编者按： “双语视窗”栏目从2006年开办，至今已经走过了两年的历程，这些由在华外国友人撰写的小文章，以他们在华所见所闻为切入点，生动具体地反映出东西方观念、习俗的异同，也向我们提出了一个个既有趣又值得深思的问题。栏目一再连载得益于读者反馈中的正面回应。
“不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中”，换一个角度，从外国友人目光的折射中审视一下自己，更有助于全面地了解我们自身。同时，本栏目采用英汉对照形式，这些原汁原味的英文不仅有助于加深对作者原意的理解，也是一本学习现代英语的鲜活教材。
像大多数住在国外的法国人一样，我现在比以往任何时候都更意识到自己是个法国人。在中国居住给了我所需要拉开的距离，从而以更批判的眼光来看我的同胞。这也帮助我了解了欧洲人与美国人是多么不同。当我还在欧洲的时候，我总是考虑法国人与德国人、意大利人和西班牙人的区别，而现在呢，我更多考虑的是其相似之处。一种文化上的冲突存在于欧美两个大陆之间，在这一冲突中法国恐怕是美国对手中喊声最大的一个。
争论之一显然是语言问题。就在不久前，作为一种国际语言，法语曾是英语的强劲对手，而说法语的人们至今仍在抵制英语的进犯。正如我结识的来自非洲、加拿大、瑞士、比利时及越南的说法语的朋友数量之多所证明的，在国际上法语决不是英语的微不足道的对手。而且，当我们承认英语的重要性时，我们指的是英国英语，并非美国英语。
另一个区别是政治性的。欧洲是许多小国组成的“马赛克”，有着不同的语言和风俗，而美国则是个大国，周围的邻国没有强手与它竞争。很多欧洲国家都有过辉煌的时期，有过强盛时代以及文化上的影响力。这一时期对法国来说是从1648年到1815年，英国是19世纪，德国则是从19世纪晚期到20世纪早期。有的国家衰落了，同时又有别的国家在附近兴起，欧洲历史一直是这样。从这个意义上说，美国更像中国这个大陆级的国家，周围是一些小国（要知道即便是日本也只是近一个世纪才被视为强国）。这或许就是为什么当欧洲目前还太分散而不足以对大国形成威胁时，中国和美国都惧着彼此的原因之一。
与疆域大小上的区别相连带的，则是在态度方面的很多区别。比如，你若让个法国人谈谈他的工作，他会告诉你很多有趣的事：最近与一个客户见面时所犯的大错，或是办公室新来的漂亮女秘书的升迁，换句话说，是给好朋友讲故事。相反，换了美国人，他会开始“讲解”他的工作，听起来更像是老师讲课，而不像朋友聊天。
法国电影也经常采纳坐在教室后面的“坏学生”的观点。大众化但却精湛的电影恐怕是最有代表性的艺术形式。美国电影充斥着正面的警察（如《机械战警》）和正面的战士（如《蓝博》），而法国电影则往往是以警察和军人作为取乐对象。在欧洲，我们喜欢有绅士风度的小偷、间谍以及向权势挑战的人们。他们身上有故事，有历史，有内涵，有着传统意义上“好人”所缺乏的一切。人们总是在思考是什么使他们选择了错误的道路，以及那究竟是不是真的错了。
欧洲与美洲在经济格局上的区别也是十分明显的。当“全球化”与“因特网”（这是我们这个时代叫得最响的两个词）到来时，欧洲的形象则是保守、令人可笑的胆小。批评欧洲的人们想使我们相信，我们不应该有片刻犹豫，而是要立刻跳进这个现代化的世界中：只有一种经济模式，一种文化、一种语言。这该多么好啊！但法国人接着会问，这一经济模式是从哪里来的？哪种文化将会流行？我们将用哪一种语言进行交流？一想到我们正朝着在因特网上与冲浪者用简化了的英语谈论着日常的事情，我心里就非常害怕。
我相信中国人很习惯美国处理问题的方式，实际上，对于中国人来说，理解欧洲人恐怕比理解美国人更困难。由于美国的技术优势，中国人往往会接受美国人的行事方法。而美国人的规矩并不是中国人的规矩，对此中国人恐怕并不喜欢。但是，中国人并不像我们那样担心全球的趋同：中国人正集中精力来追赶，来进一步掌握英语。
在全球化的汪洋大海中，我们法国人还只是静静地湿了湿脚：水很冷，因此我们不急于潜入水中，我们不想被淹死。如今中国人在这一海洋中游得很好，但他们不知道控制水温与浪的高度。他们是好学生，不是老师。对于欧洲的“坏学生”来说，要在网络方面领先已为时太晚，但下一步的先进思想有可能由他们提出来。法国人也许会让人感到是好朋友，但不是好的商业伙伴。但我肯定，将来我们在两方面都能行。
原文：
Like most French people living in a foreign country, I feel more French now than ever before. Living in China has given me the distance I needed to look at my compatriots with a more critical eye.
