「璐璐写在开头的一些话」

这是咱们牛圈第二次英语线上活动，内容形式与第一次比，有沿用的（准备式发言），也有变化的（free discussion)。通过后续与每位参与牛牛的反馈调查，除了慧环和郑瑞二位有留美经历的伙伴的讨论参与度高，其他牛牛们表示虽然努力参与了，但词汇量不够，很难表达出想说的话，还因为有好些听不懂，有点跟不上，希望有对应的文字版。所以，璐璐特别把Part 2的部分记录成文字版，供各位联系用。另，由于微信语音分享有延时，个别对话内容可能前后不连贯，已作微调，但本着衷于原对话的原则，仍会有不连贯处。

【PART 2: Free Discussion】文字版

璐璐：大家准备这个topic时，觉得最难的是什么？

兴标：I think the most difficult for me is how to spell the vocabulary.

璐璐：Yes, it's my most difficult part as well. And fortunately I have already some basic vocabulary or expressions about food or flavor, but i still feel it's one of my difficult part to prepare esp. when I'm trying to explain to a foreigner a local food or dish and I have to look it up in the dictionary about the exact wording or expression. So I'd like to have some advice from Huihuan and Rui because you've stayed in America for years and i believe you're very good at it and I'd like to have your precious advice about this.

慧环：I think the most difficult part is how to explain to a foreigner a Chinese dish in the way they can understand. For example, when we say "驴打滚" we know what it means but they don't. So you have to dig deep into this words. We have to tell them the ingredients, for example 驴打滚 is more like sticky rice rolls stuffed with red bean paste. So it's more like we have think in mind for some time how this food is prepare and use the vacabulary that we know to explain it.

郑瑞：I really think Huihuan has a good point there.

超宁: The most difficult thing for me on this topic is I have a lot of things that I want to say in my mind in Chinese, but when I write down the words and my idea, I think there's nothing to say, or when I write it, I'm always disturbed by the words. I don't know the exact words so I have to look it up in the dictionary like Lulu. So I think it's the most difficult for me.

璐璐: Yes, I totally agree. For 驴打滚 every time when I tried to explain it to a foreigner, I'd always say:"Literarily translated into English, it's call 'a dunky rolling in the mud'. And they all kept their mouth widely open. And then I'll further explain what it is made of and how are made in details, like you said, made of the sticky rice and also some bean powder...

莉莉：My vocabulary is limited. 关于“吃”我只想到了eat/have. I can't describe in other words.

璐璐：So Chaoning, just relax because I'm also in the same situation as you are. And I remember yesterday when Xiaoya asked me about the English expression of 重庆小面, it also took me some time to look it up in the dictionary on line and then I gave an English explanation to her. 重庆小面, literarily translated into English is called "Chongqing Xiao/Small/Little Noodles", but it's only a special local noodles containing over 10 different condiments. "Xiao/little/small" only show love of local people to this local nodles. So don't worry, it takes time for us to learn more and more. I believe with the accumulation of each some points, we'll have bigger and bigger vocabulary and expressions.

郑瑞: This really reminds of me of one thing. When you go to a restaurant, say in America, most of the dishes are actually named after the ingredients in it.

郑瑞: Like Lulu just mentioned, 重庆小面, maybe if they have the dish in Chinese restaurants, they would translate it into Noodles in Chilly Peanut Sauce or Chilly Soy Sauce, that kind of thing.

璐璐：For my experience and understanding when I'm trying to introduce Chinese food to a foreigner, they key is not the literary name or translation.  The key is how you introduce the components or ingredients of this kind of food and how it is made...oh yes, just like what Huihuan introduces.

郑瑞：You know actually vocabulary is the problem for me, too. I actually don't know a lot of English words. But when you're trying to describe something I feel like it's helpful too to find another way to use very simple words to decribe a thing that you don't know how to say.

郑瑞：I think in Chinese quinines, I really like Sichuan food the best.

璐璐: As a Sichuan local, I'm very proud of it. Thanks for your loving!

璐璐：So guys does any of you have any other funny story about food?

璐璐: I think it's enough for food and vocabulary. I think it's more interesting to share some funny stories or experience about food culture of your own hometown or just like Rui introduces the cultural differences between the western and Chinese food cultures. It's also a very interesting story.

