昨天，我的一位学生跟我分享了她在中国的文化冲击：
“我打喷嚏的时候，没人说‘Blessyou’，我感觉大家都忽略了我，好像没人关心我一样。”
为什么美国人会说“Bless you”？
在英语文化中，别人打喷嚏时说“Bless you” 是一种基本的礼貌，它起源于宗教，也传达了关心和祝福的意思。 在日常生活中，即使是陌生人打喷嚏，人们也常常会自动说一句 “Blessyou”。
那中国人为什么不说呢？
因为在中国，打喷嚏并没有被赋予特殊的“仪式感”或社交意义。我们更关注的是卫生和实际反应，
比如： • “你是不是感冒了？” • “快点多喝点水。”
**不说话，并不代表不关心。**只是我们表达关心的方式不一样，更偏向实际和间接。
误解从哪里来？
对于美国人来说，没听到“Bless you” 可能会被理解成“冷漠”或“不礼貌”； 但对于中国人来说，说这句话反而会让人觉得有点奇怪或太“西化”，尤其是陌生人之间。
小贴士 Tips forCross-Cultural Moments: • 如果你在中国，不要因为别人没说 “Bless you” 而难过，观察一下他们是否用其他方式表达了关心。
• 如果你是中国人，想让外国朋友更舒服，也可以试着在他们打喷嚏后说一句 “Bless you” 或 “保重啊”。
文化差异不只是语言的不同，更是表达习惯和心理期待的不同。学会理解彼此的“默契”，才能走得更近。
你有遇到过类似的小误会吗？欢迎留言告诉我，我们一起拆解文化“潜台词”！
English Translation:
Yesterday, one of my students shared her cultural shock experience in China:
“When I sneezed, no one said ‘Bless you.’ I felt like everyone ignored me, as if no one cared.”
Why do Americans say “Bless you”?
In English-speaking cultures, saying “Bless you” when someone sneezes is a basic gesture of politeness. It has religious origins and conveys care and goodwill. In everyday life, even strangers often automatically say “Bless you” when someone nearby sneezes.
So why don’t Chinese people say it?
Because in China, sneezing doesn’t carry any particular ritual or social meaning. Instead, people are more focused on hygiene and practical responses,
such as:
• “Are you catching a cold?”
• “You should drink more water.”
Not saying anything doesn’t mean people don’t care.
It’s just that the way we show care is different — more practical and indirect.
Where does the misunderstanding come from?
To Americans, not hearing “Bless you” might feel cold or impolite.
But to many Chinese people, saying it might actually seem a bit strange or “too Western,” especially between strangers.
Tips for Cross-Cultural Moments:
• If you’re in China, don’t be upset if no one says “Bless you” — observe if they’re showing care in other ways.
• If you’re Chinese and want to make foreign friends feel more comfortable, you can try saying “Bless you” or “Take care” after they sneeze.
Cultural differences aren’t just about language — they’re about how we express care and what we expect from others.
Learning to understand these “unspoken rules” helps bring us closer together.
Have you ever experienced a similar misunderstanding?
Feel free to share in the comments — let’s unpack the hidden messages behind different cultures together!
Chinese don’t like to say “thank you”?
系列：有趣的文化差异
第一集：中美“谢谢”的用法差异
在中国，“谢谢”是礼貌的基本表达。但在日常生活中，亲近的人之间反而不太频繁说“谢谢”。比如你妈妈给你盛了一碗饭，你一般不会抬头说“谢谢妈”，因为这种表达在家庭关系里会显得有点“见外”。
但在美国，“thank you”几乎无处不在。无论是服务员倒水、同事帮个小忙，甚至家人递个东西，他们都会习惯性地说“thanks”或者“thank you”。如果你不说，还会显得不礼貌。
这种差异反映了中美文化中“人情”与“平等”的不同价值观：
这也解释了为什么很多美国人来中国时，会觉得中国人“不太说谢谢”；而中国人去了美国后，则可能被“thank you”“thank you”搞得有点受宠若惊。
我个人的经历 在出国以前，我也不爱说谢谢，除非特别重大的事情。但是，在澳洲待了几年之后，我也常常说谢谢了。
Series: Interesting Cultural Differences
Episode 1: The Different Ways “Thank You” Is Used in China and the U.S.
In China, saying “thank you” is a basic expression of politeness. However, in daily life, people don’t often say it to those they are close to. For example, if your mom serves you a bowl of rice, you wouldn’t usually look up and say, “Thanks, Mom.” In fact, doing so might feel a bit too formal or distant within a family setting.
