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Chapter 2: Becoming Aware The first step in learning to communicate across cultures is to consider that what people mean when they talk about culture. Most people assume that everyone knows what it means, so they do not define it. In fact people mean quite different things when they talk about culture. The most usual meaning is that culture refers to people’s customs and behavior. People have no trouble recognizing that people in different cultures behave differently and have different customs, but they seldom try to figure out what the behavior and customs mean to the people who are following them. This is unfortunate, because culture is all about meanings. 第二章：知悉（文化） 学习跨文化交际的第一步就是要考虑人们在谈化时所说的是什么意思。大多数人都认为每个人都知道这意味着什么，所以人们甚少去定义它。事实上，当人们在谈论文化时所达的是完全不同的东西。最常用的意思是文化是指人们的习惯和行为。人们能毫不费力地认识到人们在不同的文化中表现不同，并有不同的习俗，但人们很少试图去弄清楚这些行为和风俗习惯的含义。这是不幸的，因为文化是有深意的。 What is culture? Simply put, culture is a system of meaning. That is too abstract a definition to really understand, so consider the following images. 简而言之，文化是一种意义体系。这个定义过于抽象难以理解，所以要思考以下影像。 Culture is like an iceberg Like an iceberg, only some of culture is visible. Aspects of culture that we can easily observe are often referred to as objective culture. This includes things such as history, literature, and customs. When we learn the facts about our own or other cultures, we are learning the objective culture. Most of culture is below the surface of our awareness. It is not easily observable. This is referred to as subjective culture. It includes feelings and attitudes about how things are and how they should be. When we only learn objective culture, we are missing the bigger part that is below the surface. 文化就像一座冰川 文化就像一座冰川，只有部分可见。我们可以轻易观察到的文化层面的文化通常被称为客观文化。这包括历史，文学，风俗方面等的东西。当我们学习我们自身或其他的文化，我们所学的就是客观文化。然而大多数文化存在于我们意识的表象下。这是不容易观察到的。这就是所谓的主观文化。它包括我们对事物的感受和态度。如果我们只是学习客观文化，那么我们将会错失埋藏在表象之下的更大的文化层面。 Culture is our software Culture is the basic operating system that makes us human. Humans around the world are physically pretty much the same. There are variations in body size, shape and color, but the basic equipment is universal. We can think of our physical selves as the hardware, but we cannot be said to be human until we are programmed and each of us is programmed by our own home culture. Humans are unique among all the animals on earth in that the infant is weak and incapable of survival for an exceptionally long period of time. At birth the infant is only a potential human. It must learn how to be human and it learns that in a culturally specific way. It is the culture that provides the software. As with any good software, we are only vaguely aware of it as we use it. It fades into the background and we just know that we can be, that the computer works, or perhaps sometimes does not work because it is incompatible with someone else’s software. 文化是我们的软件 文化是使我们成为人类的基本的操作系统。世界各地的人们在身体构造上大同小异。虽然我们的体格，体型和肤色各不相同，但人体的基本构造都是相同的。我们可以将我们的身体视作为硬件，但我们不能被称为人直到我们被“程序化”，正如我们被我们自身的家庭文化“程序化”。在地球上，人类是区别于动物的独一无二的所在。因为婴儿是如此脆弱以至于无法独立地长时间生存。在出生时，婴儿只是有成为人的潜力，他必须在特定的文化方式中学会如何成为人。而文化就是使其成为人的软件，和其他好的软件一样，我们只是依稀意识到我们正在使用它。我们只是了解到他隐藏在后台程序中促使计算机运行，也许有时候它无法运行因为他与其他的文化软件不兼容。 Culture is like the water a fish swim in Like any creature a fish scans its environment to find food, reproduce and protect itself from danger. It notices everything except the water it swimming in. The fish takes the water for granted because it so totally surrounds the fish that it really cannot image another environment. The same is true for us. Our culture is so much a part of who we are and what the world is like for us that we do not notice it. We take it for granted. For most people for most of their lives, everything they see and do takes place in the same culture. Everyone is swimming in the same water. They couldn’t describe the water even if they wanted to. 