當(dāng)前位置: Language Tips> 雙語新聞

點餐抓瞎?中國人學(xué)英語爆笑囧事

Language mastery in mouth of beholder

中國日報網(wǎng) 2016-04-15 09:10

 

Westerners are often daunted by the thought of learning Chinese, mainly because of the perceived complexity of Chinese characters. In fact, if they knew that they’d be able to get by if they had to learn only pinyin, they might not be as tentative.
一想到學(xué)中文,很多老外就打退堂鼓,主要是覺得漢字太復(fù)雜。而如果他們知道只要學(xué)會拼音就過得去,他們也許會想試一把。

But how do Chinese feel about using English?
但中國人學(xué)英語的感覺又如何呢?

點餐抓瞎?中國人學(xué)英語爆笑囧事

Hezi Jiang, a native of Beijing’s Chaoyang district and a China Daily USA reporter in New York, said: “There is a popular joke in China: A Chinese man flies to America. On the plane, the flight attendant approaches him and asks, ‘Coffee or tea, sir?’
《中國日報》美國版駐紐約記者、北京朝陽區(qū)居民姜禾子(音)說:“在中國有個廣為流傳的笑話:一個中國人坐飛機去美國,在飛機上空乘問他,‘需要咖啡還是茶,先生?’

“The man thought, I’ve had coffee and tea. 'I’ll have an 'or'. Thank you’, he said."
“這人想了想,自己已經(jīng)有茶也有咖啡了,‘我要還是,謝謝?!?/p>

“To me, a lot of the embarrassing things happen with ordering food,” Hezi said. “For more than a year, I never ordered salmon no matter how much I wanted to have a grilled salmon, because the word is hard to pronounce. I used to pronounce the ‘l’ in salmon, and the waiter or waitress would correct me by asking, “sam-mon”?
姜禾子說:“對我來說,點餐時經(jīng)常遇到尷尬。我已經(jīng)有一年多沒點過三文魚吃了,盡管我非常想吃烤三文魚。因為很難發(fā)對音。我以前總把單詞中的l字母音發(fā)出來,服務(wù)生就會糾正我,問道,‘三文魚’?”

“I found that really embarrassing, so I stopped ordering it. I had mahi mahi instead. I love the name, so easy. Also, I didn’t like it when restaurants offered special menus. The waiter would say a list of things that I had no idea of, and I would look into his or her eyes, nodding.
“我覺得很尷尬,所以我不再點三文魚吃了。我點鲯鰍魚,我喜歡這個名字,很好發(fā)音。我也不喜歡餐廳提供專門的菜單,服務(wù)生說的一長串我都不懂,我只能看著他或她的眼睛,點點頭。”

“But it feels great when I can understand an item or two he or she said. Most times, I would order that thing just to prove that I could understand.
“但如果服務(wù)生說的其中一兩樣我能聽懂,我就感覺很棒。大多數(shù)時候,我就點我能聽懂的來吃,就為了證明我能聽懂?!?/p>

“I also found that we say ‘yes’ a lot when we don’t understand. I remember once at a brunch, a waiter asked my friend “white or wheat”?
“我還發(fā)現(xiàn),當(dāng)我們聽不懂時,說‘是’的時候太多了。我記得有次在早午餐會,有位服務(wù)生問我朋友,‘白面包還是全麥面包’?”

“He said ‘yes’.
“他說‘是’?!?/p>

“We laughed, and he blushed. Ordering food is hard.”
“我們都笑了,他臉刷一下就紅了,點餐最難。”

“I remember when I was preparing for the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) three years ago,” recalled Long Yifan, an intern at China Daily USA in New York, from Shaoyang, Hunan province. “I tended to use the newly grasped academic words for oral English practice.
“記得三年前我備考雅思時,我總想在英語口語練習(xí)中使用最新掌握的學(xué)究詞,”《中國日報》美國版駐紐約實習(xí)生龍一帆(音)說。