In contrast, in the U.S., “thank you” is used almost everywhere. Whether it’s a waiter pouring water, a colleague offering help, or a family member handing you something, people naturally say “thanks” or “thank you.” If you don’t, it might even come across as impolite.
This difference reflects the distinct values behind “relationships” in Chinese culture versus “equality” in American culture:
In Chinese culture, closeness often means you don’t need to be overly polite—what matters is emotional connection.
In American culture, individualism and equality are emphasized, so even the closest relationships require verbal expressions of respect and appreciation.
This also explains why many Americans visiting China might feel that Chinese people “don’t say thank you very often,” while Chinese people going to the U.S. might be surprised or even overwhelmed by all the “thank yous” they hear.
My personal experience:
Before going abroad, I didn’t say “thank you” much either—unless it was for something really significant. But after living in Australia for a few years, I find myself saying it all the time now!
你会爱上机器人吗？
假如有一个机器人完全是按照你的喜好制造的，他/她会为你做饭，帮你做家务，每天逗你开心，他/她了解你所有的需求，能满足你的所有要求，而且长得还很帅或者很漂亮，完全就是你的梦中情人，你会爱上他吗？
但是他/她可能没有心跳，没有人类的正常需求，不用吃饭，不用上厕所，也不需要睡觉。但是他会唱歌，也可能会跳舞，甚至上知天文，下知地理，你不会的事情问一下他就可以了。
但是他/她可能没有荷尔蒙，不知道他/她会不会让你心动呢？或者他/她可以成为很好的朋友？也可能是一个很危险的人物，如果他被病毒入侵了。你期待拥有一个机器人吗？Follow me on YouTube:nihaochinesenet
I wrote this article after watching a German film “Ich bin dein Mensch”, Chinese name"我是你的人”. It's a very fascinating movie, I recommend you to watch it!
English Translation:
Will you fall in love with robots?
If there was a robot that was built exactly according to your preferences, he/she would cook for you, help you do the housework, make you happy every day, he/she knew all your needs, could meet all your needs, and he/she was handsome or beautiful, and he/she would be your dream lover, would you fall in love with him/her?
But he or she may have no heartbeat, no normal human needs, no need to eat, go to the bathroom, and no need to sleep. But he can sing, maybe he can dance, even know astronomy, know geography. If you don't know something, just ask him. But he/she may not have hormones, I wonder if he/she will make you feel?
Or he/she could be a great friend? He could be a very dangerous person, if he's infected by a virus. Are you looking forward to owning a robot?
Hello大家好，今天给大家读一首古诗。This is a really famous poetry in China. When we just started our school, this was the first poetry we need to learn. 锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。chú hé rì dāng wǔ, hàn dī hé xià tǔ 谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。shuí zhī pán zhōng cān, lì lì jiē xīn kǔ. Mordern Chinese meaning: 农民在正午烈日的暴晒下锄禾，汗水从身上滴在禾苗生长的土地上。又有谁知道盘中的饭食，每颗每粒都是农民用辛勤的劳动换来的呢？这首诗是要告诉我们要珍惜自己的食物，不要浪费粮食。Follow me on Youtube: nihaochinesenet
English translation: 锄禾日当午，chú hé rì dāng wǔ (A farmer )Hoeing the grass under the noonday sun, 汗滴禾下土。hàn dī hé xià tǔ His sweat drips on the ground beneath the seedling. 谁知盘中餐，shuí zhī pán zhōng cān Who knows that the meal in the dish, 粒粒皆辛苦。lì lì jiē xīn kǔ Every single grain of rice means hardwork. word by word translation: 锄chú，动词，除草。 Verb, hoe, get rid of the grass from crops by a hoe, hoeing. 禾hé，名词，禾苗 。Noun, seedling, the small crops. 日rì，名词，太阳。Noun, the sun. 当 dān 介词， 当……时。Preposition, when, while. 午wǔ 名词， 中午。Noun, midday, noonday. 汗 hàn， 名词，汗水。Noun, Sweat. 滴 dī， 动词，滴落，掉下来。Verb, drip, Drip down. 禾 hé， 名词， 禾苗。Noun, seedling, the small crops. 下 xià， 方位名词，下面。Position noun, under, down. 土 tǔ ， 名词， 泥土。Noun, the soil, earth, the ground. 谁 shuí，人称代词，谁。Personal Pronoun, Who. 知zhī，动词，知道。Verb, know. 盘 pán， 名词，盘子。Noun, dish. 中 zhōng，方位名词，中间，在……里面。Position noun, in, in the middle of……. 餐 cān，名词，饭食。Noun, the meal. 盘中餐，盘子里的食物，碗里的饭食。the meal in the dish 粒lì，量词，谷物的数量。 Quantifier, grain, a grain of ...... 粒粒，every grain of 皆 jiē，副词，都。adverb, all. 辛xīn，形容词，辛苦。adjective, hard. 苦 kǔ，形容词，辛苦，痛苦。Adjective，painful. 辛苦，adjective, laborious.
