和老外聊天的地道口语第16期:跨国婚姻

N: if you can choose, will you marry a foreigner or a Chinese?
S: why? Did tom pop the question?
N: not yet. But I wonder if I can get my parents’ consent¹.
S: let me guess, your parents want you to marry a Chinese man, right?
N: you are right. It is giving me a real headache. I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place.
S: I used to have the same problem when I was with my ex.
N: oh, how did you deal with it?
S: I just let it go and continued dating with my Korean boyfriend. But finally we broke up.
N: oh, it’s a pity. What was the matter?
S: simple. We had personality clashes³ and there were too many cultural differences.
N: like what?
S: he hoped to live in the Korean way and asked me to give up working and stay at home to take care of the family.
N: Oh, I see. In their culture women should put family first.
S: yes, he said it would be batter⁴ for me and for the whole family. But I simply can not quit working.
N: so that's why it’s hard to have a happy marriage with a foreigner.
S: not really. There are many successful mixed marriage around us.
如果让你选的话，你是愿意嫁给一个中国人还是一个外国人？
为什么这么问，汤姆向你求婚了吗？
没有，我怕父母不同意。
我猜猜，你父母一定是想你嫁一个中国人，对吗？
是啊，我正头疼呢，我觉得左右为难。
我和以前的男朋友谈恋爱时，也遇到了同样的问题。
那你怎么解决的？
我就顺其自然，继续和我的韩国男朋友约会，但是后来我们还是分手了。
太可惜了，为什么啊？
很简单，我们性格不合，双方文化也有很多不同之处。
比如呢？
他希望我过韩式的生活，要求我放弃工作，安心待在家里。
这样啊，在他们的文化里，女性应该以家庭为重。
是啊，他说这样对我，对整个家庭都好。但是我就是不想辞掉工作。
所以和外国人结婚，很难幸福。
也不一定，我们周围不也有很多成功的例子嘛。
Consent  同意
Silence means consent.
沉默意味着同意。

Headache  令人头疼的
Trying to make the children eat is one big headache.
设法使孩子们吃饭是一大麻烦事。

Ex  前男(女)友

Quit  放弃
He has quit smoking.
他已戒了烟。

Personality  个性
His personality left a deep impression on us.
他的人品给我们留下了深刻的印象。

Clash²  冲突
The demonstration⁵ ended in a violent clash with the police.
游行示威以与警察的激烈冲突而告终.

Successful  成功的

Deal with  处理

Let it go  顺其自然

Break up  分手

Cultural shocks  文化冲突

Give up  放弃

Put family first  以家庭为重

Mixed marriage  跨国婚姻
In recent years there have been increasing number of mixed marriages.
近年来,跨国婚姻越来越多.

She married an American despite strong opposition⁶ from her family and friends.
尽管她的家人和朋友极力反对，她还是嫁给了一个美国人。
Opposition: 反对;反抗;对抗
The new tax program met with fierce opposition.
新的征税计划遭到强烈反对。

For most Chinese, marriage is a lifetime matter.
对大多数中国人而言，婚姻是一辈子的事情。
a lifetime matter:一辈子的事情

They always meet misunderstandings because of language difficulties.
他们因为语言不通，总是产生误会。
Misunderstanding: 误会,误解

It is crucial⁷ for cross-cultural couples to get to know each other’s cultures.
对来自不同文化背景的夫妻来说，了解双方国家的文化是非常关键的。
It is crucial for sb to do sth: 对…来说,做…是很关键的,至关重要的.
 

1 consent   

n.同意，准许；vi.同意，准许

参考例句：

• I agree with you, but yet I can't consent.我同意你的意见，但是我不能答应。
• My father would not consent to my leaving school.父亲不会答应我辍学。

2 clash   

vi.冲突，不协调，砰地相撞；n.冲突，不协调

参考例句：

• There is a clash between two classes at 2 p.m. on Thursday.星期四下午两点有两堂课是冲突的。
• The pot came down on the stone floor with a clash.锅“当”地一声掉到石地上。

3 clashes   

冲突( clash的名词复数 )； 不协调； （两群人之间的）打斗

参考例句：

• Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators. 警方与示威者发生了冲突。
• Several policemen were injured in the clashes. 几名警察在冲突中受伤。

4 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

5 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 crucial   

adj.极重要的，决定性的，关键性的

参考例句：

• It's a crucial decision.这是一个极其重要的决定。
• The foreign market was increasingly crucial.国外市场越来越重要了。