新编跨文化交际英语Unit1-5课后答案

1. Is it still often the case that “everyone’s quick to blame the alien” in the contemporary world?

This is still powerful in today‘s social and political rhetoric. For instance, it is not uncommon in today‘s society to hear people say that most, if not all, of the social and economic problems are caused by minorities and immigrants.

2. What’s the difference between today’s intercultural contact and that of any time in the past?

Today‘s intercultural encounters are far more numerous and of greater importance than in any time in history.

3. What have made intercultural contact a very common phenomenon in our life today?

New technology, in the form of transportation and communication systems,

has

accelerated

intercultural

contact;

innovative

communication systems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction; globalization of the economy has brought people together; changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.

4. How do you understand the sentence “culture is everything and everywhere”?

Culture supplies us with the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and communicate within that world. Culture

teaches us how to behave in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.

5. What are the major elements that directly influence our perception and communication?

The three major socio-cultural elements that directly influence perception and communication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (family and state).

6. What does one’s family teach him or her while he or she grows up in it?

The family teaches the child what the world looks like and his or her place in that world.

7. Why is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture?

Because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture. Language is an organized, generally agreed-upon, learned symbol system that is used to represent the experiences within a cultural community.

8. What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to?

People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, etc. 9. How can a free, culturally diverse society exist?

A free, culturally diverse society can exist only if diversity is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the society.

1. Which of the definitions given above do you prefer? Why?

Some may prefer a short definition, such as the one given by E. Sapir or R. Benedict, for it is highly generalized and easy to remember. Some may prefer a longer one, such as Edward T. Hall‘s definition of culture, because it provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of culture and points out the all-pervasive impact of culture on human life in different dimensions.

2.What have you learned from those definitions about culture? Many things can be learned from those definitions, for each definition, though not without its limitations, tells us something very important about culture or certain aspect(s) of culture.

3. Do you agree that our lower needs always have to be satisfied before we can try to satisfy the higher needs?

Even though this is generally the case, there will still be some exceptions. Sometimes people might prefer to satisfy higher needs, for instance, esteem needs, before their lower needs, such as certain physiological needs or safety needs, are satisfied.

4. What examples can you give about how people of different cultures achieve the same ends by taking different roads?

For example, everyone has to eat in order to live and this is universally true. However, to satisfy this basic need, people of various cultures may do it in very different ways: what to eat and how to eat it vary from culture to culture.

5. What behaviors of ours are born with and what are learned in the cultural environment?

Instinctive behaviors are behaviors that we are born with and ways of doing things in daily life, such as ways of eating, drinking, dressing, finding shelter, making friends, marrying, and dealing with death are learned in the cultural environment.

6. What other cultural differences do you know in the way people do things in their everyday life?

We can also find cultural differences in ways of bringing up children, treating the elderly, greeting each other, saving and spending money, and many other things people do in everyday life.

7. In what ways are the Chinese eating habits different from those of the English-speaking countries?

We Chinese may enjoy something that is not usually considered as edible by the English-speaking people. Generally we prefer to have things hot and lay much emphasis on tastes. We tend to share things with each other when we are eating with others.

1. Why is it comparatively easy to make friends in the United States?

Because few Americans stay put for a lifetime. With each move, forming new friendship becomes a necessity and part of their new life.

2.Do people from different countries usually have different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being?

Yes. The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is their different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being.

3. How is friendship in America different from friendship in West Europe?

In West Europe, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relationships, is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment, while in America the word ―friend can be applied to a wide range of relationship and a friendship may be superficial, casual, situational or deep and enduring.

4. In what country does friendship have much to do with one’s family? And in what country does it not?

In Germany, friendship has much to do with one‘s family as friends are usually brought into the family, while in France it doesn‘t as, for instance, two men may have been friends for a long time without knowing each other‘s personal life.

