跨文化交際英文案例

1、.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 university students in China. During the question-and-answer period after the lecture, one female student asked a question that surprised Zhang

2、 Hua. “When you talked about female students, you referred to them as girls. Why?”“Because they are girls. Thats what they are called,” Zhang Hua tried to answer, but he knew he did not really understand the intent of the question. “ I dont quite understand your question, Im afraid.” “In the States,

3、 we call ourselves women if were old enough to go to the university. Calling us girls is insulting.” Do Chinese female college students prefer to be called women?Case 2Many years ago, a Chinese man showed a photo of his wife to some American visitors. Out of courtesy, they all said,” She is very bea

4、utiful.” Also out of courtesy, the man replied with what he would have done in Chinese under the circumstance,” Where! Where!” Quite taken aback, nobody said anything for a moment, until the most ingenious one among the visitors, taking another look at the photo, said, “Oh, everywhere!”What did the

5、Chinese intend to mean by replying with “ Where! Where!”? 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 university students in China. During the question-and-answer period after the lec

6、ture, one female student asked a question that surprised Zhang Hua. “When you talked about female students, you referred to them as girls. Why?”“Because they are girls. Thats what they are called,” Zhang Hua tried to answer, but he knew he did not really understand the intent of the question. “ I do

7、nt quite understand your question, Im afraid.” “In the States, we call ourselves women if were old enough to go to the university. Calling us girls is insulting.” Do Chinese female college students prefer to be called women?Case 2Many years ago, a Chinese man showed a photo of his wife to some Ameri

8、can visitors. Out of courtesy, they all said,” She is very beautiful.” Also out of courtesy, the man replied with what he would have done in Chinese under the circumstance,” Where! Where!” Quite taken aback, nobody said anything for a moment, until the most ingenious one among the visitors, taking a

9、nother look at the photo, said, “Oh, everywhere!”What did the Chinese intend to mean by replying with “ Where! Where!”? Case 3 “I Just Wanted to Talk”. Wu tong was a graduate student in a Chinese university. Like many students these days, he was very keen on learning English. He would talk with

10、 English speakers as often as he could. One day, he saw a new foreigner on campus, Leonard Ramsay, and overheard him speaking English. When Mr. Ramsay finished speaking with the other person, he turned to go, but Wu Tong stopped him. He went up and said, “ You speak English, is that right?”“Yes, why

11、?”“Id like to practise my English with you, if you dont mind.”Mr. Ramsay looked a little annoyed. “ I prefer not to, if you dont mind.”Case 4 An Unwanted Food Service During a lunch buffet at a conference in China, Wu Fa, the interpreter of the conference, sat with four foreign participants. They we

12、re having a good time talking. When Wu Fa stood up for more food, she asked whether she could bring anything back for them.Everyone thanked her and said “no”. A while later, Wu Fa came back with a plate full of food, and asked whether the others would like to have something from her plate.Again, the

13、 four others said , “No”.“ Oh, please take something, I cant eat this much food myself.”The foreigners shrugged and one or two of them even frowned 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 durin

14、g 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 American meal.Wen Hong felt very flattered and excited，since McDonald，KFC and Pizza Hut had been her only exposure to Western cooking. They had salad to

15、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 disappointed. She wondered whether Americans do eat like that at home.Case 6 Chinese Coff

16、ee Customs While 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 asking them any questions, he made three cups of 3-in

17、-1 coffee, the way he usually took it.Both friends tasted the coffee and frowned. 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. H

18、e had thought that everyone drank coffee the same way as he did. Case 7 Noise from Noodles Jane and Peter were Chen Dongs landlord and landlady when he was in the States. They had become good friends by the end of his one-year stay. They kept in touch with each other after Chen Dong returned to Chin

19、a. Jane and Peter decided to visit China soon after Chen Dong left the States. They made a special stop in Guangzhou where Chen Dong lives. Chen Dong had promised to show them around the city and let them try some authentic Cantonese food. One thing，in particular，he wanted them to try was noodles. H

20、e knew several restaurants that served good noodles and took the couple to one of them for lunch one day.Noodles typically come in soup in Cantonese cooking. Chen Dong started eating the noodles with chopsticks，while Jane and Peter exchanged a look at the noise that came with his eating. After a lit

21、tle 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 noodles. In the next half an hour，Jane and Peter had a hard time trying to roll the long nood