文化就像水中的鱼在游 同其他任何生物一样，鱼审视它所生存的环境以觅食，繁殖和保护自己免受危险。鱼注意到了所有的东西除了它赖以生存的水。鱼把水的存在当作是一件理所当然的事，因为它完全包裹着鱼以致于完全无法想象另一个环境。我们人类也是如此。文化就是这样一部分关于我们是谁和世界对于我们是怎样的我们没有注意到的一部分。我们认为这是理所当然的。对于大多数人的生活和他们所看到的一切都发生在同一文化中。每个人都在同一种文化环境中生存。他们无法描述他们自身所处的文化。 Culture is the story we tell ourselves about ourselves Every cultural group has a story that provides a way for members of the group to understand who they are and what the world is like. People tell themselves their story in their folklore arts, in politics and in intimate conversations among friends and family members. The stories may be very old and include legends of how the group was created, but stories also change to adapt to changing circumstances. 文化是说给我们自己听的关于我们自己的故事 每个文化群体都有一个故事，这个故事为群体内的成员提供了解自己和世界提供途径。人们从民间文学艺术，政治和朋友，家人间的亲密谈话中了解关于自己的故事。这些故事也许非常古老或是包括了这个群体是怎样被创造的神话传说，但为了适应不断变化的环境，故事也在随之发生改变。 For instance, Chinese often say that China is an old country while the United States is very young. This seems to be true if American culture is assumed to begin with the European settlement of North American or American independence. In fact American culture is an extension of western culture and that dates back to the ancient Greeks or even the ancient Egyptians. It can be argued that American culture is just as old as Chinese culture, but that is not what is important. What is significant is that Chinese tell his story and use it to define who they are as Chinese in comparison to other groups. 比如，中国人常说中国是一个古老的国家，而美国是一个非常年轻的国家。这看起来是真的，如果美国的文化被认为是始于欧洲人在北美的定居和美国的独立。实际上美国文化是西方文化的延伸，还可以追溯到古希腊和古埃及。可以说美国文化和中国文化一样古老，但这并不重要。重要的是中国人讲述了自己的故事并用以定义谁是中国人，当和别的文化团体进行对比时。 Similarly, Americans often say they are an immigrant nation. If you ask an American about his culture, he will probably tell you something about his ethnic or religious background. He may tell you where his ancestors came from and how they happened to go to America. He will tell you how his life and his family’s life are unique. This story emphasizes the diversity within American culture. In fact many visitors comment that the United States is remarkably similar from coast to coast. It is recognizably American no matter what part of the country they visit. It can be argued that the United States is culturally rather uniform with the same language, and similar social attitudes and lifestyles throughout the country, while Chinese culture is remarkably diverse. People speak different languages or dialects in different areas and identify strongly with their local region or hometown. Again, it is not important whether the story is true or not. What is significant is that people tell the story to show themselves and others who they are. 同样，美国人常说他们是一个移民国家。如果你问一个美国人关于它的文化，他也许会告诉你一些他的种族或宗教背景。他也许还会告诉你他的祖先来自哪里以及他们为什么要来美国。他也许会告诉你他的生活和他的家庭生活是独一无二的。这个故事强调了美国文化的多样性。事实上，许多游客认为美国的文化从东海岸到西海岸都非常相似。无论他们访问美国的哪一部分都能感受到这是美国。可以说美国的文化是比较统一的，因为人们使用相同的语言，拥有相似的社会态度和生活方式，然而中国文化却是多种多样的。人们在不同地区使用不同的语言或是方言，并且具有强烈的地区认同感。同样地，故事是否真实并不重要。重要的是人们通过讲述故事告诉自己和别人他们是谁。 Culture is the grammar of our behavior Culture is what people need to know in order to behave appropriately in any society. It includes all the rules that make actions meaningful to those acting and to the people around them. In learning to speak, everyone learns to use the grammar of their native language, but they use it automatically with little or no conscious awareness of rules of grammar. Similarly people learn their cultural grammar unconsciously and apply its rules automatically. Just as native speakers of a language are usually unable to describe the grammatical rules of that language unless they have specifically studied grammar, most people find it difficult to describe the meaning system of their own culture. Like the grammar of a language, cultural grammars are repetitive. They are made up of basic patterns that occur again and again. For instance, an important pattern in Chinese culture is the distinction between inside and outside. This pattern shows up in language, traditional architecture and in social relationships. 