【正文】 These are all symptoms of initial culture shock．這些都是文化沖擊的最初癥狀。When people greeted him with，“Hi，how’s it going ?” he thought they had asked him “where are you going ?” and answered with the name of the conference hall，only to get a confused stare from them． 有人用“嗨，一切都好嗎?”和他打招呼， 他以為是問他“你要去哪兒?”，答之以會議廳的名字，結(jié)果招來了疑惑的目光。The visitor finds that “yes”may not always mean“yes,旅游者發(fā)現(xiàn)“是”并非總代表“贊同”，that friendliness does not necessarily mean friendship，友好不一定代表友誼，or that statements that appear to be serious are really intended as jokes．聽起來嚴(yán)肅的話語也許只是玩笑。Through my association（交往） with Americans during the past six years, I had gradually （逐漸地）adopted（采用） some of their ways. 在過去的六年和美國人的交往中，我逐漸學(xué)會了他們的一些做法。家人和我疏遠(yuǎn)。I felt happy that day and for a couple of days after，but then I began to feel that something was wrong．那天和之后的幾天我都非常高興, 但是不久我就開始感覺到事情有些不對勁兒。Linguists and psychologists are trying to understand how people learn and use a language．語言學(xué)家和心理學(xué)家正致力于弄清楚人是如何學(xué)會并使用語言的。They seem to enjoy using the language，and they do not pay much attention to whether they use exactly the right rules for what they say．他們似乎很喜歡去用所學(xué)的語言，并不很在意是否使用了正確的語言規(guī)則。 In this case，the environment is their family and their home.這種情況下，語言環(huán)境是家庭和生活環(huán)境。Such products are ecofriendly(有利于生態(tài)環(huán)境的)and they are preferred by those who are eco conscious.這種商品是無害于生態(tài)環(huán)境的，有生態(tài)意識的人偏愛這種產(chǎn)品。IVAny living language is in a constant state of change．任何 一種活生生的語言都是處于不停的變化之中的。By the same token, “Have you eaten?” will sound to native English speakers that the Chinese are so hospitable that they invite people to meals offhandedly. 由于同樣的原因，英語母語者聽到“吃了嗎？”，會覺得中國人非常好客，在事先毫無準(zhǔn)備的情況下會請人吃飯。As a result，some native English speakers conclude that the Chinese are unable to tell the difference between the two sexes．結(jié)果有些英語母語的人得出結(jié)論，認(rèn)為中國人不區(qū)分兩種性別。Take the Chinese English learners for example．以學(xué)英語的中國人為例， Hello and Good morning may sound a little bit simple to Chinese people．你好和早上好是非常簡單的。It is totally beyond the understanding of a Chinese English learner that native English speakers would be annoyed when they39。But native English speakers are more gender blind than the Chinese when they mention their cousins．但是在涉及表親的時候，英語母語的人更是混淆性別。The foreigner will respond（回答） “Oh, it’s very nice of you. When?”, if he happens to have a craving（渴望） for Chinese cooking and has not had現(xiàn)在完成時 his dinner yet. 如果這位外國人此刻正希望品嘗一下中國美食，而且又碰巧沒有吃飯，他會回答：“太好啦，什么時候？”Chinese has nothing in mon with English and China had little contact（聯(lián)系） with the Western world in modern history. 漢字和英語這兩種文字毫無共同之處，并且中國和西方世界在近代史上很少接觸。That change is gradual（逐漸的） and continuous(連續(xù)的) ．該變化是逐漸并且連續(xù)不斷的。Text BLearning a Language 學(xué) 語 言Most students would like to know how to learn a 1anguage more easily. 大部分學(xué)生都想知道如何能夠輕松地學(xué)好一門語言，Most linguists and language teachers would also like to know this．大部分語言學(xué)家和語言教師也想弄清楚這個問題。As you see，the first group of linguists disagrees．可以看出，第一派語言學(xué)家對此并不贊同。Some students, however，cannot learn a language this way．