美国人交谈习惯

美国人交谈习惯 中国人说英语没礼貌吗, 中国人的英语以Chinglish闻名于世;中国人最大的英语发音问题就是没有连读，但这都不是最主要的语言问题。老外们时常议论，很多中国人在说英语时，听起来没有礼貌;并不是这些中国人本身没礼貌，而是他们还没有习惯英语的礼貌达方式。 比如，中国人在餐厅或咖啡厅，会说:“我想要一个汉堡包”或者“我想要一杯咖啡”。但是，如果直接把这些话翻译成英语"I want to have a hamburger." 或 "I want to have a coffee." 老外们会觉得这样说话很没有礼貌，当然他们也不会直接告诉你。而在西方国家，老外们一般会说:"Could I have a hamburger, please?" 或 "Can I have a coffee, please?" 再比如，中国人在拒绝别人邀请的午宴或晚宴时，会说:“抱歉，我不能去，我还有别的安排。”翻译成英文就是"Sorry，I can't. I have another appointment." 如果这样说，那别人第二次也许不会再邀请你了。老外们一般会这样说:"That is a good idea! I would like to join in but I have another appointment today." 我们可以从中总结一些“有礼貌”的技巧: 1、西方人(主要指有一定修养的欧美人)在与他人交流时，比较多地使用情态动词:can、could、may、might、would等 1 等;情态动词(Modal Verbs)又称为情态助动词(Model Auxil-iaries)，表示说话人的语气，可表达建议、要求、可能和意愿等，使得说话的语气比较有礼貌; 2、比较多地使用虚拟语气，比如would (had) rather、would (had) sooner、would (just) as soon等等，或者在陈述句中使用过去式表示虚拟语气，或者使用if等引导的从句表示“可能性”。这样说话可以使人感觉表达者是在考虑达到最佳的结果或方式，尽量避免不好的结果或方式，或者推测可能出现的问题，并找出可能解决的办法; 3、往往在句尾加please，而不是在句首加please。当please用在句首的时候，语气听起来就比较强，听起来像命令。比如请求别人做某事的时候，我们中国人会说“请在周一前给我回复。谢谢。”但是如果你直接用英语说"Please reply to me by Monday. Thank you."听者会觉得你是在命令他，一点礼貌也没有。而如果这样说:"Could you please reply to me by Monday? Thank you." 就显得有礼貌了; 4、在陈述句的表达可能显得生硬、没礼貌时，尽量使用疑问句、否定句或从句，尽量避免自己的主观判断或武断，以积极的、建议的、比较的、人性的语气，代替消极的、命令的、直接的、武断的语气; 5、说话要以他人为中心，以肯定他人、赞同他人为前提，让自己显得谦卑、渺小。说完之后，还要附带一句"Thank you" 2 或 "Thanks"。其实，这种礼貌的表达方式是来自古老的中国。这是东西方文化的共同点，也是为人处世的基本原则。了解英语中礼貌的表达方式，尽量让自己的英语表达更有礼貌，融入社会. “我罩着你”的英文表达 罩着某人 Take Someone Under Your Wing 3 Take Someone For a Ride 在中文里，我们常常听到“罩”这个词，大哥“罩着”小弟，男 生“罩着”女生... 那你知道它的英文表达么,来看看Larry在 咖啡馆里碰见了李华的情景对话。 Larry: Hey, there you are, Lihua. LH: (Sounding tired) Oh, hi Larry. Larry: I haven't seen you since last weekend. What have you been up to? Don't tell me you're having midterms期中考试 already. LH: 我连看的时间都没有～尽忙着照顾我表妹了。她从中国来美国上高中，初来乍到，什么都不会，所以我这两天一直在帮她安顿。 Larry: I'm sure it's a very tough transition for both of you. But, it's so nice of you to take her under your wing. LH: "Take her under my wing"? 这是什么意思, Larry: To take someone under your wing means to give them a great deal of personal guidance and protection while they are learning something of which you have experience. LH: 我明白了，to take someone under your wing就是指导、 保护和照料某人。我现在就是这样像母鸡带小鸡一样照顾着 4 我表妹呢～ Larry: It takes time to learn how to cope with living in a totally new environment - it's only natural to need a little bit of help at first. As a matter of fact, I can remember a time not so long ago when I took a certain confused girl from China under my own wing... LH: 你说你也曾这样帮助过一个女孩,你不是在说我吧,Larry, 虽然你给了我很多帮助，但这和我给我表妹的帮助是不同的。我要是不在她身边，她连出门买吃的都不敢～ Larry: But Lihua, you couldn't buy groceries(groceries n.食品;杂货) on your own either when you first moved here. One time at the grocery(grocery [ɡr?us?ri] n.杂货业、杂货店) store, your bill came to $7.50 and you pulled out a dollar bill, asking me if it was enough! LH: Haha，这个我记得。刚到美国时，每次需要跟美国人打交道我都会非常紧张，就算不说英语，还是觉得很恐怖。 Larry: Luckily, I was there to take you under my wing while you got used to living in the United States - just like how you're taking your cousin under your wing now! LH: 哈，看来我们都是好心人～最近我在帮我表妹找房子。她以前的房东欺负她是新来的，把房租提高了两倍～我表妹已经傻呼呼地交了一个月的钱～ 5 Larry: Yeah, you have to be really careful. It sounds like that landlord (landlord [lændlо:d]n.房东; 地主)was taking your cousin for a ride. LH: Taking her for a ride? 