十十十月
Guess what? I'm going to Chiang Mai in two weeks.Wow, sounds like fun! But I believe that April is the hottest month of the year there.Yes, that's true. But there is a water festival there from April 13th to 15th.I wonder if it's similar to the Water Festival of the Dai people in Yunnan Province.Yes, I think so. This is the time of the Thai New Year. people go ton the streets to thrw water at each other.Cool! But why do they do that?Because the new year is a time for cleaning and washing bad things. Then you'll have good luck in the new year.你猜怎么着？ 两周后我打算去清迈。哇，听起来很有意思！ 但是我相信四月份是那里一年中最热的月份。确实是。但是从四月十三号到十五号那里有个泼水节。我想知道它是否和云南省傣族的泼水节相似我也是这么想，这个时候正是泰国的新年，人们走上街头互相泼水。太酷了！ 但是他们为什么这么做那？因为新年是清扫和洗去不好东西的时间，然后在新的一年里你将拥有好运。
赵家小燕儿
Could You Please...?When you visit a foreign country, it is important to know how to ask for help politely. For example, Where are the restrooms?” or“Could you please tell me where the restrooms are?” are similar requests for directions to a place.Both are correctEnglish, but the first one sounds less polite. That is because it is a very directquestion. It is not enough to just ask a question correctly. We also need to learn howto be polite by being less direct — or more indirect — when we ask for help.In English, asin Chinese, we change the way we speak when we talk with different people. Theexpressions you use might depend on whom you are speaking to or how well youknow them. If you say to your teacher, “When is the school trip?”, this mightsound impolite. But if you say, “Excuse me, Mr. West. Do you know when the school trip is?”, this will sound much more polite. However, itis all right to ask directquestions in some situations, like with your classmates.Usually polite questions are longer and include more language such as“Could you please ...?” or “Can I ask ...?” It sounds more polite to say, “Peter,could you please tell me your e-mail address?” than “Peter, tell me your e-mail address.”Sometimes we even needto spend time leading in to a request. For example, with a stranger on the street, we might first say, “Excuse me, I wonder if you can helpme” or “I’m sorry totrouble you, but ...” before asking for help.It might seem more difficult to speak politely than be direct. However, it is important to learn how to use proper language. This will also help you become betterat English, or any otherlanguage you wish to speak.