文化是我们行为的语法（文化是我们的行为规范） 为了在任何文化中都有适当的行为，文化是人们必须要了解的。它包括了所有的行动和周围所有人的行动有意义的规则。在学习说话时，每个人都学习使用他们母语的语法，但人们很少意识到自己在说话时使用到了这些语法规则。同样，人们在不知不觉中学到了文化规则并自发地应用这些规则。正如一项语言的母语使用者通常无法描述这项语言的语法规则，除非他们专门学习了语法，大多数人发现很难描述他们自己文化的意义系统。就像一门语言的语法一样，文化的语法是重复的。他们由重复出现的基本模式组成。例如，中国文化中的一个重要模式就是内与外的区别。这个模式由语言，传统建筑和社会关系表现出来。 Learning about culture and learning to do culture These images all point to the idea that culture is largely out-of-awareness. This is not obvious, because people often discuss culture, whether it is their own or the culture of another group or nation. Usually when people talk about culture, they mean some aspect of the objective culture, that part of the iceberg that can be seen above the water. The purpose of this book is to raise the hidden part of the iceberg so that more of it becomes visible. 学习文化和（学习发掘文化？） 这些形象都指出文化在很大程度上是出于意识的观念。这并不显而易见，因为人们经常讨论文化，不管是自己的还是另一个团体或民族的文化。通常当人们谈论文化时，他们指的是客观文化的某一方面，即可以在水面上看到的冰山一角。这本书的写作目的是将冰山隐藏的一部分显现出来，使更多的隐藏部分变得可见。 Another purpose is to enable readers of this book to add new software to their basic operating systems. This means acquiring new cultural skills. No one should try to replace the software they already have; it is neither necessary nor advisable to try to change your culture for another one. It is possible and advisable, however, to add additional software to your operating system to increase its power and flexibility. Just as you want to keep your computer up-to-date by adding software as necessary, you want to add cultural software in order to be successful and comfortable in the global village. Just as you need to know more than one language, you need to know more than one cultural grammar. 另一个写作目的是使本书的读者为他们的基本操作系统增添新的软件。这就意味着这就意味着学习新的文化技能。没有人应该尝试去取代已有的文化，尝试改变你已有的文化也是不必要的。然而为你的操作系统增添动力和灵活性而增加操作软件是可能也是明智的。正如你需要增添必要的软件来保持你的电脑的更新程度，你也需要增加文化软件以保持你在地球村生活的成功与舒适。正如你需要知道一种以上的语言，就需要了解一种以上的文化规范。 To do these things you need to look at your own culture as a system of meaning, as a grammar of your experience and behavior. You need to become a software engineer who can figure out how your own operating system works. Once you do that it is possible to add some new programming. Using another image, you need to become aware of the water you are swimming in. With greater awareness of your own culture, you will better understand the meaning systems of other cultures and will be better able to adapt to them. 要做这些事情，你需要将自身的文化视为一个意义的系统，经验与行为的规范。你需要成为一个能够理解自身的操作系统是如何工作的软件工程师。一旦你这样做你就有可能增加一些新的编程。换言之，你需要注意到你正在水中游泳。对于你的文化有了更宏观的意识，你将会更好的了解其他文化的意义系统，并能更好地适应他们。 English learners in China often take courses in American culture or western civilization and feel confident that they know quite a bit about western culture. In fact they do know much about the culture from which the language they are studying comes. They may have seen many western films, may eat at KFC regularly, may know more about the National Basketball Association or about current popular music than many Americans, may speak quite fluent English, but that does not necessarily mean that they know American culture the way an American knows it. It doesn’t mean they know the cultural grammar or can swim in those cultural waters. It doesn’t mean that they can “do” American cultural. 中国的英语学习者经常参加美国文化和西方文明的课程，并对他们所了解的不多的西方文化感到自信。事实上，他们确实了解他们所学习的语言的文化。他们也许看了很多的西方电影，可能常吃肯德基，可能比许多美国人还要了解国家篮球协会和当前的流行音乐。但这并不意味着他们了解美国文化的法则或是能够在美国文化中生存下来。这并不意味着他们可以“做”美国文化。