老外跟中国人不同，在学校里最受欢迎的（包括老师也喜欢的）是体育好或者是活泼好动的孩子，中国人那种学习很好，但是天天埋头学习的学生，老外是有点排斥的。这个倒也不奇怪，因为老外的孩子即使不念大学，生活的质量跟大部分念了大学的学生也不会有太大的区别，而在国内那区别就大了。孩子们基本上做的都是自己想做的事情，家长也乐得让他们这样。老外的孩子也同样在好像温室一样的环境下长大，当着孩子的面，是不能说什么粗口，甚至连hell这种词也不能说。所以有教养家庭长大的老外，是很温和并且有礼貌的。冬奥会开幕式上有一段，说如果简单描述加拿大人，那就是两个词，please and thank you。
老外都很在乎家庭观念，记得哥有一次去买个生日礼物给我妈，我买了个吊坠，里面我说要放上我们一家人的照片，然后我说是我妹告诉我这家店的，那个售货阿姨突然表情凝重起来，问我,do you love your sister? - -哥楞了，哥说，yes, of coz i love her.然后她问哥,then why you dont want to put your sis's photo in?哥恍然大悟，哥忙解释那个是表妹，但是按照中国人的习惯，表妹也叫sister。老外也经常会聊一些自己家里的话题，但是注意一定不要问，要让他自己说，中国人的一些喜欢追问的习惯，其实是很不礼貌的。你要做的就是随声附和并且顺便说下自己的情况或者感想。即使想问，也要很有策略地问。比如，哥有个同事说最近买房子了，哥先说恭喜，然后说那一片的房子好啊，如此如此，然后说也有别的朋友在那附近买了，房子要多少钱什么的。。这个时候他也许自己就说了，如果不说，那就作罢，因为人家不想说，你不能问- -
9:59 CTVOlympics.ca: Thank you for joining us today for our live chat before Canada-Russia with Globe and Mail writer Eric Duhatschek and analyst Doug MacLean. 10:00 CTVOlympics.ca: Eric and Doug, is this the biggest hockey game in Canadian history? 10:00 eric duhatschek: hi Eric Duhatschek here, in my hotel room, looking forward to a big day 10:01 Doug MacLean: There have been a couple of big ones. I remember 72, but you know what I think it's the biggest because it's in Canada 10:01 [Comment From sylvain] who has the upper hand in net?? now that canada has benched their best goalie!? :( 10:01 [Comment From Kyle Chua] I think this is the biggest game in Canadian history. 10:01 eric duhatschek: Because of its historical significance, I would say Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series is - and always will be - the most important hockey game ever played by a Canadian team. Bu tonight's game might be the most important ever played in Canada - although the 1975 New year's Eve game between Montreal and Red Army would rank right up there. 10:02 Doug MacLean: Neither goalie has got it done on the big stage on NHL. 10:02 [Comment From Josh] Do you guys think there is just as much pressure on the Russians from their home to get it done tonight as the Canadians? 10:02 [Comment From Guest] just wondering why marc andre fleury didnt get a look in,afteer all as a pressure goalie he has the most recent success 10:02 [Comment From scott] did tyou think that the round robin would play out this was- czech losing to russians, swedes beating the finns, usa being the number one seed? 10:02 [Comment From steve] do the pro's bring less heart to the game compared to the juniors who use to play in the olympics? 10:02 Doug MacLean: I think Luongo has the upper hand because it's Vancouver, it's an amazing opportunity to get over the hump on the biggest stage possible. 10:03 [Comment From Howedy] It is impossible to determine who Canada's best goalie is on a night to night basis, whoever skates out is better than nabokov imo 10:03 eric duhatschek: Yes, I do think the Russians are feeling the heat at home in a big meaningful way. I have a couple of friends in the Russian journalist core and they view this game as absolutely pivotal - stealing a win here would be revenge for what happened over there back in '72
Ok, today let me raise the bar a little bit and put my translation in.
right before going to bed, i come up here and have a look. Team Canada won the game! - - its really the so-called "biggest hockey game in Canadian history". now we kindly returned the favor to them and wish we can have a even better game with the team USA.
also this bring me some memory about the national piggy soccer team of China. on every tournament, the famous piggy team will be screaming as always, OMG, we r in the group of death again! and if they won, they would say something like they r really the heroes but if they lose, for sure there would be a reason for them to perform like pigs.
well, lets see what did team canada do. they lost the game with USA even when they were dominating the game. and they said, we screwed it, but thats okay. we chose the hard way, and we will finish it in the hard way with no fear. germans, bring it on! russians, bring it on! americans, bring it on! we r ready for the great games!
the team is BACK, this is the team that i've been yearning for....
其实哥一直坚持的观点就是草根英语，就是用最简单的英语表达你的意思。哥上面翻译那段就是属于on the fly的翻译，随想随写，其实也没有完全按照中文来，但是如果要按照好像新闻稿那样来写，就需要停顿一下，揣摩一下用什么词比较好。
这个就是，要知道在什么时候用什么英语。老外在口语的时候，用的都是很随便的英语，但是在信件中，就会完全不同。哥举个例子哈，假如你让谁谁准备个表格，你会说 hi marry（请容忍哥用这个俗气的名字），can u help to put those forms together? 但是如果在一封email里面，就会说 Hi Marry, would you please help to consolidate those forms into one spreadsheet? 至少掌握两种语气，才会在英语交流的时候不会显得奇怪。有一种很有趣的语气，大家可以留意在电视剧CSI里面的警察的对话，那些都是一些连普通百姓都有可能听不懂的词汇，但是那些是最准确的描述性语言。