中西文化差异英语对话

1、T:Hiyangxue,Iheardthatyouaregoingtostudyingabroad,itsanewexperience,whichcanbringyouopportunitytodiscoverfascinatingthingsandafeelingoffreedom.Y:Oh!yeah,inspiteofthisadvantages,howevertherearealsosomechallengesIwillencounter.Cultureshockwillbethefirstone.T:yeah,Ihavewatchedseveralmoviesaboutwesternl

2、ifestylesandcultures,andreallyfindanimmensedifference.Y:Yeah,thedifferenceisalmosteverywhere.Asfarasthetableculture,thereisnodoubtitisatraditiontousechopsticksforChinese.ButpeopleinAmericaprefertoforksandknives.T：Thedifferenttoolsarebasedondifferentfoodtheylike.FriedfoodandfastfoodareAmericansfavori

3、tewhileChinesepeoplechoosenoodles,pancakesandrice.Y:Yes,besides,haveyounoticedthatwhenwehavemealswithourfamiliesorgoodfriends,weusuallygetsomedeliciousfoodforeachothertoshowourcare.Butthewesternstyleofeatingseemstobemorehygienic.Nobodyuseshisownforktogetfoodforothers.T：Yeah,quiteso.Thisisonlytablema

4、nners.Ialsoknowthatgreetingisdifferent.InChina,whenImeetyouinthestreet,Imaygreetyoubysaying“Haveyoueatenyet?”Andwhatwillbeyourreflect?Y:Oh,Iwillfeelnormal.Prettynormalgreetingwords.T：Butifyougreetaforeignerwiththesewords.Theywillbelievethatyouwanttoinvitehimtoameal.Y:Really?Toointeresting.T：Soitseas

5、ytoleadtomisunderstandingbecauseofdifferentcultures.Ofcourse,thesituationsaremoreseriousifyougreetsomeoneinwesterncountriesbysaying“Whatareyougoingtodo?”“Wherehaveyoubeen?”etc.Becausetheythinkyouhaveinfringedtheirprivacy.Thus，youcanimaginetheirgreetings,theyusuallygreeteachother“Goodmorning/evening/

6、afternoon.“Fineday,isntit?”Y:Butdontyoufeelthesearetooformulaicorunnecessary?T：Yes,butthatsonlyourthinking.Y:Justnow,youreferredtopersonalaffairs,thereisalsomanydifferentopinionshere.Forexample,wedonotregarditasaskingpersonalaffairswhentheyaskothersname、year、maritalstatus、wages、personallife、beliefan

7、dpoliticalpoints.T：Yes,weregarditasconcerns.Y:Butthewesternswillthinkyouinfringetheirrightofprivacy.Sowhenwetalktothewesterns,wemustavoidaskingsomequestionslikethis:“Howoldareyou?”、“Areyoumarried？”、“Howmanychildrendoyouhave？”、“Howmuchdoyoumake？”、“Whatsyourweight?”、“Doyougotothechurch？”T：Somanydetail

8、sneedtonotice.Wehavetalkedsomuch,butitonlycoversseveralsmallaspectsinlife.IevenfeelthewayoflifeinAmericaiscompletelydifferentfrommine.IthinkIwillbemadfacingallthese.Nowthatyouwillgothere.Haveyouconsiderhowtoadjustyourselftoadapttheircultures?Y:Infact,Ihaveconsideredtheproblemforlongtime.Atleastfoure

9、ssentialstagesofadjustmentoccurduringcultureshocktonewarrivals.Iwillkeeppositivetoovercomethese.Asweknow,Americansareslavestonothingbutclocks,theyworkhardatthetaskofsavingtime.Imustgetridofthehabitofdelayingtimetokeeppacewiththem.Itshugeproject.T：Yeah,yeah.Youshouldestablisharightattitudetowardcultu

10、redifferences,tobeopen-mindedtothem.Afterall,attitudecandecideonesfeelingandbehaving.However,theseseemnottobeenough.Y:Thatstrue.IalsoneedtolearnabouttheirculturalbackgroundbeforeIgo.AndIhavereadsomebooksandgraduallyaccepttheirwaysoflife.Next,Iamgoingtoreadtheirnewspapersandmagazinesandsomeliteratureworkstolearnthecountrydeeply.T：Yeah,yourdecisionisrightanditwillbenefityou.Youwouldlearnsomuchandyouwillrespecttheirculturefromyourdeepheart.Thus,youcanadapt