5. What is friendship like when it is compartmentalized?

For instance, a man may play chess with a friend for thirty years without knowing his political opinions, or he may talk politics with him for as long a time without knowing about his personal life. Different friends fill different niches in each person‘s life.

6. What are friendships usually based on in England?

English friendships are based on shared activity. Activities at different stages of life may be of very different kinds. In the midst of the activity, whatever it may be, people fall into steps and find that they participate in the activity with the same easy anticipation of what each will do day by day or in some critical situation.

7. Do you think friendship shares some common elements in different cultures? If you do, what are they?

Yes. There is the recognition that friendship, in contrast with kinship, invokes freedom of choice. A friend is someone who chooses and is chosen. Related to this is the sense each friend gives the other of being a special individual, on whatever grounds this recognition is based. And between friends there is inevitably a kind of equality of give-and-take. 8. What do you think is the typical Chinese concept of friendship? Is it similar to or different from any of the Western friendships?

It seems that the typical Chinese concept of friendship lays great emphasis on personal loyalty and also has much to do with family. It may be similar to Germany friendship to some extent and quite different from

other Western friendships.

9. What is your family like? In what aspects is it the same as or different from the traditional? What problems may arise when people from different family backgrounds communicate with one another? As we all know, many cultural differences exist in family structures and values. In some cultures, the family is the center of life and the main frame of reference for decisions; while in others, the individual, not the family, is primary. Many Chinese families are still quite traditional. They are often extended families, with three or even four generations living under the same roof. In such families, people may care a lot about families’ welfare, reputation and honor. No matter what they do, they tend to put the interest of the whole family as the top priority. For them, the family as a whole always comes first, and its individual members are second. However, there are also many Chinese families now in which individual needs are given more stress than ever before and the relationship between parents and children are more egalitarian than hierarchical. Therefore, communication between people from different family backgrounds may be intercultural to some extent. What one considers as appropriate may be regarded as improper by the other, and sometimes it would be very difficult for them to understand each other in the way each of them prefers to be understood.

1. What can we do to avoid attributing a very different meaning to the

phrase or interpret it much more literally?

We have to be aware of the cultural implications of the phrase.

2. What are the other functions of using question forms apart from asking for information?

It serves as a lubricant to move the conversation forward. A question that has this function can be called a ―social question.

3. Why are those Germans getting stiffer and more reserved all the time when visiting Ingrid Zerbe?

They are confused about how to address her, for she introduces herself by first and last name rather than by last name and professional title. 4. How does the environment influence the use of language?

Language reflects the environment in which we live. We use language to label the things that are around us.

5. Does the author think there are exact equivalents in dictionaries that have the same meanings in different cultures?

No. According to the author, there are no such equivalents between languages; therefore, to communicate concepts effectively, cultural knowledge is as important as linguistic knowledge. 6. How does the language change over time?

Words and phrases that are used commonly at one time may be discontinued or their meaning may change over time.

7. Does the author think it is possible for countries such as France and

Iceland to keep their language pure by implementing language policy to ensure the use of standardized language?

The author does not think so, because, for instance, the Academie Francaise may insist on certain rules, but other French-speaking groups may make their own rules and consider their French just as correct. 8. What are the possible language barriers in classroom teaching? In some cases the professors actually may have a poor command of the language; however, in most cases the problem is not the language but different intonation patterns and different cultural signals.

9. What are the major differences between Chinese and English in categorizing kinfolk? What other examples of connotative differences can you give between the two languages?

In categorizing kinfolk, what the Chinese language finds significant are the person‘s sex, age, and whether he or she is closely related to one‘s father or mother. All these things, however, are not significant in the English language.

1. What made the author feel learning to converse in Mexico City was easier for him/her in one way, more difficult in another?

It's easier because Mexicans service the relationship and they care about everyone in the conversation. But their conversation doesn‘t move in a straight line, drifting around both in the topic and in the way they use words.

