"What is your name? " is a question most frequently asked when people meet for the first time. But for me, it was the first challenge I encountered as an international student in Ireland.
The pronunciation system of the Chinese language is quite different from that of English. For native speakers of English, some Chinese words are rather difficult to pronounce. My given name Qiuyu（秋雨）, for instance, happened to be a great challenge for many of them. Every time I gave a self-introduction, I had to explain how to pronounce my name at least five times, yet they still could not say it the way I did.
Once in a lecture, the professor tried repeating my name after me over and over in front of thirty classmates. I really did not know whether I should continue correcting him or simply drop the matter. I feared that my classmates might grow tired of my efforts or even lose patience with me. After all, I did care about how others would think of me. I realized that if I didn't stop, the entire lecture would be ruined. "It's okay, professor," I shrugged （耸肩）. The awkward moment ended with the class erupting into laughter. I forced a smile, unsure how to respond further.
After that incident, I stopped acting as a "Chinese teacher. " Instead of correcting others when they were struggling to pronounce my name, I just smiled and nodded approvingly. This approach spared me the discomfort of having to over-explain. However, I soon found that by doing so, I might be losing something more important: the opportunity to share a small part of my cultural identity.
注意：（1）续写词数应为150个左右；（2）请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
In a class discussion, I was invited to explain the meaning of my name. …… Many of my classmates got interested and came up to me after class. |
