当语言褪去浮华：一次心与心的文化相遇(2)

图为汉娜在中国印象·沙龙活动现场

撰稿人：何博媛

 When Words Failed, Sincerity Spoke: A Teenager's Cross-Cultural Lesson

Editor's Note: In an era of frequent cross-cultural exchanges, we often rely on professional translators or international English for efficiency. While these tools break down language barriers, a moment with Zhyhunova Hanna, a Junior Cultural Ambassador from Belarus, made us reconsider. Despite her still-developing Chinese, she insisted on using it for our interview. Her choice revealed a different kind of communication: one where sincerity opens hearts more effectively than flawless speech. When language strips away technical polish, the authentic meeting of cultures can truly begin.

At the Junior Cultural Ambassador event hosted by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, 15-year-old Hanna completed an interview in Chinese. She vividly described her love for hot pot and shared her unique feelings about visiting the Forbidden City. Yet, behind this interview lay a little-known episode: to complete the interview in Chinese, Hanna made two attempts.

During the first try, Hanna held herself to a very high standard. While her speech sounded fairly fluent to our ears, there came a moment when she struggled to find the right words. She was eventually reduced to tears. We comforted her and suggested she could mix in some English to aid her expression. But Hanna shook her head and said tearfully, "I want to complete my interview in Chinese." Out of respect for her determination, we paused the interview, thinking that might be the end of it.

We often praise flawless presentations, but Hanna's tears and persistence revealed something far more precious in cultural exchange: sincerity and respect. In this age that pursues efficiency, we often set the accurate transmission of information as the primary goal, overlooking its deeper purpose: emotional connection. When she chose to do the interview in Chinese, language was no longer just a tool, but a gesture of cultural respect. Her goal was not to showcase her language skills, but to demonstrate respect for another culture in the most direct way possible. Those moments where she persisted in expressing herself in Chinese, despite the difficulty, were precisely the moments of the most genuine dialogue. Her "imperfection" surpassed the utility of typical communication, conveying something deeper: the courage to be vulnerable and to reach out.

At the evening "Impressions of China" salon, we saw Hanna again. She expressed her willingness to continue the interview and even made a point of showing us the Chinese script she had prepared. "I prepared for a long time again. I believe I will succeed this time!" she said. When the camera started rolling, the girl who had been reduced to tears by language barriers earlier that day now faced the camera with calm determination. She didn't speak quickly, and her words still bore traces of careful thought, but every sentence was filled with dedication. Moving from frustration to a fresh start, Hanna used her courage not only to cross a language barrier but also to engage in a profound cultural dialogue.

After the interview, Hanna excitedly told us, "Thank you! I gained a lot today!" Her success lay not in speaking flawless Chinese, but in showing us that when a person is willing to knock on the door of another culture with an authentic attitude, the very imperfections in her language became the most powerful medium.

While we often strive to maintain a perfect image in cross-cultural communication, Hanna used her perceived "failure" to demonstrate that breaking the ice can perhaps begin with an imperfection. This different logic of communication also prompts us to reflect: as we become increasingly skilled at relying on efficient yet indirect tools like precise translation, are we inadvertently building a wall where efficiency reigns supreme? Has our obsession with "flawlessness" caused us to lose the sincere courage to reveal our "imperfections"? In this process, has cross-cultural exchange been reduced to merely a task or a skill?

Hanna's interview experience invites us to reflect on our ingrained modes of communication. It reveals that those imperfect attempts in cross-cultural exchange hold their own unique value. Therefore, while we still need to pursue efficient communication, we should also consciously protect space for those slow, awkward, yet deeply sincere conversations, making room for "imperfection." Because when language sheds its flashiness, the true heart-to-heart meeting between cultures can finally begin.