2. Why did the Mexican customer slide into the topic of the full eclipse of the sun?

For the Mexican, the conversation starts with one topic, but if another interesting topic seeps in he or she will ride it around for a while. Sticking to the first topic is less important than having an interesting conversation.

3. What did the American businessman feel about the Mexican?s way of conversation?

For the American, a conversation should have a topic, and he wants to take a straight line through it from beginning to end. So he felt very impatient about the Mexican‘s way of conversation.

4. What “conversational ideal” was represented by the example of a championship skier who was interviewed on TV?

The Swedish conversational ideal is to response in a concise manner without elaborating specific details, especially those for self-promotion. . 5. What problems are likely to occur if an American talks with a Swede? The American may feel totally lost in the conversation since he or she would not get as much information from the Swede as he or she has expected.

6. What are the differences between Anglos and Athabaskans in conversation?

There are a lot differences between them. For instance, at the beginning

of a conversation, Anglos almost always speak first. Athabaskans think it is important to know what the social relationship is before they talk with someone. There is another difference in how long one should talk. Athabaskans tend to have longer turns when they talk with each other, but Anglos expect shorter turns.

7. Is it enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners when one learns a foreign language? What else does he or she also need to know?

It is far from enough just to learn to speak in grammatically correct manners when one learns a foreign language. One also has to know about the culture of using the language in social life, things like who talks first, who talks next, who opens and closes conversations and how they do it, in order to be able to use the language in culturally appropriate manners.

8. In what ways are Chinese similar to or different from the Americans, Mexicans and Swedes ?

It seems that we Chinese are somewhat similar to Mexicans in the way we are having a conversation. Unlike Americans, we do not usually move in a straight line in a conversation and may also care much about the other‘s feeling.

9. Do you think there has been some change in the way we Chinese respond to compliments in the last decade or two? What basic

differences can we still find between the English-speaking people and the Chinese people in the use of compliment and response?

There seems to have been some change in the way we Chinese respond to compliments in the last decade or two. For example, like the English-speaking people, more and more Chinese, particularly young people, nowadays tend to use 谢谢 (Thank you) to respond to a compliment. However, we Chinese are still different from the English-speaking people in the use of compliment and response to it. For instance, implicit compliments（隐性恭维语）are more likely to be found in the Chinese society.

●纵观历史，我们可以清楚地看到，人们由于彼此所处地域、意识形态、容貌服饰和行为举止上存在的差异，而长久无法互相理解、无法和睦相处。在这种情况下，跨文化交际作为一个特定的研究领域得以形成和发展。值得注意的是，人类文明在发展过程中所遭受的许多挫折，既是个人的，又是全球性的；人类历史进程总是充满了个人间的直接冲突和民族间的误解——从骂骂咧咧到孤立主义直至到武装冲突，大大小小争端不绝。很显然，文化间以及亚文化间的交往比以前多了，这迫切要求我们共同努力，去理解有着不同信仰和文化背景的人们，并与之和睦相处。通过加深认识和理解，我们能够与生活方式、价值观念不同的人们和平共处；这不但有益于我们周遭环境的安定，也是维护世界和平的决定性因素。

●文化有时候被称为我们的心智程序，我们“头脑的软件”。但是，

我们可以进一步引申这个用电脑所做的类比，把文化看作是支持运行的操作环境。文化就像电脑使用的 DOS 或者Unix 或者 “视窗”（Windows）等操作系统一样，使我们能在各种各样的实际应用中处理信息。 用“视窗”这个比喻来描述文化似乎也很有吸引力。文化就是我们心灵的视窗，透过它我们审视生活的方方面面。一个社会中不同个体的视窗是不大一样的，但都有着一些重要的共同特征。文化就好像是鱼畅游于其中的水一般，人们想当然地把文化看成是客观存在的事实，因而很少去研究它。文化存在于我们所呼吸的空气之中，文化对于我们了解我们自身之为何物是必不可少的，就正如生命离不开空气一样。文化是特定群体的共有财产，而不单是个体的特征。社会按照文化设定的程序运作，这种程序来自于相似的生活体验以及对这种生活体验之含义的相似阐释。如果文化是一种心智程序，那么它也是现实的心灵地图。从我们很小的时候开始，文化就告诉我们应该看重什么、偏好什么、规避什么和做些什么，文化还告诉我们事物应该是什么样。文化为我们提供超越个体经验可能的理想典范，帮助我们决定应该优先考虑的人或事。文化为我们建立起行为准则，并视遵守这些准则的行为为正当、合法。