开车带她出去,那个房东可没这 么好心～ Larry: Um, I mean "taking her for a ride" as in, taking advantage of her situation - playing a trick on her for his own benefit. LH: 哦～原来to take someone for a ride还有欺负人，宰人的 意思～ Larry: Yea, that's right. For example, when I went to New York City, my cab driver noticed that I had never been to New York before, and so he took a longer route to my hotel in order to run up my bill. This is a classic case of "taking someone for a ride." LH: 啊,司机看你是第一次来纽约，就带着你绕远路，多收 你的车费。这可真差劲，欺负人～ Larry: Unfortunately, some people will take advantage of other people like that. LH: Larry, 咱们是愿意take others under our wings, 不遗余力 地帮助别人，可这个房东和那个出租司机却会take people for a ride，占别人便宜。所以这两个说法的意思正好相反嘛 Larry: Yea, you could think of it like that. So, it's a great thing that you are taking your cousin under your wing! Otherwise, it 6 would be easy for people to take her for a ride. LH: 好吧，为了防止她受欺负，我就继续努力吧。 Larry: I'm sure your cousin is a smart girl. Before you know it, she'll be just as capable to live on her own in the United States as you are - and you won't have to worry about people trying to take her for a ride. LH: (叹气)不过，在她完全自立前，我可有的忙了，估计不能常和你见面了～ Larry: That's OK. Taking someone under your wing is a quite a full-time job! 7 “身体棒”怎么表达, 俗话说“身体是革命的本钱”，只有身体健康了，我们才有心情和精力去做别的事情。汉语中有很多说法可以表达“健 8 康”的意思，那英语中是不是这样呢, 1. I felt awful yesterday, but today I feel as right as rain. 昨天我很不舒服，但是现在我完全好了。 2. She was off work for a while, but now she's back on her feet. 她请了几天假，现在她已经恢复了。 3. If you want to climb three mountains in 24 hours, you have to be as fit as a fiddle. 如果你想在24小时内爬三座山，那你身体得‎‎特别好。 4. The old man is bursting with health. 那个老人极其健康。 5. She was in fine fettle when she came back from her trip to the States. 她从美国旅游回来后看着特别精神。 6. It's been a long drive but give me a cup of tea and I'll soon feel fresh as a daisy. 我开了很长时间的车，但是只要喝杯茶，我就立刻又精神抖擞了。 7. Bill is in the best of health. He eats well and exercises. 比尔身体非常好，他吃得健康，还经常运动。 8. The doctor says I am the picture of good health. 医生说我的身体状况非常好。 9. She was lively and active and in the pink of condition. 9 她活泼好动，身体非常健康。 “紧张兮兮”怎么说,nerve[n?:v] A bundle [b^ndl] n.捆, 包, 束of nerves / nervous Nellie [neli]【医】女性化的,柔弱娇气的 上次我们讲了几个跟nerve有关的习惯用语:Get up the nerve，have got a lot of nerve和of all the nerve。我们今天再学习两个nerve短语。第一个是: a bundle of nerves。 Bundle意思是“一束”或者“一捆”。A bundle of nerves如果直 译就是一束神经，这当然不是这个习惯用语的意思。这个习惯用语是用来说某一种人的。让我们看个来琢磨那是什么样的人。 例句1:I've been a bundle of nervessince the company told us it's losing money and will have to lay off 20 percent of our staff. I don't know if I can hang on to my job or not. 自从公司告诉我们公司因亏损不得不裁员百分之二十之后，我就惶惶不可终日。我不知道自己还能不能保住工作。 例句2:I'm worried about Sally - she's a real bundle of nervesthese days. I don't know why: maybe it's because she 10 drinks a dozen cups of coffee a day. That would make me nervous too. 我很担心莎莉，她近来总是很神经质。我不懂她怎么会这样，可能是因为她每天喝十几杯咖啡吧。我要是喝太多咖啡也会变得神经兮兮的。 刚才的例子里有nervous个词。它是从名词这‎‎nerve派生而来的形容词，意思当然是“神经的”，或者“神经质的”。我们接下来要学个由nervous组成的习惯用语:nervous Nellie。 Nellie是女人的名字，但是nervous Nellie却既可以用来指女人也可以说男人。这个习惯用语从本世纪二十年代开始流传，现在已经不清楚Nellie这个名字的出典。用这个名字也可能只是因为Nellie和nervous都以字母n起头，读起来很顺口。 美国政界人物有时会用nervous Nellie这个说法来贬低政敌。 例句3:Yes, I know the nervous Nelliesin the other party are saying in the papers and on TV that our bill will cost taxpayers more money than it will save, but they're scared of any new ideas! 