22、les onto their chopsticks. Chen Dong said，“thats not the way we eat noodles. You put the noodles directly to your mouth with your chopsticks.” “But thats not the way we eat noodles，” Jane and Peter said, frowning. Case 8 Dinner in a Chinese HomeBesides taking Peter and Jane to restaurants, Dong Chen

23、 also invited them to his home for dinner once. Dong Chen s mother is a nice wife, and made eight courses for four of them.“I'm sorry there isnt much for dinner, she said.”“God this is much more than enough food,” Jane said. Peter was too overwhelmed to even respond to Dong Chen motherDong Chen

24、was a little embarrassed. “This is what we usually say to guests，even though theres plenty of food” he explainedWhat bewildered Jane and Peter most was that though Dong Chens mother kept saying that the food was not good，she constantly served helpings to Jane and PeterPeter did not like two of the c

25、ourses very much，and felt bad that his plate was full with whatever he would not be able to eat. At seeing Dong Chen's mothers next move to serve him food，he said in a begging voice，“Please dont give me any more foodLet me do it myself Case 9A Not-sociable Drink Martin was sent by an Americ

26、an company to work in a special economic development zone in China for a year. He became very friendly with a few Chinese colleagues. Soon, he started to go out with them. He noticed that Chinese like to have something , such as peanuts, when they have beer, instead of just drinking beer without any

27、thing to eat as many North Americans do.One day he was invited to a dinner party to celebrate a colleagues birthday. They ordered alcoholic beverages and toasted the guest of honor frequently. Soon Martin realized that the plan was to get their friend drunk. Each colleague would offer a toast, concl

28、uding with a cheery “ gan bei!” and tried to get Martin to join in, even though he was unwilling to do it. Martin didnt think it a good idea, and tried to talk them out of the game. However, he was accused of not being a good friend for not co-operating. Martin remained an outsider during the rest o

29、f the dinner. He was getting increasingly worried as he watched the poor guest become increasingly inebriated. Case 10 A Misunderstanding at a Dinner TableRoger was a student majoring in East Asia Studies in an American university. He started an e-mail correspondence with Zhang Li, a sociology

30、major in China, who was introduced to him through a mutual friend.Upon graduation, Roger got a big gift from his grandfather. Grandpa would pay for a round-trip ticket to China. He told Zhang Li the good news, and the two decided to meet.Zhang Li decided to give Roger a very special welcome: she and

31、 the three women students in her dormitory would cook him an authentic Chinese meal, as Roger had told her that he loved Chinese food.However, when Roger was presented the dinner, he was almost terrified by some of the food: pork stomach soup, pig liver with ginger and spring onion, chicken with mus

32、hrooms in which the chicken had been cut to pieces with bones attached to the meal.Fortunately , 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. When she asked how h

33、e liked the liver, Roger said, “ Its very unusualand interesting. “ This seemed to make Zhang Li 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 it that much. “ But you said it was unusual

34、 and interesting!”Zhang Li said. “ Well, they both mean something less than positive,” Roger said carefully, trying not to hurt their feelings.Zhang Li and her friends became concerned at this.”“So you dont like the food?” Im not used to eating liver, thats all. But I do like the chicken, the beef,

35、the tofu, and the vegetables. I have had more than enough to eat. I never make this much food at home,” Roger was eager to let them know how much he appreciated their effort. “Trust me, Im enjoying the food. I know what I like.”Having said that, he found a piece of chicken that was less bony, held i

36、t in his hand to eat it, and then licked his fingers. Zhang Li and her friends looked at each other in shock. It was not a perfect first meeting for either Zhang Li or Roger. Case 11 Over-dressed Tourists As a van stopped in front of Niagara Falls, a group of Chinese officials streamed out. The

37、y were dressed in suits and ties, wearing leather shoes. Many of the men also had left the manufactures 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 American tourists, some of whom quietly laughed

38、with their friends and pointed at the Chinese visitors. Others frowned at seeing the smoking 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 childrens porgram while having breakfast one morning.