（这并不意味着他们可以像美国人那样思考问题或做事。） A fish in unfamiliar waters  一条在陌生水域的鱼 A Chinese student, confident in her knowledge of American culture, prepares to give a speech in English appropriate for an international audience for an English speaking contest. In the speech she paraphrases Martin Luther King, jr. by using the phrase “I have a dream.” She is confident that her intended international audience will understand the reference. 一个对自己所了解的美国文化充满信心的中国学生，准备在一场英语演讲比赛中为国际观众展示英语演讲。在演讲中他引用了马丁路德金“我有一个梦想”这句话，并自信他的观众能理解他的引用。 She is right. The audience will know that she is quoting Martin Luther King, jr. but they won’t necessarily be impressed. King’s speech was given thirty-five years ago and is so widely known that quoting it may be considered too simple, as saying what has already been said too many times. In the last years of the twentieth century, it might be more appropriate to talk about visions that about dreams. Better yet, the speaker should invent a new and attractive metaphor to carry her meaning. An image from her home culture might be fresher to her audience than her borrowed phrase. 她是对的。观众会知道她引用的是马丁路德金的话，但他们不会对此留下深刻印象。马丁路德金的演讲发表于35年前，并被广泛地了解，引用他的话会被认为过于简单，因为已经被多次引用了。在二十世纪的最后几年里，谈论关于梦想的愿景也许会更加合适。演讲者发明一种新的更具吸引力的视角来谈论梦想将会更好。比起引用，演讲者运用自身文化的影像来阐述会更好。 To most Americans and many other westerners time files by very quickly so using an out-of-date metaphor reveals you to be out of date. How much worse if you quote Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson. If you quote Ernest Hemingway your listeners will either think you are a sexist or that you haven’t read anything in fifty years. If you quote him to an audience of young people who have technical rather than liberal arts training, they may not know who Hemingway is. Even if they do recognize the name, they probably will never have read anything Hemingway wrote. 对于大多数美国人和其他许多西方人来说，时间流逝的非常快，使用了一个过时的比喻意味着你自己也是过时的。这表明了你引用托马斯林肯或杰佛逊亚伯拉罕的话是非常糟糕的。如果你向文学观众引用海明威的文学作品，他们也许会认为你是一位性别歧视者或在这五十年内你并未阅读其他文学作品。如果你向一位只接受了技术训练而非艺术文学训练的观众讲述的话，他们也许并不知道海明威是谁。即便他们知道海明威是谁，他们也绝不会阅读过海明威所写的任何作品。 In Chinese culture a writer or speaker shows her learning by quoting famous people from the past. It is not necessary to even say where the quote comes from. The audience will know and will respect your knowledge. In the United States people rarely quote famous people from the past unless it is an especially sentimental or patriotic occasion where it is understood that old and familiar images should be remembered. Many people attend such events with an attitude of amused nostalgia. It might be fun to hear those old clichés again. 在中国文化中，一个作家或演说家通过引用过去的名人的话来显示自己的学识。而说明引用文段的来源并不重要。观众会因此了解并尊重你的学识。在美国，人们极少引用过去的名人的话，除非这是一个特别感性的或表达爱国情怀的场合，而过去的影响应当被铭记。很多人抱着怀旧与娱乐的态度参加这些活动，再次听到这些陈腔滥调也许是有趣的。 If you quote a less well known person from the far past, you will be showing yourself to be very learned, which may or may not be appropriate for the situation. It might be all right at an academic conference, but even on that occasion, it might be more effective to quote a television commercial or make fun of the lyrics of a Madonna hit song. 如果你引用一个过去并不知名的人的话，将会显得你非常有学识，即便这可能有合适或不合适的情况。在学术性会议上这也许是可以接受的，但即便是在这样的场合，引用电视广告或麦当娜的打榜歌曲也许会更加有效。 Americans like to do something unexpected. An advertising executive may get his audience’s attention by quoting the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, while a university professor might cleverly surprise an academic audience by using the famous Nike advertisement when he says,“just do it.” 美国人喜欢做一些令人意想不到的事情。广告主管可能通过引用古希腊哲学家柏拉图的话来引起他的听众的注意，而大学教授可能会巧妙地使用著名的耐克广告语，”“只是做它。”来带给他的观众学术上的惊喜。 If you quote Martin Luther King, jr. some listeners may suspect you of mocking him, as it is considered clever to quote a famous saying in an ironic or satirical way. 如果你引用马丁路德金的话，一些听众会认为你是在嘲笑他，正如你自以为是地用一种自嘲或嘲讽的方式引用了一句名言。 