VOA慢速英語:Making Friends Not Always Easy for Foreign Students

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語教育報道。

A recent story in the Chronicle of Higher Education said many foreign students report feeling lonely or unwelcome in Australia. Those feelings are among the reasons why Australia is taking a close look at its international education industry. The government has formed an advisory council to help develop a five-year national strategy for the future of international education in Australia.

《高等教育紀事報》最近一篇報道稱，許多外國學(xué)生稱在澳大利亞感到孤獨或不受歡迎。這些感受是澳大利亞密切關(guān)注其國際教育產(chǎn)業(yè)的原因之一。澳大利亞政府已經(jīng)成立了一個咨詢委員會，幫助開發(fā)澳大利亞國際教育未來五年的國家戰(zhàn)略。

But wherever international students go, making friends may not always be easy. The Journal of International and Intercultural Communication recently published a study done in the United States.

但不管國際學(xué)生去哪，交朋友可能不總是那么容易?！秶H及跨文化交流》雜志最近發(fā)表了在美國進行的一項研究。

Elisabeth Gareis of Baruch College in New York surveyed four hundred fifty-four international students. They were attending four-year colleges and graduate schools in the American South and Northeast.

紐約巴魯克學(xué)院的伊麗莎白·加賴斯(Elisabeth Gareis)調(diào)查了454名國際學(xué)生，他們就讀于美國南部和東北部的四年制大學(xué)和研究生院。

Students from English-speaking countries and from northern and central Europe were more likely to be happy with their friendships. But thirty-eight percent of the international students said they had no close friends in the United States.

來自英語為母語國家以及歐洲北部和中部的學(xué)生可能對他們的友誼更為滿意。但38%被調(diào)查的國際學(xué)生中表示，他們在美國沒有親密朋友。

And half of the students from East Asia said they were unhappy with the number of American friends they had. Professor Gareis says thirty percent said they wished their friendships could be deeper and more meaningful.

一半來自東亞的學(xué)生表示，他們不滿意自己交的美國朋友的數(shù)量。加賴斯教授說，30%的受訪者表示，他們希望自己的友誼更深入更有意義。

ELISABETH GAREIS: "Students from East Asia have cultures that are different on many levels from the culture in the United States. But then there's also language problems, and maybe some social skills, such as small talk, that are possibly not as important in their native countries, where it's not as important to initiate friendships with small talk."

加賴斯：“東亞學(xué)生有著在很多層面上和美國不同的文化，然而緊接著還有語言問題，可能還包括社交技巧，像寒暄，這在他們國內(nèi)可能并不重要，在那里通過寒暄激發(fā)友誼并不重要。”

She says many East Asian students blamed themselves for their limited friendships with Americans.

她表示，許多東亞學(xué)生將自己和美國人友誼有限的原因歸咎于自己。

ELISABETH GAREIS: "The vast majority blames themselves, actually for not speaking the language well enough, not knowing the culture well enough. There were also some comments about the college environment, like many of them were in the natural sciences or worked in labs where they were surrounded by other East Asians."

加賴斯：“絕大多數(shù)人歸咎于自己，實際上是由于語言不夠好，不太了解美國文化。此外還有一些對高校環(huán)境的意見，像他們中的許多人在自然科學(xué)領(lǐng)域，或在實驗室工作，身邊都是其他東亞人的。”

VOA's Student Union blogger Jessica Stahl did her own survey to find out how American students and foreign students relate to each other. More than one hundred students, about half of them American, answered her online questions.

美國之音學(xué)生聯(lián)盟的博主杰西卡·斯塔爾(Jessica Stahl)進行了自己的調(diào)查，以了解美國學(xué)生和外國學(xué)生如何相互關(guān)聯(lián)。一百多名學(xué)生參與了她的網(wǎng)上調(diào)查，其中約一半是美國學(xué)生。

Half of the international students and sixty percent of the Americans said they related as well or better to the other group than to their own group.

一半的國際學(xué)生和60%的美國學(xué)生表示，他們和非國人的關(guān)系一樣好，甚至更好。

Professor Gareis says students who make friends from their host country return home happier with their experience.

加賴斯教授稱，和東道主學(xué)生交朋友的國際學(xué)生回國后對自己的經(jīng)歷更為滿意。

ELISABETH GAREIS: "International students who make friends with host nationals are, overall, more satisfied with their stay in the host country. They have better language skills, they have better academic performance and they have better attitudes toward the host country."

加賴斯：“總體而言，和東道主學(xué)生交朋友的國際學(xué)生對他們在東道國的停留更為滿意。他們語言技能和學(xué)術(shù)表現(xiàn)更好，對東道國態(tài)度也更好。”