我知道反对党的那帮胆小鬼在报纸和电视上宣称我们的提案会使纳税人花费更多，但是这些人害怕任何新设想。 可见他在这儿把那些反对党人物称为nervous Nellies，其实 11 在说他们是一些草木皆兵的胆小鬼。 例句4:I don't like to sound like a nervous Nellie, but I've got to tell you I'm a little scared about whether our company can stay in business the way things are going right now. 我可不愿意表现得杞人忧天，但是我得告诉你照目前的发展情况看来，我有点担心我们的公司能否站得住脚。 “没精神”怎么表达, 有时候我们虽然没生病，但是总感觉恹恹的，提不起精神，对什么都没兴趣。 这有可能是由于过度疲劳引起的，但也有可能是生病的前兆。现在我们一起来看看怎么用英语表达“没精神”吧～ 1.Are you ok Alex? You look a bit under the weather. 你还好吧，亚历克斯,你看起来不太舒服。 2.She's just a bit run down. I think she needs to take a holiday. 她只是有点累了，我想她需要休几天假。 3.He felt off-color but did not have any dramatic symptoms. 12 他觉得不太舒服，但是又没什么明显的症状。 4.The baby is out of sorts today. Perhaps he is cutting a tooth. 那个婴儿今天不太舒服，他可能正在长牙。 5.You should sit down. You look a bit green around the gills. 你应该坐会儿，你看起来脸色很不好。 6.My boss told me to go home. He says I looked like death warmed over. 老板叫我回家，他说我看起来像害了大病似的。 7.The long, hot summer had left me out of health, out of spirits. 漫长炎热的夏季使我身体不佳，没精打采。 8.He's a wee bit peely-wally this morning. 今天早上他看起来有点病恹恹的。 9.You look a little peaked. 你看起来有点憔悴。 看到小三气愤吗,以后用英语说吧 Jessica 在北京学汉语，她的中国朋友要是遇到了不知道用美 13 语怎么说的词，就会来请教她。今天是吴琼要问的:“小三”在英文里怎么说, Jessica: Wuqiong, 给我介绍一部好看的中文电视剧吧～ WQ: 嗯……最近很流行小三剧，Do you like to watch "little three" shows，Jessica? Jessica: Little three? What's that? WQ: 小三啊～你不知道吗? 就是外遇、情妇、第三者的意思。小三美语怎么说,不是 little three 吗, Jessica: Haha! 小三 is called a mistress, or "the other woman. WQ: 哦，我知道了，妻子以外的那个女人， the other woman就是小三。这些小三真可恶～人家夫妻好好的，她非要来插一脚。 Jessica: Calm down, I'm sure your boyfriend doesn't have one. WQ: 那当然。但我要是有朋友当别人的小三，我一定骂她，叫她不要去破坏别人家庭～这句话美语要怎么说? Jessica: 你可以告诉她， Don't be a home-wrecker. WQ: Wreck是动词，有破坏的意思，所以 home-wrecker就是破坏家庭的人。一提起小三我就…… Jessica: Wuqiong, you should really stop watching those TV shows, they're not good for you! WQ: 可是剧情很吸引人啊～我喜欢看她们勾心斗角。怎么说, 14 Jessica: In English, we use the verb scheme. To scheme means to make secret and devious plots. WQ: 我明白了，耍心眼，勾心斗角就是 to scheme. 哎呀，不早了，我得赶快回去看电视了～ Jessica: Hold on, before you leave, tell me what you've learned today! WQ: 第一，小三叫 mistress 或者 the other woman; 第二，破坏别人家庭的人是 home wrecker; 第三，耍心计是 to scheme! 宾馆英语:客房服务 Housekeeping 客房服务 Key Sentences(重点句子) 99(Housekeeping(May I come in, 我是客房的，可以进来吗, 100(When would you like me to do your room，sir, 您要我什么时间来给你打扫房间呢，先生, 15 101(You can do it now if you like( 如果您愿意，现在就可以打扫。 102(I would like you to go and get me a flask of hot water( 我想请你给我拿一瓶开水来。 103(I'm sorry that your flask is empty( 很抱歉您的水壶空了。 104(May I do the turn-down service for you now, 现在可以为您收拾房间了吗, 105(Oh，thank you(But you see，we are having some friends over( 噢，谢谢，但你知道我们邀请了一些朋友过来聚聚。 106(Could you come back in three hours, 你能不能过3小时再来整理, 107(Certainly，madam(I'll let the overnight staff know( 当然可以，女士。我会转告夜班服务员。 16 108(Would you tidy up a bit in the bathroom, 请整理一下浴室好吗, 109(I've just taken a bath and it is quite a mess now( 我刚洗了澡，那儿乱糟糟的。 110(Besides，please bring us a bottle of just boiled water( 此外，请给我们带瓶刚烧开的水来。 111(It's growing dark(Would you like me to draw the curtains for you, 天黑下来了，要不要我拉上窗帘, 112(Is there anything I can do for you, 您还有什么事要我做吗, 113(I'm always at your service( 乐意效劳。 