The culture waters are treacherous indeed! Already we can see that the stories people tell themselves about culture, and especially about their own culture, are very different. To an American, culture is a fast moving train, and it is better for a speaker to stumble over his words than to fail to keep up with the train. To a Chinese, culture is a treasure of great works and cultural achievements. Speakers are expected to present themselves as cultured persons by speaking well and showing their knowledge of the appropriate cultural treasures. 文化水域确实是危险的！我们已经可以看到人们告诉自己关于文化的故事，尤其是对他们自己的文化的故事，是非常不同的。对于美国人来说，文化是一列快速前进的火车，对于一个演讲者来说，宁可说的结结巴巴也不要赶不上火车前进的速度。对于中国人来说，文化是民族伟大作品和文化成就的宝库。演讲者们希望自己能很好地展示他们对文化宝藏的认识，以显示自己是一个文化修养极深的人。 Characteristics of culture    文化的特征 This is probably the most widely accepted definition of culture: Culture the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable of people. 这可能是最被广泛接受的关于文化的定义：文化是信仰，习俗，价值观，行为，共享的和交流方式的总和，人们学习并代代相传作为人们独特的特征。 An important characteristic of culture is that it is shared. People with the same culture share ideas, ways of behaving, and a whole way of life. What members of a culture have in common includes values and beliefs, customs, perhaps gestures or certain foods and ways of eating. They may also share a distinctive history and artifacts as well as an artistic tradition including music, literature and folk stories. These shared aspects of culture are part of the objective culture, the part of the iceberg that is above the surface of the sea. But this definition does not go far enough. It leaves unanswered the important question of what causes members of a particular culture to agree that certain behaviors or historical events have certain meanings. 文化的一个重要特征之一就是他是共享的。相同文化根源的人分享、行为方式和生活方式。一种文化中的成员有着共同的价值观，信仰和习惯，也许表现为某些手势或食物以及饮食方式。他们还可以共享一段特定的历史和文物以及艺术传统，包括音乐，文学和民间故事。这些文化的共同层面是客观文化的一部分，是海洋表面的冰山的一部分。但这个定义并不充分。它留下了一个没有回答的重要问题就是，是什么取得了特定文化的成员同意，使得某些行为或历史事件有一定的意义。 As participants in a culture, we are meaning makers 作为文化的参与者，我们也是意义的制造者。 People often talk about the world as if it “has” meaning, as if the meaning of things were built to them. When people are living totally within their home cultures, meaning does, indeed, seem to be obvious, fixed, and mostly unchanging. As members of a particular culture, it is easy to believe that we are merely passively receiving meanings that are built into things. It takes some efforts to realize that a gesture, a painting, or a contract has no meaning until someone assign it. Humans are the meaning-making animals, and it is in making meanings that our human ancestors created culture and the particular cultures within which we all live. We ourselves continue this human activity of making meaning, of responding to and interpreting what goes on around us in such a way that we can make sense of it. We are constantly but unconsciously creating order and predictability out of the raw material of our day-to-day experience by assigning meaning to it. Sharing culture is sharing meanings. 人们经常谈论这个世界，就好像它是“有”意义的，就好像事物的意义是建立在他们基础之上。当人们完全生活在他们的文化中，意义确实如此，这似乎是显而易见的，固定的，而且大多是不变的。作为特定文化的成员，我们很容易相信我们仅仅是被动地接受那些被建立在事物中的意义。要意识到一个手势，一幅画，或者一个合同是没有意义的，直到有人赋予它们意义。人类是创造意义的动物，它是人类祖先创造的文化和我们生活中的特定文化的意义。我们自身继续这个人类活动的创造意义，作出回应和解释在这样一种方式，我们可以使之行得通。我们不断地在不知不觉中创造秩序和可预测性，从我们日常经验的原始资料中，分配给它的意义。分享文化是分享的意义。 It is the complex system of meanings that we merely accept from our culture without being aware that that is what we are doing that tells us how to interpret what is going on in any situation. It is what allows us to mold our actions and responses so that we behave in a way that others with whom we share culture can accept. It is what allows us to behave appropriately according to the meaning system of our culture. 这是一个复杂的意义系统，我们只是接受来自我们自身的文化，却不知道，这是我们正在做的，告诉我们如何解释什么是在任何情况下发生。这让我们能够塑造我们的行为和反应，使我们行为的方式正确，使与我们分享同一种文化的其他人可以接受。它允许我们根据我们文化的意义系统作出合适的行为表现。 