谈语言(On Language)
language varies from country to country. it differs not only in written and spoken language but also in gestures.
once my american teacher, dr. joe johnson, went ont shopping. he was surprlsed to find out that he couldn't even count on his fingers proficiently in china. he tried to buy six oranges. the orange seller couldn't understand his two handed counting when he showed him five left hand fingers and one right hand finger. he was also confused when a driver said he would pick him up at six o'clock, and held his right band in a gesture familiar to himself. the gesture was not familiar as a six. it resembled a pipe.
there were no trouble with the numbers one, four, and five. in china, we show the middle and index fingers to mean two, but, for the americans, it means victory. the chinese guesture for three, to americans. means "okay." the chinese seven is like many people from southern europe aad the middle east gesture to mean "money". a chinese eight is like a symbol for a pistol. a chinese nine in an american tv studio means that you have thirty seconds left to finish what you are doing. and a chinese ten, to an american, can be an expression of anger, but not if there is a pleasant chinese face behind it!
