[speaker001:] Did you go to the bank to withdraw money?
[speaker002:] Today is so hot, besides I had so much housework to do. My friend came for a visit and stayed for two hours. I didn 't forget, but I had no time at all.
[speaker001:] So you didn 't. Is that right?
[speaker002:] Yes. I 'm sorry.
[speaker001:] Why didn 't you just answer my question directly? Why would Chinese answer questions this way? I simply asked if you did it or not. It 's a very simple question. And Chinese often give the reason before they would give a direct answer.
[speaker002:] Yes, I 'm sorry. I know it bothers you very much. But I don 't know why Chinese sometimes would do this.
[speaker001:] You know, today I asked a student if he brought his dictionary with him. It 's a rule I made for the class that everyone brings a bilingual dictionary with them because sometimes they don 't understand me. The funniest thing is that this student gave me a lot of reasons and no direct answer.
[speaker002:] But you know if he brought it or not, right?
[speaker001:] Yeah, after all the explanations like, it 's too heavy, I was in a hurry... whatever.