“I had some friends from Scotland, and one day when we ate out, I was in a hurry to find a restroom. I wanted to express my situation in an academic and formal way, so I said I wanted to ‘discharge’ myself. They were all surprised and amused.
“我有幾位來自蘇格蘭的朋友。一天我們約出去吃飯,我著急找?guī)?。我想以正式的口吻用學(xué)究詞表達我的處境,所以我說我想去‘排放’我自己。他們很驚訝,也覺得很搞笑。”

“I felt something was wrong and wanted to make a clarification, so I said I wanted to urinate. They all burst into laughter.”
“我知道說錯了,想澄清一下,所以我說我想去小便。他們笑成一片?!?/p>

“Just like how learning Chinese is hard for English speakers, the reverse is also true, for many of the same reasons,” writes Andy Luan on Quora, a question-and-answer website. “Pronunciation is probably the hardest part of learning English at first.
“就像說英語的人學(xué)中文很難一樣,中國人學(xué)英語也會因為各種同樣的原因遇到很多困難,” Andy Luan在問答網(wǎng)站Quora上寫道,“最初學(xué)英語時,最難的可能是發(fā)音?!?/p>

點餐抓瞎?中國人學(xué)英語爆笑囧事

“Grammar is next. English grammar is ridiculous. There are a few so-called ‘rules’, but just about everything seems to be an exception to these rules.”
“其次是語法。英語語法很搞笑,有一些所謂的‘規(guī)則’,但幾乎都可以有例外。”

One of my observations is that Chinese speakers tend to have trouble with third-person pronouns (he and she aren’t interchangeable in English) and collective plurals.
我注意到,講中文的人經(jīng)常把英文中的第三人稱代詞和集體名詞單復(fù)數(shù)搞錯(英文中的他和她不能互換)。

Many English words are the same in the singular as in the plural, so sometimes you will hear someone talk about the “researches” they did for a story, which is nonetheless endearing.
很多英文單詞的單復(fù)數(shù)形式?jīng)]差別,因此有時你會聽到有人說為一篇文章做了“很多調(diào)查研究”,但這么說也很討喜。

Vocabulary

brunch: 早午餐

white or wheat: white bread or wheat bread,白面包/全麥面包

英文來源:中國日報William Hennelly

翻譯&編輯:yaning

 
中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津版權(quán)說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創(chuàng)作品,除與中國日報網(wǎng)簽署英語點津內(nèi)容授權(quán)協(xié)議的網(wǎng)站外,其他任何網(wǎng)站或單位未經(jīng)允許不得非法盜鏈、轉(zhuǎn)載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883561聯(lián)系;凡本網(wǎng)注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉(zhuǎn)載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉(zhuǎn)載,請與稿件來源方聯(lián)系,如產(chǎn)生任何問題與本網(wǎng)無關(guān);本網(wǎng)所發(fā)布的歌曲、電影片段,版權(quán)歸原作者所有,僅供學(xué)習(xí)與研究,如果侵權(quán),請?zhí)峁┌鏅?quán)證明,以便盡快刪除。

中國日報網(wǎng)雙語新聞

掃描左側(cè)二維碼

添加Chinadaily_Mobile
你想看的我們這兒都有!

中國日報雙語手機報

點擊左側(cè)圖標查看訂閱方式

中國首份雙語手機報
學(xué)英語看資訊一個都不能少!

關(guān)注和訂閱

本文相關(guān)閱讀
人氣排行
熱搜詞
 
 
精華欄目
 

閱讀

詞匯

視聽

翻譯

口語

合作

 

關(guān)于我們 | 聯(lián)系方式 | 招聘信息

Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版權(quán)聲明:本網(wǎng)站所刊登的中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津內(nèi)容,版權(quán)屬中國日報網(wǎng)所有,未經(jīng)協(xié)議授權(quán),禁止下載使用。 歡迎愿意與本網(wǎng)站合作的單位或個人與我們聯(lián)系。

電話:8610-84883645

傳真:8610-84883500

Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn

精品无码久久久久久尤物,99视频这有这里有精品,国产UU精品无码视频,女同精品一区二区网站