Linguists are trying to find another way to teach them a language．另外一些學(xué)生則不適合這種方法，語言學(xué)家著手尋找一種適合他們的教學(xué)方法。Perhaps language 1earning will be easier when they have a clear understanding of how people learn and use a language． 也許在解決了這個問題之后，語言學(xué)習(xí)會變得容易一些。I noticed that my family，especially my mother, would sometimes glance at me in a strange way when I was speaking．我注意到，在我講話的時候，我的家人，尤其是我母親，會以一種奇怪的目光看我。They could no longer accept me fully as one of them．他們無法完全把我當(dāng)作自己人。I no longer belong to the old world and the new world has not yet accepted me. 我不再屬于舊世界，但還未被新世界接納。The foreigner may be unsure as to（至于）when to shake hands or hug，when to start conversations，or how to approach a stranger．外國人無法確定什么情況下該握手，什么情況下該擁抱，什么時候開始說話，如何結(jié)識陌生人。At a western style dinner， a colleague asked，“So how’re you enjoy in ’ the States?” he thought he heard，“So how are you enjoying your steak?” and answered that he was having chicken，not beef． 在一次西式的晚宴上，一位同事問他：“你在美國過得好嗎?” 他聽成了“你覺得牛排味道如何?”，回答他在吃雞肉，不是牛肉。With a new context e new ways of doing things．新的環(huán)境伴隨著新的行事方法。The sensations one feels in new surroundings often include：在新的環(huán)境下人們的感受經(jīng)常包括：Feeling like an outsider，feeling unsure of oneself or even feeling stupid；感到像個局外人，對自己沒有信心，甚至感到愚蠢；Sensing that one’s language skills aren’t good enough，missing jokes，colloquial phrases， references to TV shows or pop songs or other cultural“insider”information；感到自己的語言能力不足，領(lǐng)會不了笑話、口語化用語的含義，也搞不懂電視節(jié)目及流行歌曲或其他文化“內(nèi)涵”的信息；Feeling uneasy and unsettled，irritable and increasingly shorttempered；感到不適和不安，易激怒并且脾氣越來越暴躁；Feeling lonely and wanting to go“home”，feeling more and more like a stranger or outcast；感到孤獨(dú)并且想要回”家”，感覺愈來愈像個陌生人和被拋棄的人；Feeling overwhelmed，overloaded，daydreaming，staring blankly at things or even staring at nothing；感到不能自持．負(fù)擔(dān)過重，想人非非，失神發(fā)呆； Being more and more afraid of municating and of making mistakes，worried anxious．越來越害怕交流和犯錯誤，擔(dān)心、焦慮。He worried more and more that he was misunderstanding simple English greetings and table talk conventions．他焦躁不安，連簡單的英文問候語以及餐桌交談習(xí)俗也弄不懂了。他們會因此而感到焦慮不安。You speak on matters that are of concern（涉及） only to men. 你對那些只與男人有關(guān)的事情發(fā)表意見。During the next few days I tried to be a Chinese woman．接下來的幾天，我盡力作一名中國女性，But it didn’t work．My family remained distant from me．可是沒用。While my mother was busy preparing a special dinner in my honor，the rest of the family eagerly asked me questions about my life in the United States．我母親忙著備飯為我接風(fēng)，家里其余的人迫不及待地問我在美國的生活。Most teachers will try different ways to help students learn a language quickly and easily．大多數(shù)老師也通過不同的教法來幫助學(xué)生輕松快速的學(xué)會一門語言。For some students，this method is successful．對一些學(xué)生來說，這種方法是成功的，They learn to speak quickly and easily．他們能夠輕而易舉地、很快地學(xué)會所學(xué)的語言。These linguists feel that children learn their language mainly from the environment . 這一派語言學(xué)家認(rèn)為，兒童主要通過語言環(huán)境學(xué)會使用語言的。綠色標(biāo)志代表該產(chǎn)品的生產(chǎn)過程對環(huán)境是無害的。 cultural barriers（障礙物） in learning English. 中國人在英語學(xué)習(xí)中，只有克服文化障礙，才能很好地掌握英語。Social custom