●由于在性别、年龄、种族或文化群体、教育、国家或城市的地域、收入或职业群体、个人经历等各方面的差异，人们分属不同的语言群体，这些差异使我们很难完全领会另一个群体成员所表达的意思。在当今世界的跨文化交际中，人们之间的差异是相当大的。人们每天要与来自世界各地不同文化背景、不同群体的人交往，成功交际的关键

在于尽可能地共享对话语意义的推定。当我们与迥然不同的人打交道时，我们往往不知道该怎样推导出他们的语句意义。因此，在交际过程中，就很难依靠共享的知识和背景来有把握地诠释他人表达的意义。就是来自相同文化、甚至相同家庭中的男性和女性也会经常误解对方的意思，原因是男性和女性对交际目的有不同的预期。为了让女人高兴，男人要送她一件她真正想要的礼物。他问女人想要什么礼物——哪怕是上天摘星星。糟糕的是，女人最想要的却是男人可以凭直觉就知道她想要的是什么。至少在北美社会中，男性和女性对于表达的看法往往不同：前者倾向于直接明了，后者则倾向于间接委婉。女性觉得不用直接问就知道她想要什么是很重要的。男性则觉得，如果女性能爽快地告诉他怎样做才能让她高兴就再好不过了。 Case 1

1.In this case, there seemed to be problems in communicating with people of different cultures in spite of the efforts made to achieve understanding. We should know that in Egypt as in many cultures, the human relationship is valued so highly that it is not expressed in an objective and impersonal way. While Americans certainly value human relationships, they are more likely to speak of them in less personal, more objective terms. In this case, Richard‘s mistake might be that he chose to praise the food itself rather than the total evening, for which the food was simply the setting or excuse. For his host and hostess it was as if he had attended an art exhibit and complimented the artist by

saying, ―What beautiful frames your pictures are in.

2. In Japan the situation may be more complicated. Japanese people value order and harmony among persons in a group, and that the organization itself－be it a family or a vast corporation－is more valued than the characteristics of any particular member. In contrast, Americans stress individuality as a value and are apt to assert individual differences when they seem justifiably in conflict with the goals or values of the group. In this case: Richard‘s mistake was in making great efforts to defend himself. Let the others assume that the errors were not intentional, but it is not right to defend yourself, even when your unstated intent is to assist the group by warning others of similar mistakes. A simple apology and acceptance of the blame would have been appropriate. But for poor Richard to have merely apologized would have seemed to him to be subservient, unmanly.

3. When it comes to England, we expect fewer problems between Americans and Englishmen than between Americans and almost any other group. In this case we might look beyond the gesture of taking sugar or cream to the values expressed in this gesture: for Americans, ―Help yourself; for the English counterpart, ―Be my guest. American and English people equally enjoy entertaining and being entertained but they differ somewhat in the value of the distinction. Typically, the ideal guest at an American party is one who ―makes himself at home, even to the

point of answering the door or fixing his own drink. For persons in many other societies, including at least this hypothetical English host, such guest behavior is presumptuous or rude. Case 2

A common cultural misunderstanding in classes involves conflicts between what is said to be direct communication style and indirect communication style. In American culture, people tend to say what is on their minds and to mean what they say. Therefore, students in class are expected to ask questions when they need clarification. Mexican culture shares this preference of style with American culture in some situations, and that‘s why the students from Mexico readily adopted the techniques of asking questions in class. However, Korean people generally prefer indirect communication style, and therefore they tend to not say what is on their minds and to rely more on implications and inference, so as to be polite and respectful and avoid losing face through any improper verbal behavior. As is mentioned in the case, to many Koreans, numerous questions would show a disrespect for the teacher, and would also reflect that the student has not studied hard enough. Case 3

