A British secondary school has recently recruited many Chinese students.  You have been asked to help as an interpreter for some of the parents at a parents’ evening. The following is a dialogue between a Chinese parent and an English parent. The English speaker starts first.

E     Nowadays I really find it difficult to understand young people’s popular culture. // And these youngsters don’t respect the things that we did when we were their age.//

Ch  每一代人都有不同的流行文化，总的来说流行的内容可能有所不同，但是基本的形式还是大同小异。// 比如我们小的时候流行唱歌或者跳舞，现在的年轻人也不过如此。//

E     No, these days they will switch on their dreadful music as loud as they can: // they simply don’t care about anyone else. I really can’t stand them at all!//

Ch  我想你应该对年轻人的爱好持一种同情友好的态度，不应该把他们当作你的敌人来对待。// 你越是讨厌他们，他们就变得更使 你讨厌。你应该主动去了解他们的文化。//

E     Try to understand their culture? You must be joking! I can’t even understand a word they say! // The other day my son said to me: “Dad, you’re sad.” // And I said: “Who wouldn’t be sad to have son like you.” You know what? All his friends laughed their heads off. //

Ch  看来要了解年轻人的文化首先要了解他们的语言，如果不懂他们的语言就不可能了解他们的文化。//