Grandfather's bicycles
By Jackie Li
Picture by Zhu Lijun

Culture shock is something I have never had the chance to experience as well as being an abstract concept, which is talked over and over by Chinese who argue about a better version of the translation. Then one of my friends who worked in an international company told me a little story that happened at a conference.

One day, my friend attended a business conference as usual. At this time, their business partners were from The Netherlands and Germany respectively. During this conference, the two sides had a furious argument about a business issue, which made the atmosphere very strained. Suddenly, the Dutch man spoke in a loud and sonorous voice, "Please return my grandfather's bicycle firstly!" A blast of laughter burst out in the assembly room, which naturally eased up the intense situation. However, my friend and her Chinese colleagues felt totally puzzled. They did not know why they laughed.

After the conference, they were told how this sentence really got its origin: The Netherlands was a super power in bicycle manufacturing. During World War Ⅱ Germany invaded The Netherlands and destroyed most of the bicycles in their country. That is why the Dutch businessman said that. The unspoken words in his sentence were: You should pay back all the things you owed me from before, then we can begin to discuss and negotiate the following issues.

This is a reflection of culture shock in business circles. In fact, your own culture in many ways tells you who you are, the people you know, the language you speak, and the places you know. But when you do not have them, you will become confused about who you are. You sometimes feel lost, sad, and confused, just like the story my friend told me. Whereas, you still can adapt to and enjoy another kind of culture and savour the differences, finding them exciting and interesting and wonderful. That will be a special kind of fun, right?

 

 

开车上路
By Suky

出国的几个朋友纷纷买了车, 或者都学会了开车. 前几集提到的Lynn美眉也在五天之内学会了开车, 并且开车上路了(天才?). 现在我们就来看看老美在开车时都会说些什么.

1. How many people can fit in your car?
你的车子可以载几个人?
讲到车子能载几个人, 或许大家一时想不到 "载"要用哪一个动词. 其实 fit in 这个短语就有 "装得下" 的意思. 例如我们想把一个篮球塞到箱子里, 塞不进去, 这时你就可以说, The basketball doesn't fit in the box. 所以如果别人问你, 你就可以回答, I can take 4 people. (我能载四个人. )

2. Shotgun
我坐前座
汽车前座正式的讲法是 front seat, 后座back seat, 所以当你想要坐前座时, 可以说, I want to take the front seat. 但是老美 (特别是小孩子) 还有另一种说法, "Shotgun." 也是指坐在前座的意思. (这个字原意是指霰弹枪. ) 大家都知道, 小孩总是觉得坐在前座感觉上很拉风, 看风景看得特别清楚. 有时候是先到先赢, 先抢到的人就会很得意地大叫, Shotgun.

3. Shut up, backseat driver.
闭嘴, 后座的司机.
有些人习惯不好, 别人开车他老爱指挥人家, 一下说人家开太快, 一下说人家红灯没看到. 这种人在英文里有一个很好玩的讲法叫 backseat driver.

4. You just missed the exit
你刚错过了路口.
某个路口司机该转而未转, 你就可以提醒他, You missed the turn. 如果是错过了交流道, 则是 You missed the exit. 当然如果刚才路边站了一个辣妹但司机专心开车没看到, 你也可以逗逗他, You missed the hot chick.

5. What are the landmarks around there?
那附近有没有什么明显的建筑物?
开车的人问路, 最好是除了路名之外, 再问问附近有没有什么明显的建筑物. 很多人直接的反应就是跟我一样说, Is there any obvious building around? 通常这样问路, 老美是听不懂的啦! 地道的说法, 应该是:What are the landmarks around there?下次问路别忘了.

 

 

Breaking the ice
By the Chef

More of Chef's Profile
During the past several months, along with those assignments, some Common Talk readers also emailed the Chef questions about how to deal with their office issues, especially in an office where English is frequently used. Being interested not only in cooking and English writing, the Chef has been actively helping our readers with all kinds of questions just mentioned or even questions about various office issues in general. From today on, the Chef would like to have some of the questions answered in Common Talk's language page, hoping that my effort would matter not only to those who asked questions, but also other readers that might have wondered about the same.
Anyhow, if you happen to have any questions about office life such as the use of certain English words or issues with a foreign colleague or anyone, and if you would like to find someone to consult, please know that you now have one more friend that's willing to help and he is the Chef.(Please email your question to thecommonchef@yahoo.com 请把您的问题寄到thecommonchef@yahoo.com)

Dear Chef:
Today is my first day in a foreign company. The HR manager has kindly introduced me to some of my new American colleagues who seemed all very kind and warm. And I very much want to know them more. However, after all that I found it was very hard to start a conversation with them in English. In what way shall I break the ice that will be considered polite and natural?
Sincerely yours,
Looking-for-a-hammer

Dear Looking-for-a-hammer,
To be able to initiate a conversation and break the ice is definitely a very important skill in office life. For a Chinese whose English might not be that fluent in an English speaking office, it seems to be even more important. More often than not, Chinese are considered to be more introverted and quiet. And that usually makes a westerner feel not extremely willing to approach a Chinese and start a conversation. So being confident and open would be a nice handle of the hammer you are looking for, and for the hammerhead you could always come up with some questions about this new company or other small talk questions such as where people eat lunch or the traffic situation around the company, or even current news. Other than that, there are some more suggestions "do not" when you have the ice-breaking conversation.
Do not rehearse your conversation. Do not recite your introduction like in an interview.
And do not ever start your conversation with "My English is poor...", whether it is a fact or not...
Good luck with your first day in the new company!

Vocabulary
be considered:
被看作……被当成……
natural: 自然的
initiate: 开始, 发起
break the ice: 打破僵局
introvert: 内向
extremely: 极端地, 非常地
approach: 靠近
traffic situation:　交通状况
rehearse: 排练

 

 

Crossword Puzzle



Across

7. A movie theater.
8. To make a mistake.
9. To make more.
12. Slang for man.

Down
1. High respect.
2. Arrogant.
3. A woman who rules a family.
4. Extremely thin.
5. An animal, slang for "girl" in British English.
6. Collision.
10. One of a bride's responsibilities.
11. A verbal fight.

The following people have won free movie tickets: 刘泰玲,杨玄宗,孙凌滨,曾晓芬,蔡怿,康明建,陈慧,许少坚,柯丽英,陈章明. Please go to the Jinying Cinema (世贸金鹰影院) in two weeks. 欲知上期答案, 请登录www.common-talk.com.

 

 

卓越领导如此造就
By 王鸽鹏



如果说长期以来行之有效的管理信条是领导者的黄金法则, 那么在新世纪全球化, 信息化, 知识化, 科学化, 民主化, 法制化的背景下必须与时俱进, 不断创新则是领导者的白金法则. 如果你仍然固守旧则, 那么你在管理中的感受将趋向:能力缺失, 本领恐慌, 所受压力越来越大;权力贬值, 知识过时, 掌握的"奶酪"越来越少. 反之, 如果你向一个学习型领导转变, 你将发现自己能快速适应变化, 充电和学习的欲望空前高涨. 祝贺你, 你已经摸索到了新时代的领导法则.

好好想想吧, 在信息日益通透, 个性化愈显重要, 个人综合优势渐趋弱化的今天, 那种封闭的思维规则, 行为准则难道还能在历史舞台上幸存吗?这就是此书的宗旨和意图, 虽然不尽完美, 但全新的概念和创新的理念实可起到抛砖引玉的作用. 想成为新世纪的卓越领导, 先研究一下此书吧!市内新华书店有售.