The conflict here is a difference in cultural values and beliefs. In the beginning, Mary didn‘t realize that her Dominican sister saw her as a member of the family, literally. In the Dominican view, family possessions

are shared by everyone of the family. Luz was acting as most Dominican sisters would do in borrowing without asking every time. Once Mary understood that there was a different way of looking at this, she would become more accepting. However, she might still experience the same frustration when this happened again. She had to find ways to cope with her own emotional cultural reaction as well as her practical problem (the batteries running out). Case 4

It might be simply a question of different rhythms. Americans have one rhythm in their personal and family relations, in their friendliness and their charities. People from other cultures have different rhythms. The American rhythm is fast. It is characterized by a rapid acceptance of others. However, it is seldom that Americans engage themselves entirely in a friendship. Their friendships are warm, but casual, and specialized. For example, you have a neighbor who drops by in the morning for coffee. You see her frequently, but you never invite her for dinner -- not because you don‘t think she could handle a fork and a knife, but because you have seen her that morning. Therefore, you reserve your more formal invitation to dinner for someone who lives in a more distant part of the city and whom you would not see unless you extended an invitation for a special occasion. Now, if the first friend moves away and the second one moves nearby, you are likely to reverse this -- see the

second friend in the mornings for informal coffee meetings, and the first one you will invite more formally to dinner. Americans are, in other words, guided very often by their own convenience. They tend to make friends easily, and they don‘t feel it necessary to go to a great amount of trouble to see friends often when it becomes inconvenient to do so, and usually no one is hurt. But in similar circumstances people from many other cultures would be hurt very deeply. Case 5

In China, it is often not polite to accept a first offer and Heping was being modest, polite and

well-behaved and had every intention of accepting the beer at the second or third offer. But he had anyone. A person may not drink for religious reasons, he may be a reformed alcoholic, or he may be allergic. Whatever the reason behind the rule, you do not insist in offering alcohol. So unconscious and so strong are their cultural rules that the Americans equally politely never made a second offer of beer to Heping who probably thought North Americans most uncouth. However, instance for all people and there are always individual differences. Probably this young Chinese nurse was very different from Heping or, unlike Heping, she may have known something about the American cultural rules and was just trying to behave like an American when she was in an American family.

Case 6

When a speaker says something to a hearer, there are at least three kinds of meanings involved: utterance meaning, speaker‘s meaning and hearer‘s meaning. In the dialogue, when Litz said ?How long is she going to stay?‘ she meant to say that if she knew how long her mother-in-law was going to stay in Finland, she would be able to make proper arrangements for her, such as taking her out to do some sightseeing. However, her mother-in-law overheard the conversation, and took Litz’s question to mean ―Litz does not want me to stay for long. From the Chinese point of view, it seems to be inappropriate for Litz to ask such a question just two days after her mother-in-law‘s arrival. If she feels she has to ask the question, it would be better to ask some time later and she should not let her mother-in-law hear it. Case 7

Keiko insists on giving valuable gifts to her college friends, because in countries like Japan, exchanging gifts is a strongly rooted social tradition. Should you receive a gift, and don‘t have one to offer in return, you will probably create a crisis. If not as serious as a crisis, one who doesn‘t offer a gift in return may be considered rude or impolite. Therefore, in Japan, gifts are a symbolic way to show appreciation, respect, gratitude and further relationship. Keiko obviously has taken those used items from Mary, Ed and Marion as gifts, for she probably doesn‘t know that

Americans frequently donate their used household items to church or to the community. Mary, Ed and Marion would never consider those used household items given to Keiko as gifts. No wonder they felt very uncomfortable when they received valuable gifts in return. Case 8

As the Chinese girl Amy fell in love with an American boy at that time, it seems that she preferred to celebrate Christmas in the American way, for she wanted very much to appear the same as other American girl. She did not like to see her boyfriend feel disappointed at the ―shabby‖Chinese Christmas. That’s why she cried when she found out her parents had invited the minister ‘s family over for the Christmas Eve dinner. She thought the menu for the Christmas meal created by her mother a strange one because there were no roast turkey and sweet potatoes but only Chinese food.

