日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

您現在的位置: 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: [email protected]

(China Daily 12/22/2007 page4)

我要看更多專欄文章

 
 
相關文章 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
  “國賓館”怎么說
  Which country scares you the most?

論壇熱貼

     
  開個題目大家扯:hotel & restaurant
  追求某人
  請教工商年檢如何翻譯
  How to translate “中國老字號”into English?
  "港股直通車"怎么翻譯?
  兩免一補怎么說?




主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美大胆一级视频 | www.久久草 | 91短视频版在线观看免费大全 | 99久久网| 视频一区二区三区四区五区 | 久久精品国产第一区二区 | 欧美国产在线观看 | 亚洲国产品综合人成综合网站 | 欧美色综合天天久久综合精品 | 欧洲精品一区二区三区在线观看 | 天天插天天射天天干 | 成片免费观看视频在线网 | 黄色免费av | 亚洲成人一区二区三区 | 午夜视频在线免费播放 | √新版天堂资源在线资源 | 欧美在线观看一区 | 亚洲一区二区三区久久 | 91精品亚洲 | 国产精品国产三级国产a | 欧美日韩亚洲一区 | 一区二区三区四区国产 | 亚洲黄区 | 国产精品女A片爽爽波多洁衣 | 日本狠狠干 | 91免费在线看 | 国产精品爱久久久久久久小说 | 爱爱视频在线观看 | 亚洲国产欧美在线人成aaa | 亚洲 欧美 日韩在线 | 狠狠久久 | 国产精品永久免费视频观看 | 亚洲一区二区三区久久精品 | 欧美精品一区久久 | xxxx亚洲| 成人性视频免费网站 | 精品亚洲永久免费精品 | 九九精品视频在线播放 | 嫩草视频在线播放 | 婷婷久久综合九色综合九七 | 国产精品人妻无码久久久2022 |