This is actually a speech that I gave this past Friday at the University of Rhode Island 2014 Chinese Speech Contest. "Why did you enter into a Chinese speech contest?" you are probably wondering. Well, folks, it's because I'm a masochist and enjoy shaming myself publicly. (And now, apparently, I enjoy shaming myself on the internet too.) But, in the end I guess it was all worth it, because I won! (And they gave me an amazon gift card, which is really all I wanted anyway.)
Here's a short synopsis of the speech in English, for those of you who are too lazy to put it into Google translate:
This speech covers a mini-research project regarding Chinese attitudes towards Chinese-American trade that I conducted this past summer while studying in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The project consisted of a series of interviews with hotel workers, high school and college students, university professors, and one Chinese-American trade specialist. I found that all respondents supported Chinese-American trade; however this was not due to the expansion of American products into Chinese markets. Rather, almost all respondents explained that they saw Chinese-American trade as beneficial to China due to China's exports market expansion and its importance for Chinese economic development. Most respondents chose to buy Chinese products rather than American or other foreign products, however respondents' rationales for this differed based on social status. Working-class respondents chose Chinese products because of their low price and convenience, while middle- and upper- class respondents, particularly students, cited patriotism as their reasoning for buying Chinese products. Moreover, regarding the quality of Chinese goods versus foreign goods, working-class respondents felt that Chinese goods had "quite good quality", while middle- and upper-class respondents chose to buy Chinese goods in spite of issues they saw in quality. Overall, its clear that there is widespread support for Chinese goods and Chinese-American trade (focusing on Chinese exports) in various sectors of Guangzhou society, however the thought process behind these economic decisions is mitigated by class and education levels.
DISCLAIMER: Just because I'm posting my writing in Chinese up here doesn't mean it's actually good writing. Despite my running this blog, I don't actually enjoy writing all too much, and writing in Chinese is really difficult for me (just because my speech was the best of a bunch of white kids doesn't necessarily mean that its of a high caliber...), so it's quite possible that there are grammatical errors and logical fallacies and whatnot. All I ask is that you humor me and read my shit. And comment if you think I can make any of it better!
中国货与中美贸易：社会情况怎么影响个人的思想
各位好，我中文已经学了五年多了，不过今年夏天是我第一次去中国，在广州的中山大学学习了两个月的中文。今天很高兴有这个机会跟你们谈一件我（在广州的时候）很感兴趣的事情，就是：对于中国制造的商品，中国人自己的态度是什么。
我很想了解中国人对于中国货的感觉，还有中国人怎么比较中国货与美国货。中国人更喜欢买哪一个国家的产品呢？原因是什么？另外，我还想了解中国人怎么看中美之间的贸易关系。作为一个美国人,我来中国之前只听过美国人的观点，因此我很想知道中国人认为中美贸易有什么利弊。更具体一点,我很好奇社会地位是否影响了个人的看法。比方说，普通老百姓怎么看中国货与中美贸易？那,有钱人呢？受过高等教育的人呢?
我在街上、饭馆里、旅馆里、美国连锁店等地方采访了许多人，包括高中生与大学生、大学教授、旅馆的服务员与保安、还有一位中美贸易专家，一共十五个人，我问了每一个人四个问题： 您平常喜欢买中国货还是美国货？；您为中国货感到自豪吗？; 不少美国人反对在美国的中国货，因为现在在中美贸易中美国有逆差，您觉得这个看法有没有道理？；还有，您认为中美贸易对中国老百姓有什么利弊？
采访的结果我觉得特别有意思。大多数的受访者支持中美贸易，不过这不是因为他们想买美国货，而是因为觉得出口有助于中国经济的发展。有意思的是，除了一位受访者以外，其他人一般都会买中国品牌的商品，并不太喜欢买美国货。更有意思的是， 普通人之所以买中国货，是因为便宜、方便等务实的理由。那么，教育水平比较高的人呢？他们从全球化与中美贸易得到更多的利益，买得起外国进口的商品，可是他们也经常买中国货。不过，他们的理由都是出于爱国心，这在学生身上特别明显。加上，我采访的普通人都说他们觉得中国货的质量不错，没有什么问题。但是，地位更高的受访者则说了他们觉得中国货可能有问题。但是，因为他们是中国人，所以觉得无论有没有问题他们还要买中国货。无论社会情况，受访者一般都支持中国货，唯一的差别是理由。看来，在中美贸易及中国国内市场上，中国货品真的很受到中国人的支持。
Thanks for reading :) If you're really desperate for an English translation, comment below and I'll see what I can do (although I'm not making any promises because it feels really weird to translate my own work).
Catch y'all on Wednesday, when we learn what happens next to our beloved Prince of Wei!
No comments:
Post a Comment