文化差異視角:國際留學生交友並非易事
A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education said many foreign students report feeling lonely or unwelcome in Australia. Those feelings are among the reasons why Australia is taking a close look at its international education industry. The government has formed an advisory council to help develop a five-year national strategy for the future of international education in Australia.
《高等教育紀事報》最近發表一篇報道，說很多外國學生在澳大利亞感到孤獨和不受歡迎。這是澳大利亞密切關注其國際教育行業的原因之一，政府已經成立了一個諮詢委員會，來擬定一份澳大利亞國際教育未來5年的國家規劃。But wherever international students go, making friends may not always be easy. The Journal of International and Intercultural Communication recently published a study done in the United States完成
但是，不管國際學生去哪，交朋友並不總是那麼容易。《國際文化交流期刊》最近發表了一個在美國進行的研究。Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College in New York surveyed four hundred fifty-four international students. They were attending four-year colleges and graduate schools in the American South and Northeast.
紐約巴魯克學院的 Elisabeth Gareis 調查了454名國際學生。他們是在美國南部及東北部參加4年制大學或者研究生的學生。
Students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe were more likely to be happy with their friendships. But thirty-eight percent of the international students said they had no close friends in the United States.
來自於英語國家及中北歐的學生對於他們的友誼更加滿意，而有38%的國際學生說他們在美國沒有親密朋友。And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of American friends they had. Professor Gareis says thirty percent said they wished their friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.
來自於東亞的學生有一半說他們對於在美國擁有的朋友數量不滿意。Gareis 教授說30%的人希望自己的友情可以更密切、更有意義。ELISABETH GAREIS: "Students from East Asia have cultures that are different on many levels from the culture in the United States. But then there's also language problems, and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, that are possibly not as important in their native countries, where it's not as important to initiate friendships with small talk."
ELISABETH GAREIS說：“來自於東亞的學生與來自於美國的學生在文化的很多層面上都不一樣。然後還有語言問題，或許還有社交技巧問題，例如在他們自己的國家中，聊天對於建立一段友情的重要性並不大。”She says many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with Americans.
她說很多東亞學生將自己和美國人之間的友情問題歸咎於自己。ELISABETH GAREIS: "The vast majority blames themselves, actually for not speaking the language well enough, not knowing the culture well enough. There were also some comments about the college environment, like many of them were in the natural sciences or worked in labs where they were surrounded by other East Asians."
ELISABETH GAREIS：“大部分人將此怪罪於自己，實際上都是語言說的不夠好，對於美國文化不夠了解。還有些人將此怪罪於校園環境問題，例如他們中有很多人學習的是自然科學或者在實驗室工作，在那裏他們身邊幾乎都是東亞人。”