Cultures are always changing  文化处于不断变化之中 It is also necessary to recognize that cultures are not static. They are constantly changing and evolving under the impact of events and through contact with other cultures. Changes in behaviors and customs might occur rapidly while changes in basic patterns and values, in ways of looking at the world, in meaning systems, tend to occur more slowly. 我们也有必要认识到文化不是一成不变的。通过与其他文化的接触，文化在事件的影响下不断地改变和发展。行为和习惯上的变化可能会迅速引发基本模式和价值观的变化，而在看待世界的方式，和意义系统上变化，往往会出现地更慢。 Beginning to do culture 开始做文化 Learning to do culture rather than simply learning about culture is an ambitious undertaking. It is first necessary to raise your level of awareness. Reading this book and doing the suggested activities is a way to begin. 学习文化，并不是简单将学习文化当做是一项雄心勃勃的事业。首先要提高你的意识水平。读这本书，并提出建议这项活动是一种开始的方式。 Another strategy you can use is to practice seeing your culture the way others who are not a part of it see it. Foreign observers are usually far from objective, but they often notice things that you have never notice. Some of the most insightful writers about the American character and American culture have been Europeans. They were able to see things that the natives took for granted. 你可以使用的另一个策略是练习看到你的文化的另一方面，而不是其他人所都能看到的部分。外国观察家的观察通常远离客观文化，但他们经常注意到你从未注意到的事情。一些极有见地的作家在描写关于美国的性格和美国文化的时候已经被欧洲人同化。他们能够看见东西的是当地人认为理所当然的。 Another strategy is to gain some distance from your home culture by looking at it as if you were a scientist observing it systematically with no prejudgment as to what you will find. This is not easy, but we give you some tools for doing it in the later chapters of this book. By looking at your culture in comparison with other cultures you get some idea of how it may appear to others. The goal is to learn to approach your own culture more analytically and to encourage you to be cautious when interpreting another culture. 另一个策略是保持一定距离的看待本土文化，从一个科学家的角度，没有偏颇地进行系统观察。这并不容易做到，但在这本书的后面几章中我们将为你提供一些工具去做这件事。通过与其他文化的比较，你会了解到本土文化是如何展现在他人面前的。这样做的目标是要学会更理性地接近你的文化，鼓励你在解释另一种文化时要谨慎。 Exploring ideas      探索思想 1. Look for a book, article or film that describes a foreigner’s experience with your culture. For instance, Mark Salzman’s book iron and silk and the film made from the book, describe his experiences with Chinese culture. 1、看一本书，一篇文章或电影，介绍外国人与自身的文化的经历。例如，Mark Salzma的书《钢铁和丝绸》，以及据此拍摄的电影，他们的电影，描述他对中国文化的经历与感受。 2. If possible, interview a foreign visitor to your country. Ask them what they noticed when they first arrived and what meaning they made out of what they observed. You may not agree with their analysis, but seeing your culture through other eyes will give you a new perspective. In a class discussion or in an essay give your own interpretations of the characteristics foreigners frequently attribute to Chinese culture. 2、如果可能的话，采访一位到你的国家游览的外国游客。当他们第一次到达的时候，询问他们什么注意到了什么，观察到了什么。你可能不同意他们的理解或是分析，但通过其他人的眼睛看到自身的文化会带给你一个新的视角。在课堂讨论或在描述你自身对文化看法的文章中，经常归因于中国文化。 3. Examine the popular images of your culture that appear in the mass media or literature of another country. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the images or stereotypes that foreigners have of your culture? How do you explain the reasons that these images have become accepted? What do these images tell you about the worldviews or meaning systems of the cultures that created them? 3．从出现在大众媒体或文学的另一个国家的流行图像中审视自身的文化。你在多大程度上同意或不同意外国人对你文化的印象或成见？你如何解释这些图像已经被接受的？那么这些图片是如何告诉你关于世界观或意义生成的文化系统？ Contact between cultures          跨文化交流 It is important to recognize how deeply culture influences us because when people come in contact with other cultures, they interpret the unfamiliar culture according to the meaning system of their home culture. A short fable told by Jean Brick in her book China: A Handbook in Intercultural Communication illustrates this point very well: 认识到文化对我们的影响是很重要的，因为当人们接触到其他文化时，他们会根据自身文化的意义系统来解释陌生的文化。Jean Brick在她的书《跨文化交际手册》讲述的一则简短的寓言就很好的说明了这一点。