘问”，侵犯了他们的隐私。他们通常打招呼会说：“早上好”“晚上好”，英国人则会说：“今天天气不错啊！”。

2. In terms of appellation, only close people can “call their names” in Chinese, while the west is more extensive. They often call strangers “sir”,“madam”, and called young women “miss”, family members, regardless of their seniority, can generally call each other names or nicknames. But China can't, otherwise it will be considered impolite.

称谓方面，在汉语中只有亲密的人才可以“直呼其名”，而西方则更为广泛。他们常以“先生”“夫人”称呼陌生人，年轻女子称“小姐”，家庭成员之间不分长幼尊卑，一般可互称姓名或昵称；而中国则不行，否则会被认为不礼貌。

3. Farewell words: for example, when saying goodbye to a patient, the Chinese often say “drink more boiled water”, “wear more clothes” and “go to bed early” to show their care for the patient. However, westerners will never say this, because it will be considered as finger - pointing. They will say “take care of yourself” and “hope you recover soon” and so on.

告别语：比如，在和病人告别时，中国人常说“多喝点开水”、“多穿点衣服”、“早点休息”之类的话，表示对病人的的关怀；但西方人绝对不会这样说，因为这样会被认为有指手画脚之嫌，他们会说“多保重”“希望你早日康复”等等。

◎亲情篇

The Chinese people have a strong family concept and pay attention to consanguinity and family ethics. Parents and children are always one family. Raising children in China is an investment behavior.

中国人的家庭观念强，注重血缘关系、亲情伦理，父母、子女始终是一家人。中国人养孩子是一种投资行为。

Americans are different, foreigners raising children is purely a consumer behavior. As soon as their children reach adulthood, they will leave the nest and fly away. Their parents will no longer support them. Their parents and children will manage their own financial affairs and do not form a boundary with each other.

美国人却不同，老外养孩子纯粹是一种消费行为。子女一到成年，就会离巢而飞，父母不再抚养他们，父母、子女各自理财，互不搭界。

“mother and son are precious” and “one person gains the moral and the whole family ascends to heaven” in China. While the children of foreigners can be millionaires, their parents are still poor.

中国人“母以子贵”，“一人得道，合家升天”；而外国人子女可以是百万富翁，父母却照旧穷困潦倒。

◎友情篇

In the western moral system, the individual and self are always the first. Under the impact of money worship and utilitarianism, western friendship is a synonym for mutual benefit and is covered with a thick layer of utilitarianism.

在西方的道德体系中，个人、自我永远是第一位的。西方友情观在拜金主义、功利主义的冲击下，友情是互惠互利的代名词，蒙着一层厚厚的功利主义色彩。

Ex.: People with rich wallets never need friends.

例：钱包丰厚的人从来不需要朋友。

Hunger knows no friends.

饥饿不识朋友。

In the Chinese cultural tradition, friendship is more important than personal interests, which is a generally accepted moral concept, “The scholar dies for his bosom friend.”Westerners cannot understand.

而中国文化传统中，友情重于个人利益是公认的道德观，“士为知己者死”。西方人对此无法理解。

本期英语广角就到这里啦，相信你们一定有了很多收获，对外国友人也有了更深层次的了解，每个国家都有着自己独特的文化魅力与信仰，我们不仅要读懂他们，更要尊重他们，希望这些小知识能够促进大家和外国友人和平相处，我们下期再见吧！