この間学生はイギリスのいらいにんにはなしていた。いらいにんは「みんなさんはマスクをかぶる。。。なぜですか。」と聞いた。学生はいらいにんに「かぜかこそうねつから」とおしえた。
それからレッスンに学生は「おうべいじんはマスクをかぶない。なぜ。」と聞いた。私は「電車でおうべいじんはマスクをかぶればどうですか。」と聞いた。「まあ、こわいい。どうしたのか」とこたえた。」おもしろい！
The other day, one of my students was speaking to a British client. The client asked why so many people in Japan wore face masks. My student explained that it was because they had colds and didn't want to spread them, or that they had hay fever.
Then in the lesson he asked me why Western people didn't wear face masks. I asked him what he would think if he saw a Western person on the train in Japan wearing a face mask. He replied that he would be quite scared and wonder what they had...! That's funny...
2 comments:
Actually, I also thought that it is for protection for other people, but then somebody explained to me that breathing through mask can recover person more quickly. Dry air or outside bacteria could be the reason I think, but not very sure.
You're right - there are several reasons why people wear masks.
With a cold, one reason is to protect other people against germs (or to show willingness to do that - not sure how effective it is...) But also apparently breathing in moist air helps cure colds quicker and stop for example sore throats, which is why many people wear masks on planes.
Of course, I also didn't say that this season many hay fever sufferers are also wearing masks so that they can reduce breathing in tree pollen - some people say the masks reduce the symptoms by about 70%.
Post a Comment