How could she notice then the foods chosen by her mother were all her favorites?

From this case, we can find a lot of differences between the Chinese and Western cultures in what is appropriate food for a banquet, what are good table manners, and how one should behave to be hospitable. However, one should never feel shameful just because one‘s culture is different from others‘. As Amy‘s mother told her, you must be proud to be different, and your only shame is to have shame.

especially when the people involved are not terms another. Expressing gratitude Chinese people People from English-speaking on intimate one with often express their countries tend to show their gratitude not just by gratitude more verbally to others what they say, but who have helped them. also by what they do and what they give to others who have done them a favor. Expressing Chinese people are People from English-speaking disapproval reluctant to express countries are more likely to their disproval express their disapproval openly for fear of freely and directly. making others lose face. If they have to express disapproval, they often prefer to do it in a very indirect way. Leave-taking Chinese people tend People to themselves excuse countries by reasons from English-speaking usually related find to would to part claiming that the themselves rather than to others. others must be tired or busy, etc, using the expressions that impute the motive of tiredness to or the business other party when parting.

Case 9

Hierarchy is significant in the Japanese culture. This structure is reflected everywhere in Japanese life, at home, school, community, organizations, and traditional institutions such as martial arts or flower arrangements. In this case, the young chairman must have had his own ideas about how to manage the company; however, when encountered with his grandfather‘s dissenting opinions, he dared not to take a stand against him. This may manifest the rigid hierarchical structure in the Japanese society. In the Japanese society, how hierarchy is formed depends mainly on seniority, social roles, and gender. As a respectable senior member of the family and the former leader of the company, the grandfather obviously overpowered the inexperienced young chairman. In other words, the grandfather seemed to be an absolute authority for the young chairman. In Japanese culture, challenging or disagreeing with elders‘ opinions would be deemed as being disrespectful and is often condemned. People in lower positions are expected to be loyal and obedient to authority. That‘s why the young chairman didn‘t say anything but just nodded and agreed with his grandfather. But Phil seemed to know little about the Japanese culture in this aspect. In many Western cultures, particularly American culture, seniority seldom matters very much in such situations, and young people are usually encouraged to challenge authority and voice their own opinions.

Unfortunately, his outspoken protest could easily offend the grandfather and he might be regarded as a rude and ill-bred person by other Japanese. Case 10

In Japan, a company is often very much like a big family, in which the manger(s) will take good care of the employees and the employees are expected to devote themselves to the development of the company and, if it is necessary, to sacrifice their own individual interests for the interests of the company, from which, in the long run, the employees will benefit greatly. But for the French, a company is just a loosely- knit social organization wherein individuals are supposed to take care of themselves and their families. Moreover, the way the French make decisions in the family might also be different from the typical Japanese one, which may not often involve females and the power to decide usually lies with the dominating male. As there are such cultural differences between the Japanese and the French, Mr. Legrand‘s decision made Mr. Tanaka feel dumbfounded. Case 11

Incidents such as these can point to possible cultural differences in so-called ―polite behavior, and at the same time highlight the tendency for people to react emotionally to unexpected behavior. People in most cultures would probably agree that an apology is needed when an

offence or violation of social norms has taken place. However, there may be differing opinions as to when we should apologize (what situations call for an apology) and how we should apologize. To many Westerners, Japanese apologize more frequently and an apology in Japanese does not necessarily mean that the person is acknowledging a fault. To many Japanese, Westerners may seem to be rude just because they do not apologize as often as the Japanese would do. In this case, for instance, the attitude of the Australian student‘s parents is shocking to the Japanese but will be acceptable in an English-speaking society, for the student is already an adult and can be responsible for her own deeds. Case 12

