【初级水平】：基础对话 Conversation

场景：小红在一家公司实习，没想到一起实习的还有一些欧美学生，领导觉得小红英语还不错，请她多关照下几位新的留学生实习生，小红好像从这句话里学会了点什么，中国人对话的语境太重要了，关键就是一个字：悟。

Lisa：Xiaohong, why do you call Mr. Zhang teacher？Is he your teacher?

丽莎：小红，为什么你要叫张先生老师呢？他是你老师吗？

Xiaohong: Actually, he's not my teacher. But since I'm a green hand here, everyone is my teacher. 

小红：事实上，他不是我老师。但是，我刚来，每个人都是我老师。

Lisa: I see. Xiaohong, you are my teacher. Chinese is too deep. And why did Mrs. Peng call me dear Lisa? I felt weird. 

丽莎：明白了。小红，你是我老师。中文太深了。那为什么彭女士要叫我亲爱的丽莎呢？我感到好奇怪。

Xiaohong：It's a bit funny to call everyone Dear! Dear Lisa sounds like writing a letter to you, right? But it means Mrs. Peng wants to set up a good relationship with you.

小红：叫别人“亲或者亲爱的”其实有点奇怪。比如，亲爱的丽莎听起来就像给你写信，对吧？但是“亲”或“亲爱的”是彭女士想和你建立良好的（工作）关系。

Lisa: Oh, I see. It's funny to ask you the question because my friend John got a text message from Mrs. Peng, which said "Dear John, could you please meet me at 5 p.m. in my office for the project？" It sounds like weird. “Dear John” is like a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that the relationship is over.

丽莎：哦，我明白了。问这样的问题显得有点搞笑，因为我朋友约翰收到彭女士的一条短信，短信是这样说的：“亲爱的约翰，下午5点来我办公室讨论项目。”，这听起来好奇怪，“亲爱的约翰”听起来好像是一封某人的妻子或暧昧对象写的一封分手信（的开头）。

Xiaohong：Yes.  “Dear John” has different interpretation in both cultures.

小红：对啊，亲爱的约翰在中英文化中有不同的解释。

【中高级水平】：Mini-talk

场景：小红自从实习以来总结了很多职场的文化差异，自己还在不断地学习。以致于对工作本身并不感兴趣，反而对跨语言交流产生了浓厚的兴趣，于是决定考上外的研究生，在日记中她这样写道：

Well, I have been so interested in cross cultural communication. On the one hand, I can improve my understanding about languages; on the other, I can interpret the differences between cultures in working conditions. 

我一直对跨文化交流很感兴趣。一方面，我可以提高我的语言理解能力;另一方面，我可以在工作环境中理解不同文化之间的差异。

Sometimes，Chinese is vague but English is logical. How can I bridge the gap between the two languages？Maybe I can have two thinking tracks. If I communicate with Chinese, I use Chinese thinking.For example, when I submit a proposal to my boss, if she says, “行”，which means I have lots of to improve until she's satisfied. But if I work with native speakers of English, I have to learn how to write formal and informal e-mails.

有时，中文是模糊的，但英语却是合乎逻辑的。我怎样才能缩小两种语言之间的差距呢?也许我可以从两个路径思考。如果我与中国人交流，我就用中文思考。例如，当我提交一个提案给我的老板，如果她说“行”，这就意味着我有很多改进直到她的满意。但是如果我和以英语为母语的人一起工作，我必须学会如何写正式和非正式的电子邮件。