我在中國與漢語的美麗邂逅
〔 澳大利亞 〕 何睿智 西雪梨大學
我的中文名字叫何睿智，意思就是我是多麼的聰明智慧。多麼的高大上啊！我很喜歡我的中文名字。
我很喜歡漢語的成語和俗語，比如“天下一家”，意思是天下人為一家。人類的溝通，首先是語言的溝通與交流。一家人不説兩家話，要説就説中國話！所以，上大學後我決定學習漢語。我們都知道漢語很難學，但是我喜歡挑戰。學習的過程中，我體驗到了學習漢語的苦辣酸甜，同時也感受到了學習漢語的樂趣。在中國期間，我也有許多美好的邂逅和回憶。
漢語是有聲調的語言，聲調不同，意思就不一樣。比如，有一次，在北京我問路。我問路人甲：“美女，我可以問你一下嗎？”那位美女臉紅了，沒理我。我以為她沒聽清楚，就又問：“美女，我可以再問你一下嗎？”美女狠狠地瞪了我一眼，走了，弄得我莫名其妙。後來我才知道，“問”是第四聲，但是，如果我的聲調錯了，發成了第三聲，就成了“我可以吻你一下嗎？”怎麼能隨便親吻別人呢？！我後悔莫及，學好漢語太重要了！
我剛到中國的時候，使用頻率最高的一個詞是“這個”，因為那麼多中文詞語很難記住。在商店我要買一條圍巾，我就指向一條圍巾對售貨員説“這個”。我很喜歡吃“蒜蓉粉絲蒸蝦”，可是在飯館我怎麼也説不出來，就指著功能表上的圖片説“這個”，不一會兒，“這個”菜就上桌了，我就可以大快朵頤了。不過也鬧過笑話，有次我跟我的一個“老外”朋友去飯館吃飯，他的中文比我還爛。點菜時他有點兒“尷尬”，我説沒事兒，我會點菜，我知道點菜的竅門兒！我説：“服務員，這個……，我要兩個……這個！謝謝。”服務員笑了，問我：“真的嗎？這個……很辣呀。”可惜“這個”我聽懂了，“很辣”我還聽不懂，就自信十足地微笑著連連點頭。“如果你點這個，你可能會後悔一輩子的。”我依然點頭傻笑著。“這個”菜終於上桌了，一口下去，辣得我面紅耳赤，一會兒就汗流浹背了。可是我又得若無其事地假裝這就是我的“菜”，讓人感覺“這個”辣得我很舒服，還可以再辣一點！廚房門後，廚師偷看著我，一個個笑得樂不可支。不過後來我越來越喜歡“辣”文化了。俗話説，南甜北鹹東辣西酸。我知道四川人、湖南人和湖北人最愛吃辣椒。四川人“不怕辣”，湖南人“辣不怕”，湖北人“怕不辣”。我喜歡吃辣的，我也喜歡“辣妹子”！
西雪梨大學 ／ 何睿智提供
我還學會了砍價。首先，你要對漢語的數字有了熟悉的掌握才能砍起價來得心應手。不管是瞞天過海、漫天要價，我都穩如泰山、沉著應付。幾個回合下來，不到半價我就拿到手。有一次，我問商店的老闆這個多少錢？他笑臉相迎地説“二百五”，我當即笑呵呵地回應：“你才二百五呢！”老闆一開心，給了我一個甩賣價！
您仔細看看數一數，我上邊用了多少個漢語的成語和俗語呢？世上無難事，只要肯登攀！有志者事竟成！期待著有一天我能做中澳文化交流的使者。
邂逅漢語，邂逅中國，是我人生中最美麗的邂逅！
My Beautiful Encounter with Chinese Language in China
〔Australia〕 Hamish Spark， Western Sydney University
My Chinese name is He Ruizhi， which literally means how wise and smart I am． How great it is！ I like my Chinese name．
I like Chinese idioms and proverbs， such as tianxiayijia， which means the world is one family． Human communication mainly depends on the lingual communication and exchange． If the world is going to speak one language， let’s speak Chinese only． I decided to learn Chinese after entering the university． Everyone knows that Chinese language is very difficult to learn， however， I love challenges． I have experienced sweetness， bitterness and struggling of learning Chinese． There are lots of fun in learning Chinese and beautiful encounters and memories during my stay in China．
Chinese is a language with four tones． The same pronunciation with different tones may mean differently． Awkwardness happens if we use wrong tones． I once asked for directions in Beijing． I asked a girl passing by me， “Hi， fair lady， wo keyi wen ni ma？ （will you do me a favour？）” The girl flushed and ignored me． I did not know why and thought she did not hear me clearly． I repeated， “Fair Lady， wo keyi wen ni ma？” The girl stared at me fiercely and walked away． I was confused． Later， I realized that I used the wrong tone． When wen in the fourth tone it means ask； however， when I was asking for a favour， I pronounced it in the third tone， which means kiss． Therefore， when I was asking for a favour for directions， because of the wrong tone used， it turned into “Can I kiss you？” It’s so important to learn Chinese well！
When I first came to China， one of the words I used most frequently was zhege （means “this one”）． There were too many Chinese words， and I could only say zhege to express myself． For example， I came to a shop for a scarf． I pointed to one scarf and said to the shop assistant， “zhege．” It would soon be taken to my hands． I especially love a dish called “garlic shrimps with thin noodles”， however I did not know how to say it in restaurants． Therefore I would find the picture on the menu and said， “zhege．” It would be served very soon and I then could enjoy it with gratification． There were awkward moments too． I once went to a restaurant with one of my foreigner friends whose Chinese was even worse than mine． He was very awkward when we were going to order dishes． I told him it was fine because I knew how to order dishes with my clever tricks． I said to the waiter， “zhege， two， thanks．” The waiter smiled and asked， “Do you mean it？ zhege， em， henla （very spicy）．” I knew what “zhege” meant， however， I did not know what he meant by henla． I pretended that I knew what I ordered and nodded with confidence and smile． The waiter said， “You might regret this in your whole life if you order this．” I still smiled like an idiot and kept nodding． The dish was finally served to our table． Only one bite made my face red and I sweated immediately． However I had to pretend that this was my dish and I wanted people to know that I loved this spicy dish and it could be more spicy． The chef peeked at me behind the kitchen door and could not stop laughing． However I now came to love the “spicy” culture more and more． An old Chinese saying goes that “sweet south， salty north， spicy east and sour west”． I know that people in Sichuan， Hubei and Hunan provinces love peppers a lot． People in Sichuan do not fear spicy food， those in Hunan fear not a least any spicy food， while those in Hubei fear that their food are not spicy enough． Now I love both spicy food and also “hot girls” （In Chinese， la can be used to describe both spicy food and hot girls）．
I also learned how to bargain． You need first get yourself familiar with Chinese numbers before you can bargain well． No matter how adept sellers are at quoting， I keep cool and composed． After several rounds of back－and－forth bargaining， I usually can get what I wanted at a half of the original price． I once asked a shop keeper how much this was． He smiled and said， “250 （It is a number used to tease people in Chinese）．” I smiled back and responded， “You are 250！” the shop keeper was amused by my reply and agreed a very low price．
If you are careful enough， please tell me how many Chinese idioms I have used in this article． Where there is a will there is a way． Nothing is impossible to a willing mind！ I look forward to be an envoy for China－Australia diplomatic and cultural exchanges．
Encountering Chinese and China are the most beautiful encounters in my life．