In this case, it seems that the Chinese expectations were not fulfilled. First, having two people sharing host responsibilities could be somewhat confusing to the hierarchically minded Chinese. Second, because age is often viewed as an indication of seniority, the Chinese might have considered the youth of their Canadian hosts as slight to their own status. Third, in China, it is traditional for the host to offer a welcome toast at the beginning of the meal, which is the reciprocated by the guests; by not doing so, the Canadian might be thought rude. The abrupt departure of the Chinese following the banquet was probably an indication that they were not pleased with the way they were treated. The Canadians‘ lack of understanding of the Chinese culture and the Chinese

ways of communication clearly cost them in their business dealings with the visiting delegation. Case 13

This example vividly illustrates that failures in intercultural translation may probably lead to very serious consequence, or even disasters to human beings. Definitely, translation is not such a simple process as rendering a word, a sentence or a text literally, but rather a far more complex one than most people assumed. For example, once a Chinese cosmetic manufacturer wanted to promote their products into the international market. The slogan of the advertisement was sweet as Jade, since in Chinese jade was always employed to compliment woman’s beauty; but unfortunately, it was not an appropriate word to describe the beauty of a lady in Western cultures. In English, ―jade in its use of referring a woman had the connotations such as vulgar, rude, immoral, or skittish. Undoubtedly, the sales in European countries were not satisfying. The seeming equivalents between languages may have very different connotations in different cultures, thus the translator should be cautious in the process of doing the translation so as to avoid misunderstandings. Case 14

―杨refers to Yang Kaihui w h o w a s Mao Zedong‘s deceased wife and ―柳refers to Liu zhixun who was Li shuyi’s deceased husband. They

can be translated in different ways, but it seems to be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve equivalence in translating from Chinese into English. Adopting the literal translation strategy, version 1 appears to be faithful to the original but may easily confuse the readers in the target language. Version 2 employs the liberal translation strategy with an attempt to convey the original meaning as precisely as possible. However, the original poetic flavor is lost as the rhetoric device pun is not reproduced. Case 15

The translation seems to be faithful to the original, but it may not be really good for the purpose of intercultural communication. Foreign readers of the translation may find it strange and inappropriate. The following is what a friendly American journalist has commented on the translation: My first reaction was unfortunately laughter because it is so full of mistakes. It omits some necessary information about the Dragon-Boat Festival, including its historical origins and when it actually takes place. These things are important? The copy seems to try to snow the reader with fanciful, overblown assertions about how terrific it all is, but in unintentionally hilarious language that leaves the reader laughing out uninformed? The brochure also suffers from lack of background material, the taking-if-for-granted that the reader already is familiar with many aspects of Chinese history and culture? It doesn‘t tell

you where to go, how to get there, when things are open and closed, how much they cost, and so forth. All these are things people visiting an area want to know. Why is it that many Chinese travel guides read basically the same, no matter what region is being written about, and are so packed with indiscriminate hyperbole? Less exaggeration would actually be more convincing. Case 17

When these two men separate, they may leave each other with very different impressions. Mr Richardson is very pleased to have made the acquaintance of Mr Chu and feels they have gotten off to a very good start. They have established their relationship on a first-name basis and Mr Chu‘s smile seemed to indicate that he will be friendly and easy to do business with. Mr Richardson is particularly pleased that he had treated Mr Chu with respect for his Chinese background by calling him Hon-fai rather than using the western name, David, which seemed to him an unnecessary imposition of western culture.In contrast, Mr Chu feels quite uncomfortable with Mr Richardson. He feels it will be difficult to work with him, and that Mr Richardson might be rather insensitive to cultural differences. He is particularly bothered that, instead of calling him David or Mr Chu, Mr Richardson used his given name, Hon-fai, the name rarely used by anyone, in fact. It was this embarrassment which caused him to smile. He would feel more comfortable if they called each

other Mr Chu and Mr Richardson. Nevertheless, when he was away at school in North America he learned that Americans feel uncomfortable calling people Mr for any extended period of time. His solution was to adopt a western name. He chose David for use in such situations. Case 18

