English Original
I'm a newspaper editor. One day, a foreigner called me. He said in Chinese that he liked our newspaper very much, which delighted me. I then asked, "Could you share your impressions of our paper?"
The foreigner spoke at length, but I couldn't identify the language. It wasn't Chinese or Japanese. "Was that Spanish?" I wondered. "Can you speak Chinese? What language were you just using?" I inquired.
After a moment of silence, he replied with slight disappointment, "I'm English. I was speaking Chinese with you just now." Oh my goodness! I laughed until tears welled up. "Perhaps you'd better speak English," I suggested.
He began to talk extensively in English. Considering his limited Chinese, I attempted to converse with him in English.
After a few exchanges, he asked, "Are you speaking Latin? I couldn't understand a word. I'd comprehend more if you spoke Chinese." Oh my! "Is my English that poor?" I thought. "No, I don't think so. Perhaps he's an Englishman who can't grasp standard American English."
中文翻译
我是一名报纸编辑。一天，一位外国人给我打来电话。他用中文说他非常喜欢我们的报纸，这让我很高兴。于是我问道：“您能分享一下对我们报纸的印象吗？”
这位外国人说了一大堆，但我听不出是哪种语言。不是中文，也不是日语。“是西班牙语吗？”我心想。“您会说中文吗？您刚才说的是什么语言？”我问道。
沉默片刻后，他略带失望地回答：“我是英国人。我刚才一直在和你说中文。”天啊！我笑得眼泪都出来了。“也许您最好说英语，”我建议道。
他开始用英语滔滔不绝地讲起来。考虑到他的中文水平有限，我尝试用英语和他交流。
交谈几句后，他问道：“你是在说拉丁语吗？我一个字都听不懂。如果你说中文，我反而能明白更多。”我的天！“我的英语有那么差吗？”我想。“不，我不这么认为。也许他是个听不懂标准美式英语的英国人。”