39、A young man, the host of the program, gave instructions of a game to a few children, and then joined them running in a circle.“My, hes wearing a tie and running crazy with the children!” Jane exclaimed.The Chinese friend shrugged,”Is this very unusual?” Case 13 An American in China Professor Sm

40、ith and his assistant，Chen Ming，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 interested in the type of research they were doing, wou

41、ld like to say hello to Professor Smith. As luck would have it，the Mayor was dining in the same restaurant as Smith and Chen Ming.Professor Smith said he had to go back to his room to change. “You look fine，Come on，the mayor is waiting，”the administrator said. “No, I cant meet the mayor in my shorts

42、”Case 14 The Generosity of a Chinese StudentMatt 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 student began to

43、 get quite hot. While Matt took some pictures, the graduate student went to buy some drinks. “Thank you. How much do I owe you?” Matt asked. “Nothing.” The student smiled. “ Are you sure?” “Yes.” At lunchtime, Matt suggested they have a quick meal. They stopped by a McDonald. Again, the graduate stu

44、dent tried to pay for Matt. “No, this is my treat. Youre a student, Im a professor. Youve given me the time to show me around. You already paid for my drink. I cant let you pay for my lunch again.” Case 15 A Gift from a Chinese StudentXie Dong did his graduate study in an American university. H

45、e came back to China for summer vacation. When he went back to his program, he paid his supervisor a visit and presented him a gift. The professor opened the gift. It was a ginseng with its many tiny roots spreading out in a very artistic pattern. It clearly was an expensive gift. The professors eye

46、s shone at the ginseng, but he then began to feel uneasy. “Xie Dong, I appreciate your kindness, but I cant take this as a gift.” “ Why? Dont you like it?” It was Xie Dongs turn to be uneasy now.“ Oh, sure, I love it. But I cant accept it.”“Why?”“ Because I didnt do anything to deserve such a gift.”

47、Case 16 Telephone Courtesy Kathy and David, a couple from the US, signed a one-year contract to work in China. Both were extroverted and soon made some Chinese friends. Before long, people started calling them at home. David was sometimes away on business trips for a few days, and if someone looked

48、for him, Kathy often would find the conversation awkward.“ Where did he go?” The caller typically would ask.“Can I pass on any message?” Kathy asked politely, trying to avoid the question.“Is he out of town?” The caller was usually very persistent.“Yes, can I help you in any way?” Kathy tried to be

49、polite, but she could not help feeling uncomfortable.Case 17 “Not So Close, Please”He Jia had lived in the United States for 7 years before she came back to work in China. She found that she had become accustomed to social habits in North America and that some Chinese behaviours now caused her some

50、discomfort. For example, one day, back in China, she was in a queue to use an ATM. She had noticed that people were standing very close to each other. In fact, the person behind her could, if she or he wanted, to see her enter the PIN of her ATM card. He Jia wanted to make people aware of the discom

51、fort of the user by keeping her distance from the person in front of her. However, the people behind her pushed her to move forward.Case 18 The Privacy of the PageSimon and Cheng Feng often studied together to prepare for exams. One day, in the middle of a study session, Simon said he wanted to get

52、a coffee. He asked Cheng Feng if he wanted any, but he said, “No”. When he came back, he found Cheng Feng reading his notes. He was upset and, although he didnt say anything at the time, he never studied with Cheng Feng again. Cheng Feng noticed the change and wondered what had happened. Case19

53、 The Privacy of Photographs Rose invited Lili to her home one day. While they were having coffee, Rose showed Lili a few pictures of her boyfriend in a photo album. Lili casually turned to other pages after that. Rose stopped her, “Id rather you not look at other pictures.”Lili was embarrassed, and

54、apologized, “Im sorry.” Case 20 The Privacy of Price After living in the States for some time, Ping Li observed that Americans like to comment on each others looks and clothes. So when she saw a fellow graduate student wearing a nice dress at a party, she complimented her by saying. “This is a

55、very beautiful dress.” “Oh thank you , I bought it last year before Christmas ,” the student very pleased. “How much was it?” Ping Li asked.“Well I dont quite remember,” the student seemed unprepared for the question, and answered a little hesitatingly. Case 21 The Privacy of the PersonZou Qing

56、 and Nancy became friends after they met in a course they both tookNancy had had gray hair much earlier than people of the same age，and had been dyeing her hair for several years.While they were having a break one day in between two classes, and Zou Qing noticed that Nancy had some invisible gray ha

57、ir on her. She told her so, but Nancy changed the topic right away.When everyone else left，Nancy said to Zou Qing，“Please dont mention my gray hair while there were men around.”Case 22 Unacceptable CuriosityMr and Mrs Peterson came to China with a tour group. One evening, they decided to take a walk

58、 outside their hotel. They soon noticed that quite a few people stared at them. One man even quickly walked past them and then turned back to look at them several times. Both Mr and Mrs Peterson felt uncomfortable about the staring and went back to the hotel sooner than they had planned.Case 23 Confusion in Communicating 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 dependent on Bill whenever she wanted to take a picture, because she felt that B