| A | 你的美国表弟怎么样？ |
| nǐ de Měiguó biǎodì zěnmeyàng?
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| How is your American cousin? |
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| B | 特别有意思的一个人，就是没办法沟通。 |
| tèbié yǒu yìsi de yī ge rén, jiùshì méi bànfǎ gōutōng.
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| He is a very interesting individual, but there is no way of communicating. |
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| A | 他不会说中文？ |
| tā bù huì shuō Zhōngwén?
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| He doesn't speak Chinese? |
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| B | 会是会一点，都是些比较简单的句子。他在芝加哥出生，一直都没回来过。这是他第一次回国。见到那么多亲戚，人都晕了。 |
| huì shì huì yīdiǎn, dōu shì xiē bǐjiào jiǎndān de jùzi. tā zài Zhījiāgē chūshēng, yīzhí dōu méi huílai guo. zhè shì tā dì yī cì huíguó. jiàndào nàme duō qīnqi, rén dōu yūn le.
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| He can a little bit--all just relatively basic phrases. He was born in Chicago, and had never come here. This is his first time to China. He's met so many relatives, it was overwhelming for him. |
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| A | 是啊，光那些七大姑八大姨就要记好一阵。他们家很早就去美国了吧？ |
| shì a, guāng nàxiē qīdàgūbādàyí jiùyào jì hǎoyīzhèn. tāmen jiā hěn zǎo jiù qù Měiguó le ba?
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| Yeah, just learning the terms for all the relatives takes quite a while. Did they move to America a long time ago? |
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| B | 对，爷爷那辈就去了，是老华侨。我记得刚改革开放，他就写信给我们，我们都吓了一跳。 |
| duì, yéye nà bèi jiù qù le, shì lǎo huáqiáo. wǒ jìde gāng gǎigé kāifàng, tā jiù xiěxìn gěi wǒmen, wǒmen dōu xià le yī tiào.
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| Yes. It was in his Grandfather's generation that they left and became overseas Chinese. I recall that just after China opened up to the outside world, he wrote us all a letter. We were all so surprised. |
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| A | 那时候真闭塞，现在进出国门简直是家常便饭。好多新移民都是两边跑。 |
| nà shíhou zhēn bìsè, xiànzài jìnchū guómén jiǎnzhí shì jiāchángbiànfàn. hǎo duō xīn yímín dōu shì liǎngbiānpǎo.
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| At that time it was very closed off, and now going in and out of China is very commonplace. Many new immigrants now go back and forth. |
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| B | 现在中国就缺这些懂不同语言文化的人，所以华裔特别有优势。我表弟这次就是想看看有什么机会。可惜他语言不过关，否则马上就能找到好工作。 |
| xiànzài Zhōngguó jiù quē zhèxiē dǒng bùtóng yǔyán wénhuà de rén, suǒyǐ huáyì tèbié yǒu yōushì. wǒ biǎodì zhècì jiùshì xiǎng kàn kan yǒu shénme jīhuì. kěxī tā yǔyán bù guòguān, fǒuzé mǎshàng jiù néng zhǎodào hǎo gōngzuò.
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| Right now China is lacking people with understanding of different languages and cultures, so overseas Chinese have a great advantage. My cousin is here this time looking for some opportunities. It's too bad his language is not up to par--if it were, he would find a good job very quickly. |
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| A | 哎，如果从小开始学中文就好了。 |
| āi, rúguǒ cóngxiǎo kāishǐ xué Zhōngwén jiù hǎo le.
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| Man, it would have been good if he had learned from an early age. |
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| B | 他是第三代移民，连他父母都不太会说，更别说他了。而且好多人刚出去的时候怕孩子语言跟不上，就鼓励他们多说英语。这样难免要忽略中文，也没办法。 |
| tā shì dì sān dài yímín, lián tā fùmǔ dōu bùtài huì shuō, gèng bié shuō tā le. érqiě hǎo duō rén gāng chūqù de shíhou pà háizi yǔyán gēnbushàng, jiù gǔlì tāmen duō shuō yīngyǔ. zhèyàng nánmiǎn yào hūlǜe Zhōngwén, yě méi bànfǎ.
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| He's a third generation immigrant, even his parents cannot speak Chinese that well, so obviously he can't either. On top of that, when many people leave here, they are scared that their children wont be able to keep up with the new language, so they urge them to speak English. So when this happens it's easy for their Chinese to get neglected--there's no way around it. |
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| A | 也是。你表弟的想法比较像美国人还是中国人？ |
| yěshì. nǐ biǎodì de xiǎngfǎ bǐjiào xiàng Měiguórén háishi Zhōngguórén?
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| You're right. So, is your cousin's thinking more American or Chinese? |
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| B | 不能这么分吧。我问过他，他说自己是美国人，好多想法也比较西化。但是他也认同中国的一些传统价值，因为他是华人。 |
| bùnéng zhème fēn ba. wǒ wèn guo tā, tā shuō zìjǐ shì Měiguórén, hǎo duō xiǎngfǎ yě bǐjiào xīhuà. dànshì tā yě rèntóng Zhōngguó de yīxiē chuántǒng jiàzhí, yīnwèi tā shì huárén.
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| It's hard to distinguish. I have asked him, and he says he is an American, and that a lot of his viewpoints are very western. However, he does identify with some traditional Chinese values as he is of Chinese decent. |
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| A | 噢哟，双重身份真不容易。有机会叫他一块儿出来玩儿吧。 |
| ōyō, shuāngchóng shēnfèn zhēn bù róngyì. yǒujīhuì jiào tā yīkuàir chūlai wánr ba.
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| Wow, a dual identity cant be easy. If the chance comes up, invite him to come out with us. |
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| B | 好啊，他正想多交些朋友呢。 |
| hǎo a, tā zhèng xiǎng duō jiāo xiē péngyou ne.
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| Sure. He really wants to make some friends. |
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