| Hong Kong people generally feel that Americans don't know much about the languages and cultures of other countries. But if you’re talking about business, if Americans don’t understand the language of Hong Kong, it’s not, it’s not a big problem. Most Hong Kongese, if they want to do business with foreigners, they speak English, and typically speak it fairly well. So in this respect, you can say that if Americans [want to] do business in Hong Kong, not knowing Mandarin is not a big problem. It’s not the same in the rest of China. But, uh, Americans don’t understand enough about Hong Kong culture. This point might cause a little trouble. That’s because every place always has a local, for example, cultural characteristic. For example, if an American wants to give a Hong Kong person a gift, giving a clock wouldn’t be a good idea. If you give a clock (zhong), uh, the pronunciation means death to Hong Kongese. In this respect, if you don’t understand Hong Kong culture well, [unintelligible] it might create a little problem. That is… that is, Hong Kong people are generally fluent in English, so they have no problem communicating with Americans. But, if Americans don’t understand Hong Kong people’s workaday culture, their everyday customs, they might possibly encounter some small, very small difficulties. That is, this is a point that Americans doing business in Hong Kong probably should pay attention to. | 啊，香港人一般觉得，美国人对外国的语言跟文化了解不够。但是如果在做生意的觉得来讲，啊，美国人对香港，如果不懂香港的语言，问题也不、没有很大。因为说香港人绝大部分，如果说他们要跟外国人做生意的话呢，他们都会讲英语，一般讲得不错。所以这个方面呢，可以说美国人在香港做生意如果不懂中文的话呢问题也不大。啊，这点跟在中国其他地方不相同。但是说，啊，美国人对香港文化了解不够呢，这点可能是有一点点问题。啊，因为说每个地方总有一点说当地的，比如说文化那个特点。比如说，如果说美国人对香港人送礼物，他送个啊时钟，那个就不太好了。要送时钟，啊，“钟”发音呢，就在香港人来讲是说死掉的意思。这一方面如果说对香港文化不大了解的话，也肯以为会出、出点问题。就是说、就是说香港人对英语一般来讲很流利，啊，跟美国人沟通没有问题。但是说，如果美国人对香港人的一般的啊文化，一般的习惯不了解的话呢，在做生意方面可能也有一、一点小小的困难也说不定。就是说，这点来讲，对美国人在香港做生意可能也是要注意的。 |