美語情景對話 第1125期:Power of Personality 性格的力量

Abidemi: So Rory, in the last conversation we were talking about changing your personality and you never said what you thought of that.

阿比德米：羅瑞，上次我們討論了改變個性，可是你沒有說你的想法。

Rory: Well, I think, I think when you learn a language often your personality does change. I notice with my students that they often seem quite different when they speak English to when they speak Japanese. I'm not sure if that's a language thing or a cultural thing. But I mean you speak more than one language.

羅瑞：我認爲，在學習其他語言以後，你的個性就會發生改變。我注意到，我的學生在說英語和日語時完全不同。我不確定這是否與語言或文化有關。我知道，你不只會一種語言。

Abidemi: Yes, I do.

阿比德米：沒錯。

Rory: Do you think your personality is different in each language?

羅瑞：你在說不同語言時性格有不同嗎？

Abidemi: That's a really good question. Just thinking of it right now, I think maybe for me it's more a question of the culture because I think when I am in an environment where I'm expected to be more extroverted, I tend to try to live up to that.

阿比德米：這是一個非常好的問題。就目前來說，我認爲這是文化問題，因爲當我在一個應該更外向的環境中時，我會盡量達到這一預期。

Rory: Right.

羅瑞：好。

Abidemi: I tend to try to be more cheerful, more open, more friendly or friendlier, I should say. But when I'm somewhere where I know that it's expected of me to be quieter, I do tend to become more quiet.

阿比德米：我會盡量更開朗、更開放、更友好。但是當我在應該更安靜的環境中時，我會保持安靜。

Rory: Right.

羅瑞：好。

Abidemi: So I don't know. That's a really good question.

阿比德米：我也不太清楚。不過這是個好問題。

Rory: And do you think there might be something in languages which make them like a more extroverted language or a more introverted language? Like I think about Italians – maybe it's a stereotype of Italians, but they seem to be very extroverted and the language seems to help them in that extroversion.

羅瑞：在你看來，是不是語言中的某些東西讓人們的性格發生了變化？比如更外向的語言或更內向的語言？我認爲意大利人，也許這是人們對意大利人的刻板印象，不過意大利人看起來非常外向，而且看起來意大利語助推了意大利人的外向性格。

Abidemi: That's true. That's very true. That's a good question because I'm just trying to think of culture and languages in general, and there's that debate of how cultures and languages are intertwined. Is it the culture that came first or is it the language that made the culture the way it is. So I don't know. I really don't know. But I would love to read more research and find out.

阿比德米：沒錯。的確是這樣。這是一個很好的問題，我在從總體上來考慮文化和語言，人們在辯論文化和語言是如何互相交織在一起的。是先有文化還是語言塑造了文化？我也不知道。雖然我不知道，但是我很想閱讀更多研究，找出答案。

Rory: Yeah. I mean, I noticed since I moved to Asia, to countries like Japan and Korea, the people do seem more introverted and the language also seems more introverted. So I wonder if the language or like you say, I wonder which came first, the language or the culture?

羅瑞：嗯。我搬到亞洲以後發現，日本和韓國等國家的民衆看起來更內向，他們的語言也更內向。就像你說的，我也想知道是先有語言還是先有文化？

Abidemi: And I think to add on to that, when I think of Asian students that I've noticed speaking English, which to some people is a more extroverted language, they always seem more confident.

阿比德米：除此之外，我注意到，因爲英語是偏外向的語言，所以亞洲學生在說英語時，看上去也更自信。

Rory: Yeah.

羅瑞：對。

Abidemi: They seem friendlier. They seem more open to talking about themselves, their family life. But when you talk to them in their native language, it seems like they revert back to their cultural norms which would probably be less...

阿比德米：他們看上去更友好。更願意談論自己的情況和家庭生活。但是當你用他們的母語和他們談話時，他們會迴歸他們的文化規範，不太願意談太多。

Rory: Right, yes.

羅瑞：對，沒錯。

Abidemi: Yeah, so maybe there is something there.

阿比德米：對，也許有值得研究的東西。

Rory: Yeah. And I guess the culture over here in Asian countries is people are less likely to share information. There's less – I mean, in the West especially recently, there's quite a pressure on you to be more open.

羅瑞：對。我認爲這是亞洲國家的文化，人們不太願意共享信息。在西方國家尤其是最近，人們面臨着很大壓力，要越來越開放。

Abidemi: That's true.

阿比德米：沒錯。

Rory: Whereas maybe in Korea, Japan and China, people are more closed and just have different boundaries.

羅瑞：可是在韓國、日本和中國等國，人們更爲封閉，有不同的界限。

Abidemi: I'm just trying to think of African countries, like being a Nigerian myself, we've had the issue of colonization and where the Western British culture is valorized. So coming from that aspect, I wonder before how we were. Were we more introverted? Because in a lot of ways we're very similar to Asian cultures and Asian values. We have a lot of that as well. But now it's true that being able to speak English and express yourself in a more Western way is a lot. It weighs a lot. It means a lot, so people really enjoy that. People really take their value from that.

阿比德米：我在想非洲國家的情況，我是尼日利亞人，我們有殖民問題，政府推行西方國家英國的文化。所以從這方面來看，我想知道我們以前是什麼樣子的。我們更內向嗎？因爲我們的很多生活方式和亞洲國家以及亞洲價值觀更相似。我們也有很多亞洲的文化。但是現在我們說英語，用更西方的方式表達自己。現在西方的文化更盛行。人們很喜歡。人們從西方文化中獲取價值觀。

Rory: Right.

羅瑞：好。

Abidemi: So yeah, I think it's a really interesting topic.

阿比德米：我認爲這是一個值得深思的話題。

Rory: Because I mean people often see England or British people as a bit introverted and a bit quiet, a bit cold and yet we share the same language as America. And people tend to think that people from North America are quite brash and extroverted.

羅瑞：人們通常認爲英國人更內向，很安靜，有點冷漠，可是我們和美國說同樣的語言。人們傾向於認爲北美人很傲慢，更外向。

Abidemi: That's true.

阿比德米：沒錯。

Rory: So like I said it's more cultural than language-based.

羅瑞：所以我認爲相對於語言基礎來說，這更像是文化問題。

Abidemi: Yeah, maybe. Maybe we've come to a solution then.

阿比德米：可能吧。也許我們可以得出結論了。

Rory: Okay.

羅瑞：好。

Abidemi: We've found it. It is the culture more than the language then. Okay.

阿比德米：我們找到答案了。結論就是這不只是語言問題，更是文化問題。

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重點講解：
1. live up to 遵守（諾言）；符合，不辜負（期望）；
例句：Sales have not lived up to expectations this year.
今年的銷售額不盡如人意。
2. in general 總的來說；總體上來看；大體上；
例句：I was in general agreement with this strong policy.
總的說來,我同意這種強硬的政策。
3. come first (表示順序或名次)處於，位列；
例句：Public affairs should come first.
還是公事要緊。
4. be open to 願意接受（建議、觀點等）的；虛懷若谷的；
例句：I'm open to any suggestions that you may have.
我願意接受你的任何忠告。