Living in the foreign culture can be exciting, but it can also be confusing. A group of Americans who taught English in other countries recently discussed their experiences. They discussed that miscommunications were always possible, even over something as simple as “yes”and“no”.
     On her first day in Micronesia, an island in the Pacific, Lisa thought the waitress wasn't paying any attention to her. The day was hot she went into a store and asked, "Do you have any cold drinks?" The woman there didn't say anything. Lisa repeated the question again. Still the woman said nothing. She later learned that the woman had answered her: She has raised her eyebrows, which in Micronesia, it means, "yes".
     Jan remembered an experience she had in Bulgaria, a country in Europe. She went to a restaurant that was known for its cabbage. She asked the writer,“Do you have cabbage today?”He nodded his head. Jan waited, but the cabbage never came. In that country, a nod means "no".
     Tom had a similar problem when he arrived in India. After explaining something in class, he asked his students if they understood. They answered with different nods and shakes of heads. He thought some people hadn't understood, so he explained again. When he asked again, they did the same thing. He soon found out that his students did understand. In India, people nod and shake heads in different ways. It depends on where they come from.

    Hello! I am Jack. I am a student in Class Two, Grade Seven. I am thirteen years old now. I have a telephone. My telephone number is seven two three, eight one three.

    This is my friend. Her name is Cindy. She is my classmate(同学). She is fourteen years old. She has three new books. They are on the desk. She likes to read books very much and she likes to draw, too. Her telephone number is eight five four, two seven eight.

    On a cold winter day, a fox told Mother Bear that he would teach her how to fish Mother Bear wanted to learn, so the fox took her to a hole in the ice and told her to put her tail(尾巴)down into the water.

    He told her to keep the tail there for a long time. Then when she pulled the tail out of the water, she would find fish around the tail.

    The bear was foolish enough to believe what the fox said. She sat for a long time with her tail in the water. She was waiting for the fish. But when she tried to pull her tail out of the water, she found that it was frozen(冻结)in the ice.

    She asked the fox to pull her out, but the fox laughed at her and ran away. So she called Father Bear to help her.

    Father Bear came. He pulled her hard and at last got her out. But a part of her tail was in the ice. That is why people find the bear's tail so short.

    One afternoon, Kate and her brother, Bob, went out to play. Kate was eight, and Bob was ten. "Let's go to the bridge and we can see fish in the river," said Kate.

    "I don't know..." Bob said. "Mum told us, 'Don't go on the bridge.' She said it's dangerous."

    Kate said, "I am not afraid. Are you?" They walked onto the bridge and began looking for fish in the river. The bridge was a train bridge. Trains went over the bridge three times a day.

    The children were standing in the middle of the bridge when they heard a loud noise. "A train is coming!" Bob shouted. "Run!" He ran to the end of the bridge. He was safe.

    Kate ran, too, but she fell. The train was coming fast. Kate ran towards Bob. She fell again right on the train tracks (铁轨). There was no time to leave. She had to lie down between the tracks. A few seconds later, the train went over the girl, but she was not hurt at all. She stood up and said to Bob, "Don't tell Mum! Don't tell Mum!"

    At last their mother found out about the story. She was angry because they went on the bridge. But she was happy that Kate was all right.