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    Hazel Pangilinan
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    A native Chinese speaker named Chen proposed an idea to a native English speaker named John. John responded by saying "I couldn't agree with you anymore", which a Chinese listener could misinterpret to mean that John does not agree with the idea, when in fact the phrase is used by English speakers to express strong agreement. The confusion originated from differences in idiomatic expressions between English and Mandarin Chinese.

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    A native Chinese speaker named Chen proposed an idea to a native English speaker named John. John responded by saying "I couldn't agree with you anymore", which a Chinese listener could misinterpret to mean that John does not agree with the idea, when in fact the phrase is used by English speakers to express strong agreement. The confusion originated from differences in idiomatic expressions between English and Mandarin Chinese.

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    15 views1 page

    Essay

    Uploaded by

    Hazel Pangilinan
    A native Chinese speaker named Chen proposed an idea to a native English speaker named John. John responded by saying "I couldn't agree with you anymore", which a Chinese listener could misinterpret to mean that John does not agree with the idea, when in fact the phrase is used by English speakers to express strong agreement. The confusion originated from differences in idiomatic expressions between English and Mandarin Chinese.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Name: ___________________________________ Section: ______________

    Take a look at the conversation below where the remark by a native English speaker could be misinterpreted by a native
    Chinese listener.

    John: “I couldn’t agree with you anymore.”


    Chen: “Oh…” (Thinking: “He couldn’t agree with me? I thought he liked my idea!”)

    In an essay with no less than 500 words, discuss where the confusion originated.

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