When Chinese meet English names
By Anita

Working in a foreign venture or joint venture, you must have an English name even though all the people around you are Chinese. You do not have to speak English during work time, but you might call others by their English names. Let us have a look at some interesting phenomenon when Chinese meet English names.

1. Most English names come from the Bible and most Chinese English names hail from super stars. And the rest are from characters in famous novels. Sammi, Kelly, Jacky, Andy...and by the way, I should admit that my name is from a HK super star who died at the end of last year.

2. We like the names not to be more than 3 syllables(音节). That's why people choose Cindy instead of Cinderella and Leon instead of Leonardo. By doing this, we can easily remember others' names. But overly simple names make us sound more like pets.

3.　Easier pronunciation is preferred too. A Chinese person seldom calls himself Joseph but would rather be called Joe. A little childish, isn't it? But more convenient for others to pronounce in a correct way.

4. More and more young people would like to choose English names, which also could be regarded as Japanese style. Suki, Yuki and Hitomi are much cuter, aren't they?

5.　Chinese people seldom choose the most commonly used English names. Mary, Jim, Tom or John are usually avoided because they belong to junior English textbooks. When we grow up, we think Jenny, Sharon and James are more adult like. Even Annie is more popular than Ann.

All the above names exist in most companies in the Mainland of China. When we can handle the embarrassment of calling others' English names, these English names come to stay with us and take the part as the alias(化名) title for ancient people.

 

 

超强绕口令
By Suky

暑假很多朋友都参加了各种各样的语言辅导班,交些新朋友也顺便轻松地学些东西.学英语确实也能碰上很多令人忍俊不禁的说法,今天我们就来说说比较有趣的绕口令.

1. Betty and Bob brought back blue balloons from the big bazaar.
Betty和Bob在集市上买回蓝色气球.
想起以前玩"法老王"电脑游戏的时候,就喜欢建bazaar放很多的粮食进去,所以看到这个词就想起以前玩游戏的情景,酷.

2. The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick.
第六位生病的酋长的第六只羊病了.
这句话因为太难念了,居然被列入《吉尼斯世界纪录大全》.这里要说明的是,把美国人说的绕口令译成汉语,同时又能让中国人听了捧腹大笑,几乎是不可能的.把这句话说给不懂英语的人听,是不会发笑的.

3. She sells seashells by the seashore.
她在沙滩上卖贝壳.
鼓浪屿的一大风景.只是这个"她"不是想像中的沙滩MM,而往往是阿妈级人物了.

4. Amidst the mists and coldest frosts, with barest wrists and stoutest boasts, he thrust his fist against the posts, and insists he sees the ghosts.
在薄雾和冰霜中,他赤裸着胸膛,一拳打在柱子上,却吹牛说他看到了鬼.
现实生活中真是不乏这种人,下次有谁再这么自吹自擂,你就可以很拽地用这句他听都听不懂的绕口令挡过去.
最后,再向读者推荐一则被美国许多绕口令爱好者认为是最难的,最拗口的绕口令.

5. Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter, sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles. If Theophilus Thistles, where is the sieve of unsifted thistles Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter,sifted?
说的是什么?天哪,简直和之乎者也一样难,您就慢慢练吧.有兴趣的读者不妨查查字典,看看这句话究竟在说什么.

学会念这些绕口令可不是很简单的哦,美国人都很难念好呢,不信您找个老外试试看.对于学生朋友而言,暑假期间有空就练习练习,到时候开学了,可以吓大家一跳!说不定下次RAP的时候会顺口很多呢.

 

 

Say no to your boss
By the Chef

Chef's Profile: This chef is not just any chef, not only does he know everything there is to know about cooking, but also he is an absolute guru in Engish writing. Therefore, if you ever feel hungry or stuck in your English writing, you should go ask the Chef!

Dear Chef,
My boss is from America and I don't think he is a very considerate person. He always throws tons of work at me, which can never be finished. I am tired and frustrated but I don't know how to say no to him. Can you help me out?
Looking-for-a-gun

Dear Looking-for-a-gun,
In order to be able to say no to your boss, first you need to come from a mindset that you have the right to say no to your boss. Please understand that as much as you depend on your company, your company and your boss depend on your work. It is very important that you let your boss know what you need and your work related feelings, positive or negative. Pressing your negative feelings will simply cause damage to your work in the long run. Upon what has been explained, here are some other steps that you might want to follow to accomplish this communication.

Step one: Understand your boss.
Make sure you understand your boss's goals and objectives. You are trying to make your boss look good, and it helps to understand the pressures your boss has as well as how he or she works.

Step two: Build a path to communicate.
After evaluating your boss and yourself, you can build on that information by figuring out how to work to marry both styles and play off strengths and weaknesses. When your boss feels like you are thinking on his level, he might be more willing to listen to what you have to say. Then you can always make the communication easier between you and your boss but bring up some appropriate jokes and perhaps some of your personal stuff.

Step three: Just do it.
If the path has been built quite nicely and smoothly, politely refusing an unreasonable request from your boss will become much easier. When you are actually saying no, do it like you are expressing your thoughts to your friends. Be patient and give enough explanation, and never act like you are trying to win a war.

Step four: Ask the Chef.
If all the above three steps have been nicely done yet your boss still wants to bury you under tons of work, then that's where the Chef comes in. Simply give the Chef your boss's address and pack your personal stuff in the office, and the Chef will deal with the rest.

如果你对办公室生活或办公室英语有任何疑问,请给the Chef 写信,就有机会赢取都市风健身中心的50元体验券.the Chef的电子信箱是thecommonchef@yahoo.com

Vocabulary
frustrated: 非常失望的
mindset: 思考模式
evaluating:评价,评测
objective:目标
appropriate: 合适的
unreasonable:不合理的

 

 

Crossword Puzzle



Across
1. To capture or seize.
6. Ruler of the hell.
7. One who owns a farm.
9. To strike to make faint.
10. Taxi. 13. Sick.
11. Window of the heart.
12. To sob or shed tears.

Down
2. People far before us.
3. To bring into a state of unity.
4. Some facial hair.
5. State of being polite.
7. To bring into actuality.
8. What's "Ask the Chef" column used to be about?

The following people have won free movie tickets: 林菊丽,刘泰玲,申小梅,谢巧艺,吴晓晖,邓建光,王毅,蔡菁菁,郑铭伟,陈静薇. 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.