Name: 我怎麼假扮美國人 How I Faked Being American
Uploaded: 2018-03-22T09:45:05.000Z
Duration: 4 min 51 s

I'm a retired and reformed ex-undercover KGB agent.

我是一位改邪歸正的前 KGB (蘇聯情報機構)退休特工

現在進行式

what it took to morph from a German to an American,

where I was successful and where I was not.

I spent all together about four years studying English,

我總共花了約四年的時間學習英語

perfecting to the extent possible an American accent.

盡可能地做到和美國人有一樣的口音

For instance, one of the hardest things for Germans,

例如，對一個德國人而言，最困難的事之一

but I hadn't become an American culturally.

但是我從未在文化上成為美國人

我的行為舉止仍然很「德國人」

Having now learned the difference between

Germans are in your face, they will tell you

德國人有話直說，即使你沒有問他的意見

what they think even if you don't ask for it,

and they will criticize you at any chance they get.

他們批評你是不分場合也不講情面的

And there's still a residue of that left.

還是留有一些德國人的習性改不掉

有時候用拐彎的方式批評你，他們

wrap everything, every piece of bad news,

in some kind of a velvet cloth so it doesn't hurt that much.

好像包裹在羽絨裡，使它不會造成太大的傷害

The clothes and the food, that was taken care of

關於衣、食的文化的學習，是我在一個為期三個月

by a three month practice trip to Canada.

Before I was sent to the U.S., that was I think 1977,

在我被送到美國之前，大概是 1977 年的時候

and Canada is close enough so I learned menus,

因為加拿大和美國的文化非常相似，所以我到那裏學習看菜單點菜

I learned what beer there was being drunk,

我去了解當地人喝什麼牌子的啤酒

what wine and liquor, and I bought all kinds of clothes.

葡萄酒和烈酒，我買了各式各樣的衣服

當然，我花了很多時間逛百貨公司

to send me on this kind of a training trip.

First night in Montreal, I go to a restaurant

在蒙特利爾的第一晚，我去一家餐館吃晚餐

So I'm looking at this bottle, I'm calling the waiter,

所以我看了看酒瓶，把服務生找過來

對他說，能不能給我一個開瓶器？

他看著我，眼光好像在說「蛤」？

我過去從未看過可以用手轉開瓶蓋

Eventually, I found out watching television,

reading the newspaper, and so forth, and eventually

閱讀報紙，各方面去學習，最後除了人際溝通外

started to think, feel, and act more like an American

我的思考，感受，和行為終於可以

When I came to the United States, I was fundamentally,

culturally, and psychologically unprepared.

我說的英文，就和別人一樣普通

但對真正的美國人而言，卻不是這麼簡單

The one thing that saved me was that in the early years

有一件事救了我，就是在最初幾年

I managed to stay away from inquisitive folks,

particularly say ladies who were Americans who would

quickly find out there's something different about you.

因她們很快就會發現你和真正的美國人有些不一樣

What saved me from making these fundamental bad mistakes

讓我從這些糟糕的錯誤中解脫出來的關鍵

was that I started interacting with people who didn't care.

是我開始與不在乎我是誰的人進行交流

I worked for two years full time as a bike messenger.

我做了兩年全職的腳踏車送貨員

You know, one day they work and the next day they're gone.

Nobody cared a whole lot and nobody was inquisitive.

沒人會管閒事，也沒人會對他人好奇

So I listened a lot and I learned what it was like

在這個國家的人是如何過日子的

to have lived in the country for many years.

Includes the sports, the movies, celebrities,

And so I slowly got to a point where I felt comfortable

因此，我慢慢達到了一種境界，我可以很自在的

talking and acting as if I were an American

說話和行動，就像個真正的美國人

even though I was not aware that my behavior

was still clearly traceable to my German roots.

仍然可以清楚地追溯到我的德國根源

If you're looking for people who pay attention to history,

if you're looking for people who are spiritual,

this country provides such a variety to folks who live here

這個國家為生活在這裡的人，提供了多樣化的選擇

that you can always find what you're looking for.

that I believe in no where else in the world

我相信在世界上任何地方都沒有的

就是「自由」，它已經成為你們的信仰

字幕列表影片播放

我怎麼假扮美國人 How I Faked Being American

eventually

approach

accent

pretend