璐璐: I'd like to start first because I just remember several years ago when I went to the China town in London. And I went with my friends and my colleagues to a Chinese restaurant. My friend who already studied there for two years introduced to me that in the foreign Chinese restaurent there's a very interesting phenomenon.

璐璐：This restaurant always serves two different sets of menus. One menu is for westerners only and the other is only for the Chinese. And in the first menu for the westerners, you can find almost every dish is described as fried food. Because this way of cooking or flavor is more suitable for their tastes. So for the Chinese people they can have much wider and free choices about the real local flavor. So this is a very interesting phemonom that in one restaurant two different sets of menus are served.

璐璐：So Rui and Huihuan, do you have the same experience or have you heard of any similar story about this in America?

郑瑞：Yes, definitely. There are a lot of restaurant in Chinatown that have two menus.

郑瑞：I think one reason is that many foreigners cannot really eat some of the ingredients that we have in our dishes. Say a lot of animal organs in Sichuan food, they will never eat it.

璐璐：兴标，敢吃辣吗？

兴标：That's difficult for me. I can't eat spicy food.

璐璐：相信你吃了辣的，发音会更偏美式哈哈

慧环：Also in America there are many fake Chinese food restaurants. They serve food that are not served in China, like ....？chicken...beef and broccoli with brown sauce.

璐璐：What is brown sauce?

郑瑞：For the restaurant in order to survive they have to develop something that's suitable for foreigners.

慧环：带有酱油味的勾芡=brown sauce

郑瑞：I don't know either...I never ever figure out what is brown sauce. I even had it in a lot of restaurants but I never figured out what it is...yes, it's horrible.

慧环：Kind of weird.

璐璐：Ok, so now let's talk about more horrible flavor, 臭豆腐、臭鳜鱼、臭榴莲. Actually I'm a lover, I'm a fan of all stinky food. Do you know anything about stinky food in America or in your hometown, Huihuan and Rui? And other friends...you should be more active in this topic and I hope you can be more involved in this discussion, ok?

郑瑞：No no no...let me make this clear. 臭豆腐is very very delicious, but brown sauce is truely horrible.

璐璐：还有个问题，“我饿了”， 出了I'm hungry, 还有更多cool的表达法吗？

慧环：I am starving to death. 我要饿死了， 哈哈

璐璐：还有不？如果只是小饿呢？

郑瑞：外国人不怎么说hungry 我感觉

璐璐: Why? 他们肉吃得太多了？

璐璐：I'm pekish， 英语流利说里的，美语中常用吗？我还学了一句，I'm so famished, I want to pig out， 也是美语里常用的吗？

郑瑞：Never heard of it. I feel like they say "i can eat a horse".

郑瑞：I don'e know. Like i shared, it's not a serious thing to talk about that to eat.

璐璐：我担心有些语言学了却不是当地常用的，到时候说出来尴尬

慧环: I am a bit hungry, 可以讲小饿（用a little也可以） 外国人饿了会去喝咖啡,let's go and grab a (cup of) coffee.

璐璐：好吧，也许是我们太重视吃了。

慧环：Yes, I think there might be a cultural difference. Chinese people always want to talk about business or personal staffs during meal time, but for foreigners they would like to have coffee and talk about something.

璐璐: Recently I've also found drinking coffee is a good way to prevent me to get more hungry. I can now more understand why they say "let's go and grab a cup of coffee", thank you for your sharing. And Rui's sentence "You eat like a horse" reminds me of a sentence that I've newly learned--"you eat like a bird"你是吃猫食的。

郑瑞：That's cool.

兴标：foodie, 学到了一个新词儿

郑瑞：Foodie is a good word.

「后记」

活动结束后，询问了几位参与伙伴的感受和建议，最一致的反馈有两点：

1. 觉得词汇量不够，好多讨论听不懂，跟起来吃力；

2. 准备阶段发现好多表达都不会，感觉以前白学了。

其实这都与“输出”有关，如果输出不够，很难把刚学到的生词内化成自己的语言，自然无法做到信手拈来、不假思索。身边太多想提高英语的朋友，花了九成精力在“输入”（听、阅读）上，只花一成精力在“输出”（说、写）上。在这里，我直接呈上简单粗暴却有效的建议：花九成精力在输出，如果没机会说，就写下来，输出过程遇到不会的，反过来查字典，始终以输出为目的，输出带动输入，把原来倒置的本末调过来。坚持一段时间就能看到成效了。