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!
談語言
各國的語言各不相同，不僅書面語、口語不同，而且手勢語也不同。
有一次，我的美國老師Joe Johnson 博士去買東西，他驚奇地發現在中國他連數手指都不熟練。他要買6個橘子，當他伸出5個左手和1個右手指時，賣橘子的弄不明白。當一個司機說在6點鍾接他時，伸出右手做了一個熟悉的手勢卻把老師弄糊塗了。這熟悉的手勢不是六，而像個煙鬥。
至于“一、四、五”那沒問題。在中國，用中指和食指表示“二”，對美國人卻是“勝利”的意思。中國的手勢語“三”是美國的“OK”。中國的“七”就像許多南歐和中東的國家用來表示錢的手勢。中國的“八”是個手槍的信號。中國的“九”在美國電視演播室的意思是你還剩30秒鍾幹完手中的活。中國的“十”對美國人來說表示生氣。但如果在其後有一張愉快的中國人的面孔，則並非如此。