Dialogue A 17 A:Housekeeping(May I come in, B:Yes，please( A:When would you like me to do your room，sir, B:You can do it now if you like(I was just about to go down for my breakfast when you came(But before you start，would you do this for me, A:Yes，what is it, B:I would like you to go and get me a flask of hot water(I need some hot water to wash down medicine after break,fast( A:I'm sorry that your flask is empty(I'll go and get you an- other flask that's full at once( B:Thank you( 18 Dialogue B (The Turn-down Service) A:Good evening，madam and sir(May I do the turn down service for you now, B:Oh，thank you(But you see，we are having some friends over(We're going to have a small party here in the room(Could you come back in three hours, A:Certainly，madam(I'll let the overnight staff know(They will come then( B:That's fine(Well，our friends seem to be a little late(Would you tidy up a bit in the bathroom,I've just taken a bath and it is quite a mess now(Besides，please bring us a bottle of just boiled water(We'd treat our guests to typical Chinese tea( A:Yes，madam(I'll bring in some fresh towels together with the drinking water( 19 B:OK( A:(Having done all on request) It's growing dark(Would you like me to draw the curtains for you，sir and madam, C:Why not,That would be so cozy( A: May I turn on the lights for you, C:Yes，please(I'd like to do some reading while waiting( A:Yes，sir(Is there anything I can do for you, C:No more(You're a smart girl indeed(Thank you very much( A:I'm always at your service(Goodbye，sir and madam，and do have a very pleasant evening( Words and Expressions flask n(长颈瓶，热水瓶 20 overnight a(终夜的，一夜间的 cozy a(舒适的，温暖的 service n(服务，帮助 用英语发牢骚 1. Yech...it is a beautiful day out. And here I am stuck inside the 21 office with all this paper work。 哎，外面天气那么好，我却得守在办公室内处理这些文件。 2. How am I to know what I'm supposed to do if there's no organization around here? 如果这里那么没有条理，我怎么晓得该做些什么好呢, 3. The company is so cheap we have to sharpen our pencils until they're down to little stubs like this。 公司这么吝啬，害得我们得把铅笔用到这么短。 4. Now where did my eraser go this time? Don't take things off other people's desks without asking them,O.K.? 这回我的橡皮又到哪里去了,不要不说一声就拿别人桌子上的东西，好吗, 5. I want you to stop hogging my desk space, all right? 你不要再占用我的桌子，好吗, 6. Turn the other way when you smoke, so I won't have to breathe it, all right? 你抽烟时转向那一边，免得我吸到，行不行, 7. Don't talk to me while I'm in the middle of calculatin。 我在计算时，别跟我说话。 8. Ah, heck! Another mistake.The staff here can't even use their calculators right! 真见鬼～又错了。这里的职员连计算器都不能正确使用。 22 9. Oh,why did he have to give me this rush job now that it's almost time for my lunch break! 哎，快到午餐休息时间了，他为什么非给我这个急件不可～ 10. I know I made a mistake. I just wish he wouldn't keep hammering away at it。 我知道我犯错误了。我真希望他不要一直骂个不停。 11. Doing this mindless work all day is going to drive me crazy。 整天做这种不用动脑筋的工作，会使我发疯的。 12. Why do I have to do all these extra needless little jobs anyway? 不管怎样，为什么我得做所有这些多余的、不必要的琐碎工作, 13. How come everyone in our company is middle-aged stuffy? 为什么我们公司都是一些古板的中年人, 14. Everytime he gets drunk,he goes into lousy preaching routine。 每次喝醉，他就开始他那令人讨厌的说教。 15. I don't understand what's going on inside these young people's heads。 我不了解这些年轻人的脑子里想的是什么。 16. Say, don't you think Miss Black is using the phone too much 23 for personal calls? 喂，你不觉得布莱克小姐的私人电话打得太多吗, 24