When I was a new teacher in China, every day I taught English to my students and they taught me about China. One day the topic turned to saying: "I love you." I was shocked to learn that not one of my students had said this to their mothers, nor had their mothers said it to them
.初来中国当老师的那会儿,我每天都会给学生上英文课,同时他们也教我了解中国。一天我们探讨的话题是“说‘我爱你’”。使我感到震惊的是,没有一个学生对妈妈讲过这句话,他们的妈妈也未曾对他们说过。
"Does your mom love you?"
“妈妈爱你吗?”
"Of course," they chorused, a bit offended that I'd even asked.
“当然,”他们异口同声,我的问题似乎冒犯了他们。
"How do you know?" was my logical question. They responded that their moms cooked and always told them what they were doing wrong to show their caring. I was stunned. So mom's cooking and criticizing read out as "I love you".
“你怎么知道的?”我问了一个符合自己逻辑的问题。他们回答说妈妈会做饭给他们吃,常常会告诉他们哪里出了错以示关心。我大吃一惊。这样说来妈妈的饭菜和批评就可以解读为“我爱你”。