小明的一天 小明早上七点起床，然后刷牙，洗脸，七点半吃早饭，然后八点去做地铁。八点半到公司，九点上班。 九点到十二点小明需要努力工作。十二点开始吃午饭，他午饭吃蛋炒饭，喝一杯咖啡。下午一点又开始工作，下午三点半是下午茶时间，他休息一会儿，吃一个苹果。然后五点下班。 回到家后，他开始准备晚饭，他晚饭吃西红柿炒鸡蛋和米饭，然后喝点儿粥。之后他开始躺在沙发上上网，玩手机，看短视频。 八点半他开始去洗澡，洗完澡看会书，他就准备睡觉了。晚安啦！Follow me on Youtube: nihaochinesenet
English Version:
A day of Xiaoming
Xiaoming gets up at seven o 'clock in the morning, then brush teeth, wash face, eat breakfast at 7:30, then take the subway at 8 o 'clock. Xiaoming arrive at the office at 8:30 and starts to work at 9:00.
Nine to twelve o 'clock Xiaoming needs to work hard. Lunch begins at twelve. He has egg fried rice and a cup of coffee for lunch. At one o 'clock in the afternoon he started work again, and at three thirty in the afternoon it was tea time, and he took a short break to eat an apple. Then I get off at 5:00.
When he arrived at home, he began to prepare dinner, he had scrambled eggs with tomatoes and rice for supper, and then some porridge. After dinner, he started lying on the couch surfing the Internet, playing on his phone and watching short videos. At eight thirty, he began to take a shower and read books for a while after shower. He is ready to go to bed. Good night!
Transcript at: https://www.patreon.com/posts/hsk1-graded-136211417?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
This story is based on HSK2 sentence pattern and vocabulary
https://www.patreon.com/posts/hsk2-graded-136212287?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
https://www.patreon.com/posts/hsk2-graded-136212287?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Mike的故事 Mike是澳大利亚人，他今年30岁了，他在香港工作，他每天坐地铁去上班。 他每天早上5点半起床，8点去上班，晚上6点下班，中午12点休息一个小时。他每天中午吃蔬菜沙拉和一个汉堡，他是一个素食主义者vegetarian 。他很爱学中文，每天早上起来学一个小时，晚上下班后再学一个小时。他很喜欢踢足球，每个星期六，他和朋友去踢足球。他很喜欢运动，他还喜欢游泳和冲浪surfing。冬天的时候，他还会去滑雪skiing。 他有一个姐姐，姐姐比他大三岁，姐姐今年生了一个儿子，叫Aiden. 他以前还有一个中国的女朋友，但是去年分手了，因为他忘记了女朋友的生日。她的前女友有一只猫，他很喜欢那只猫，他以后也想养一只猫。 Mike不喜欢逛街，他常常在网上购物，他喜欢在网上买衣服，因为很方便。他每个星期去一次超市买食物，他很想练习他的中文，但是香港人说粤语Cantonese 。所以他还没办法练习他的普通话。他打算9月份来中国大陆旅行，他想去北京和上海，你有什么旅行目的地推荐给他吗？Follow me on YouTube: nihaochinesenet
English Version:
Mike is from Australia. He is 30 years old, and he works in Hong Kong. He goes to work by subway every day. He gets up at 5.30am every day, goes to work at 8am, gets off work at 6pm and takes an hour's rest at 12pm. He has salad and a hamburger for lunch every day. He is a vegetarian. He loves learning Chinese very much. Every morning he gets up and studies for an hour, and every evening he studies for another hour after work. He likes playing football very much. Every Saturday, he goes to play football with his friends. He likes sports. He also likes swimming and surfing. In the winter, he also goes skiing.
He has a sister who is three years older than him and who gave birth to a son named Aiden this year. He used to have a Chinese girlfriend, but broke up with her last year because he forgot her birthday. Her ex-girlfriend had a cat. He loved the cat. He wanted to have a cat someday.
Mike doesn't like shopping. He often shops online. He likes to buy clothes online because it is convenient. He goes to the supermarket once a week to buy food. He really wants to practice his Chinese, but the people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese. So he hasn't been able to practice his Mandarin.
