和老外聊天的地道口語第54期:學習餐桌禮儀

T: hi, 's up?
B: nothing special. how about you? Are you used to the life here in the States?
T: evertything has been fine for the past several months.
B: great!
T: well, I wish someone could talk to me about Western table manners
B: sounds interesting. Where did you get the idea?
T: as you know, table manners in China are quite different from those of Westerners.
B: absolutely. that's because both of us have distinctive cultural features.
T: for example, in China, it's okay to talk while eating. However, you may regard it as rude.
B: yes. this must be a huge difference.
T: can you think of anything else?
B: sure. We tend to think that the slower on eats, the more polite one seems.
T: I didn't know that before.
B: and we never sip or slurp the soup loudly. we quietly like little mouthfuls.
T: i got it. i'll bear it in mind.
B: don't worry. i'm sure our etiquette will become a natural part of your behavior as time goes by.
T: I hope so.


你好,貝蒂.最近怎麼樣?
一切如故.你呢?在美國生活得還習慣嗎?
這幾個月都挺好的.
真好!
嗯,我希望有人能跟我說說西方的餐桌禮儀.
聽起來挺有意思.爲什麼會這麼想?
你也知道,中國的餐桌禮儀和西方的差別還是挺大的.
當然啦,這是因爲我們有不同的文化.
比方說,中國人認爲吃飯時可以講話,相反你們會覺得這樣很沒禮貌.
是的,這是中西文化的一個巨大差異.
你能說說其他方面嗎?
好的.我們會認爲一個人吃得越慢,顯得越有修養.
我第一次聽說呢.
而且我們喝湯時不會發出聲響.我們會安靜地一小口一小口喝.
我知道了.我應該記住這些.
不用擔心,過些日子,這些禮儀一定會自然而然地成爲你日常行爲的一部分.
但願如此吧.

distinctive:having a quality or characteristic that makes sth different and easily noticed 獨特的;特別的;有特色的 adjective
clothes with a distinctive style
式樣獨特的衣服
The male bird has distinctive black and white markings on its head.
雄鳥的頭上有明顯的黑白斑紋.

feature:something important, interesting or typical of a place or thing 特色;特徵;特點
An interesting feature of the city is the old market.
這座城市的一個有趣特徵就是古老的市場。
Teamwork is a key feature of the training programme.
團隊合作是這項訓練計劃的重要特點。
Which features do you look for when choosing a car?
你挑選轎車時要着重哪些特點？
The software has no particular distinguishing features.
這個軟件沒有明顯的特點。
geographical features
地勢

mouthful:an amount of food or drink that you put in your mouth at one time 一口,一滿口(的量)
She took a mouthful of water.
她喝了一大口水.
Thank you, but I couldn't eat another mouthful.
謝謝,我一口也吃不下了.

slurp:to make a loud noise while you are drinking sth (喝東西時)發出嘖嘖的聲音
He was slurping his tea.
他正咂着嘴喝茶.
She slurped noisily from her cup.
她端着杯子,嘖嘖作響地喝着.

what's up?怎麼了?最近怎麼樣?

talk to sb about sth:與某人談論某事

be used to:習慣於

bear in mind:牢記

as time goes by:隨着時間的推移

table manners:餐桌禮儀

I hope so. 但願如此.