It has also helped me to realize that Europeans and Americans are very dissimilar. Whereas back in Europe I always used to think about the differences between the French and the Germans, or Italians and Spaniards, I now think more in terms of similarities. A cultural conflict exists between our two continents, one in which France may well be the most vocal adversary of America.
One point of contention is obviously language: Until relatively recently French was a strong rival of English as an international language, and French-speakers are still resisting the encroachment of English. As the number of my French-speaking acquaintances from Africa, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Vietnam attests, French is by no means a negligible competitor of English internationally. And when we do acknowledge the importance of English, we mean British English, not the American variety.
Another contrast is political. Europe is a mosaic of smaller countries, with various languages and customs, whereas America is one big country without any powerful neighbors to compete with it. Many European countries have had a period of glory, a golden age of power and cultural influence: for France it was the period from 1648 to 1815, for England the 19th century, for Germany the late 19th and early 20th century.Therehave always been declining powers and emerging ones nearby.In this sense America is more like China, a nation of continental scale surrounded by lesser states. (Remember that even Japan has only been considered a powerful country for about a century now.) This may be one reason why China and America seem so afraid of each other, while Europe is still too disunited to be much of a threat to these bigger powers.
Associated with this difference in scale there are many differences in attitude. For example, get a Frenchman to talk about his job and he’ll tell you funny stories: the last big mistake he made in a meeting with a client or the success of the pretty new secretary in the office-in other words, tales for good friends. In contrast, an American will start “explaining” what his job involves, sounding more like a teacher than a friend.
French films also often adopt the perspective of the “bad student” at the back of the classroom. Popular yet refined, cinema may be the most representative of the arts. American cinema is full of good cops (Supercop) and good soldiers (Rambo), whereas French films tend to make fun of the police and the military. In Europe we like gentleman burglars, spies, people defying authority: they have a story, a past, depth-everything that conventional “good” people lack.One is always wondering what led them to choose the bad side, or indeed if it truly is the bad side.
The difference between Europe and America is apparent in economic arrangements as well. Europe is currently portrayed as conservative and ridiculously timid when “globalism” and the “Internet” those two buzzwords of our era, come up. One shouldn’t hesitate an instant, critics of Europe would have us believe, but plunge right into this modern world: and how wonderful it will be to have one economy, one culture, one language everywhere. But then French people ask where this economic model comes from, what culture will prevail, which language we shall use to communicate. I am personally quite scared when I think of what we are becoming, chattering with websurfers in simplified English about one-day problems.
I believe the Chinese are quite used to this American way of approaching problems, and that it is actually more difficult for Chinese people to understand Europeans than Americans. With America in the ascendant, the Chinese tend to accept American ways of doing things. The Chinese may not like the situation: American rules are not Chinese rules. Still, the Chinese don’t seem to share our fear of global homogenization：they focus on catching up, on learning better English.
We French are still quietly getting our feet wet in the sea of globalization：The water is chilly, so we take our time before diving in，we don’t want to drown. The Chinese are now swimming very well, but they don’t control the temperature of the water or the height of the waves. They are good students, not the teacher. But Europe’s “bad students” may after all be the people who have the next round of good ideas, it’s already very late for them to determine the character of the web. The French may strike others as good friends but bad business partners. I am sure we can be both.省略）
责编：周 瑾
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