Even if the American knew Urdu, the language spoken in Pakistan, he would also have to understand the culture of communication in that country to respond appropriately. In this case, he had to say ―No‖ at least three times. In some countries, for instance, the Ukraine, it may happen that a guest is pressed as many as seven or eight times to take more food, whereas in the UK it would be unusual to do so more than twice. For a Ukrainian, to do it the British way would suggest the person is not actually generous. Indeed, British recipients of such hospitality sometimes feel that their host is behaving impolitely by forcing them into a bind, since they run out of polite refusal strategies long before the Ukrainian host has exhausted his/her repertoire of polite insistence strategies. Case 19

Talking about what‘s wrong is not easy for people in any culture, but people in high-context countries like China put high priority on keeping harmony, preventing anyone from losing face, and nurturing the relationship. It seems that Ron Kelly had to learn a different way of

sending message when he was in China. At home in Canada he would have gone directly to the point. But in China, going directly to the problem with someone may suggest that he or she has failed to live up to his or her responsibility and the honor of his or her organization is in question. In high-context cultures like China, such a message is serious and damaging. In low-context cultures, however, the tendency is just to ―spit it out,‖ to get it into words and worry about the result later. Senders of unwelcome messages use objective facts, assuming, as with persuasion, that facts are neutral, instrumental, and impersonal. Indirectness is often the way members of high-context cultures choose to communicate about a problem. Case 20

It seems that the letters of request written in English as well as in Chinese by Chinese people are likely to preface the request with extended face-work. To Chinese people, the normal and polite way to form a request requires providing reasons that are usually placed before the requests. Of course, this is just the inverse of English conventions in which requests are fronted without much face-work. In the view of the English-speaking people, the opening lines of Chinese requests and some other speech acts do not usually provide a thesis or topic statement which will orient the listener to the overall direction of the communication. Worst of all, the lack of precision and the failure to

address the point directly may lead to suspicions that the Chinese speakers are beating around the bush. To them, the presence of a clear and concise statement of what is to be talked about will make the speech more precise, more dramatic, and more eloquent. However, the Chinese learning and using English in communication may find it difficult to come to terms with the common English tendency to begin with a topic statement. In the Chinese culture, stating one‘s request or main point at the beginning would make the person seem immodest, pushy, and inconsiderate for wanting things. If your speech gives others the impression that you are demanding something, you would lose face for acting aggressively and not considering the others.

Thus you‘d be hurting people by claiming something for yourself. In such a situation, it is usually considered a smart strategy if you carefully delineate the justifications that will naturally lead to your request or argument. Therefore, instead of stating their proposition somewhere in the beginning and then proceeding to build their case, Chinese people often first establish a shared context with which to judge their requests or arguments. Only after carefully prefacing them with an avalanche of relevant details, as if to nullify any opposition, will they present the requests or arguments. Speech China English-speaking countries behavior Greeting When greeting each People other, the Chinese countries often begin with “Hello.” “Have from English-speaking usually say ”Good you morning/afternoon/evening.” ”Nice eaten?” ”Where are to meet you./Glad to see you. “or you going?” “What “How do you do?.” are you doing?””Long time no see. “and so on. Apologizing Chinese people People from English-speaking seem to apologize countries often apologize in Less often than their daily life even for the most trivial things. English-speaking people. The Chinese apologize only when they think it is about something really matters. Making requests that Chinese people tend People from English-speaking to make requests in countries tend to make requests indirect ways, directly and openly.

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