日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

您現(xiàn)在的位置: Language Tips> Columnist> Raymond Zhou  
 





 
To look or not to look is the question
[ 2007-12-24 14:54 ]
By Raymond Zhou

What is the biggest cultural barrier for a Chinese to overcome when dealing with people from other countries?

For me personally, it is none other than looking into the eye of the other party.

I knew early on while I was still in school that Western people value eye contact. But it is one thing to know something; it is another to be able to practice it.

It took me a good three years living in the United States to completely get over my "handicap". For a while, I invented a fence-sitting strategy whereby I would almost look at the person I was conversing with, but with a slight angle so that our eyes wouldn't be locked together at all times. I would appear to be looking without really looking.

Now you may ask: What's the big fuss about looking someone in the eye while talking to him? Isn't it the most natural thing to do?

Well, let me tell you: No, not for someone brought up and taught NOT to look that way. Actually, I've never encountered a specific instruction in our textbooks that we should not look directly at someone else while talking. And in school, we also look at the teacher. But when it's a one-on-one conversation, it is simply impolite to gaze, especially at someone of a senior generation or ranking.

This little habit of ours has probably created more misunderstanding than most cultural quirks. In Western culture, it is impolite to look at something other than the eyes of the one you talk to. Besides, you may be interpreted as lacking self-confidence or even lying.

Just imagine how many perfectly competent job candidates fell through this crack when recruiters from multinational companies took their Chinese way of politeness to mean the typical negative things associated with "not looking them in the eye".

Now, you may say that since we have rational knowledge of this behavioral discrepancy, why can't we adopt the Western way while talking to Westerners? Shouldn't that be easier than speaking a foreign language?

Easier said than done. Because "not looking" is so rooted in our cultural genes, during my transformative years, I constantly went through a process of internal struggle of "looking or not looking". I knew I should look, but just couldn't bring myself to it.

To understand how hard it is, you may have a little role-reversal and for once pretend you're a typical Chinese and look at the translator while talking to your host. If you feel comfortable, you can probably be a good actor.

Now let's take a step back. Suppose you cannot do that with ease just as you cannot take on a new accent at your will. You should pause for a moment when you see your Chinese friends engaging in the "wandering eye" and say to yourself: Hey, this guy may be a little shy, but he is not being discourteous because he grew up in a culture of discouraging such stares.

As for my personal experience, switching between looking and not looking is much harder than switching between two languages. After I came back to China as a "sea turtle", I could refrain from sprinkling my speech with English words, but I simply couldn't go back to looking sideways again.

Later, a friend scolded me for being "thoroughly Americanized" because my intent look was "too aggressive" and made him "nervous". I wish I could return to my "looking yet not looking" mode again, but no amount of theorizing can help me adjust with each occasion.

Habits die hard - good habits or bad. They make us who we are. Maybe we should all install a little mental translating device to remind ourselves of our little differences.

E-mail: raymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/22/2007 page4)

我要看更多專(zhuān)欄文章

 
 
相關(guān)文章 Related Stories
 

 

 

 
 

本頻道最新推薦

     
  To look or not to look is the question
  When things don't add up
  Words and rhetoric
  “國(guó)賓館”怎么說(shuō)
  Which country scares you the most?

論壇熱貼

     
  開(kāi)個(gè)題目大家扯:hotel & restaurant
  追求某人
  請(qǐng)教工商年檢如何翻譯
  How to translate “中國(guó)老字號(hào)”into English?
  "港股直通車(chē)"怎么翻譯?
  兩免一補(bǔ)怎么說(shuō)?




主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久久精品网站 | 欧美一级特黄高清视频 | 黄色资源在线观看 | 一区二区三区四区在线免费观看 | 天堂色在线 | 自拍天堂 | 婷婷四房综合激情五月 | 懂色av,蜜臀av粉嫩av | 欧美在线一区二区三区四区 | 久久七七| 日韩成人在线免费视频 | 五月婷在线视频 | 亚洲aaa| h片网站在线观看 | 精品一区二区三孕妇视频 | 天天躁日日躁aaaaxxxx | 国产一区二区免费 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区四区视频 | 亚洲日本三级 | 91青草视频 | 日韩av手机在线免费观看 | 精品久久久久久中文字幕 | 国产尤物在线播放 | 国产精品99久久久久久久女警 | 黄色在线视频网站 | 天天射夜夜爽 | 中文字幕一二区 | 99国产精品久久久久久久 | 一级国产片 | 成人在线小视频 | 国内自拍网站 | 黄色一级免费视频 | 久久久国产精品人人片 | 日产精品一区二区 | 日韩欧美中文字幕在线视频 | 亚洲国产精品久久久久 | 欧美精品一二三 | 亚洲一级精品 | 成人在线播放网站 | 亚洲精品高潮 | 国产中文字幕在线 |