四个太阳
我画了个绿绿的太阳，挂在夏天的天空。高山、田野（field）、街道、校园，到处一片清凉（cool and refreshing）。
我画了个金黄（gold）的太阳，送给秋天。果园（orchard）里，果子熟了（the fruit is ripe）。金黄的落叶忙着邀请（invite）小伙伴，请他们尝尝水果的香甜。
我画了个红红的太阳，送给冬天。阳光温暖着小朋友冻僵的（frozen stiff）手和脸。
春天，春天的太阳该画什么颜色呢？哦，画个彩色（colorful）的。因为春天是个多彩的季节。
Hello 大家好，今天给大家读一篇童话故事 （fairytale）
去年的树
一棵树和一只鸟儿是好朋友。鸟儿站在树枝上，天天给树唱歌。树呢，天天听着鸟儿唱。
日子一天天过去，寒冷的冬天就要来到了。鸟儿必须离开树，飞到很远很远的地方去。
树对鸟儿说：“再见了，小鸟！明年春天请你回来，还唱歌给我听。”鸟儿说：“好的，我明年春天一定回来，给你唱歌。请等着我吧！”鸟儿说完，就向南方飞去了。
春天又来了。原野上、森林里的雪都融化(melt)了。鸟儿又回到这里，找她的好朋友树来了。可是，树不见了，只剩下树根(tree root)留在那里。立在这儿的那棵树，到什么地方去了呀？”鸟儿问树根。树根回答：“伐木人(logger)用斧子(axe)把他砍倒，拉到山谷里去了。”
鸟儿向山谷里飞去。山谷里有个很大的工厂，锯木头的声音，“沙——沙——”地响着。鸟儿落在工厂的大门上。她问大门：“门先生，我的好朋友树在哪儿，您知道吗？”
大门回答说：“树嘛，在厂子里给切成细条条儿(cut into pieces)，做成火柴(match)，运到那边的村子里卖掉了。”
鸟儿向村子飞去。在一盏(measure word)煤油灯(kerosene lamp)旁，坐着个小女孩。鸟儿问女孩：“小姑娘，请告诉我，你知道火柴在那儿吗？”小女孩儿回答说：“火柴已经用光了。
可是，火柴点燃(ignite)的火，还在这盏灯里亮着。”鸟儿睁大眼睛，盯着灯火看了一会儿。接着，她就唱起去 年唱过的歌儿给灯火听。
唱完了歌，鸟儿又对着灯火看了一会儿，就飞走了。
这篇童话故事讲述了鸟和树之间的真挚情谊（true friendship）。
1. When it is used as a number, the pronunciation is 二. For example: 1922:一九二二。2022:二零二二。Feb. 2nd: 二月二日。2nd: 第二。
2. When it is used as the amount of sth., the pronunciation is 两，normally followed by a measure word. For example: 两杯咖啡: two cups of coffee. 两本书: two books. 两个学生: two students. 学会了吗？
Texts 1. 哪座房子最漂亮
一座房，两座房，青青的瓦，白白的墙，宽宽的门，大大的窗。三座房，四座房，房前花果香，屋后树成行，哪座房子最漂亮？要数我们的小学堂。 2. 阳光
阳光像金子，洒遍田野、高山和小河。田里的禾苗，因为有了阳光，更绿了。山上的小树，因为有了阳光，更高了。河面闪着阳光，小河就像长长的锦缎了。早晨，我拉开窗帘，阳光就跳进了我的家。谁也捉不住阳光，阳光是大家的。阳光像金子，阳光比金子更宝贵。 3. 比尾巴
谁的尾巴长？谁的尾巴短？谁的尾巴好像一把伞？猴子的尾巴长。兔子的尾巴短。松鼠的尾巴好像一把伞。谁的尾巴弯？谁的尾巴扁？谁的尾巴最好看？公鸡的尾巴弯。鸭子的尾巴扁。孔雀的尾巴最好看。 4. 我多想去看看
妈妈告诉我， 沿着弯弯的小路， 就能走出大山。 遥远的北京城， 有一座天安门， 广场上升旗仪式非常壮观。 我对妈妈说， 我多想去看看， 我多想看看。
5. 雨点儿
数不清的雨点儿，从云彩里飘落下来。 半空中，大雨点儿问小雨点儿：“你要到哪里去？” 小雨点儿回答：“我要去有花有草的地方。你呢？” 大雨点儿说：“我要去没有花没有草的地方。” 不久，有花有草的地方，花更红了，草更绿了。没有花没有草的地方，长出了红的花，绿的草。 6. 自己去吧 小鸭说：“妈妈，您带我去游泳好吗？”妈妈说：“小溪的水不深，自己去游吧。”过了几天，小鸭学会了游泳。小鹰说：“妈妈，我想去山那边看看，妈妈带我去好吗？”妈妈说：“山那边的风景很美，自己去看吧。”过了几天，小鹰学会了飞翔。
