Chinese is the product of society and the crystallization of human history and culture. It embodies the social consciousness, history, culture, customs and all the characteristics of human society handed down from generation to generation by a nation. Different cultural backgrounds and traditions have caused considerable cultural differences between China and the West in ways of thinking, values, codes of conduct and lifestyles. Chinese is the carrier of culture, and vocabulary is the concentration of cultural information and an important part of language. It reflects the development and changes of culture, and also directly reflects the cultural differences.
In the historical process of China's feudal society for more than 2,000 years, Confucianism has always occupied a deep-rooted dominant position, which has had a far-reaching and lasting impact on China society. People in China have always regarded the thought of self-mockery as a classic of life, which is the Confucian doctrine of the mean as the basic code of conduct. "Zhong" is the ideal realm pursued by Confucianism. In life, we should take the Confucian ideas of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith as everyone's behavior guide, treat people and things, consider gentleness, kindness, courtesy, frugality and compromise in our manners, be proud of modesty, put modesty first, and oppose excessive self-expression. Therefore, China culture embodies the cultural characteristics of the group, and it is not allowed to put individual values above the interests of the group.
The formation of values in western countries can be traced back at least to the Renaissance. The guiding ideology of the Renaissance is humanism, that is, advocating the individual as the center, advocating the supremacy of individualism, and striving to develop and express themselves. The value of the concept of "modesty" in western culture can be ignored. People worship the "strong" and "heroes" in life. The strong who are capable and talented are reused, and the weak who lack self-confidence can only fall behind or be ruthlessly eliminated. Therefore, western culture embodies the characteristics of individual culture and advocates that individual value is higher than group interests.
Because of this, there are differences between Chinese and western cultures in the praise and criticism of some words. For example, the word ambition itself has two meanings: praise and criticism. China people use its derogatory meaning to mean "ambitious", while the British and Americans use its positive meaning to mean "ambitious". The word aggressive is often used in China to describe someone as "aggressive" and "aggressive", while Americans use it to describe someone as "enterprising".
China's group culture attaches great importance to the relationship between family and friends, and regards it as the cell that constitutes society; In western countries, they advocate independence, self-reliance and self-reliance. In China, people attach importance to the traditional monarch and his son, ranking them according to their seniority, with strict hierarchy. In Britain and the United States, the elders and the younger generation have equal status, regardless of the boundaries of seniority, and often get along with friends. The traditional concept of China people has always advocated "four generations under one roof" and "family reunion". Since ancient times, there has been a saying that "parents are here, don't travel far"; In Britain and America, it is inconceivable that children aged 65,438+08 still live at home and depend on their parents. They must live independently by their own hands. Similarly, even if older parents lose their ability to take care of themselves, they will generally not drag their children down. They often have to live in nursing homes and receive social care.
Different cultures bring different values. Like lod, China people have always had the tradition of "respecting the elderly". "Lao" expresses the concept of respect in Chinese, such as ancestor, grandfather, old gentleman and so on. "Lao Zhang" and "Lao Wang" show respect and affection, and "Zhang Lao" and "Wang Lao" are even more respectful. People in China are often proud of their age. When talking with people, the older you are, the older your qualifications are, and the more you will be respected by others. The older the wiser. In our view, the elderly are not only the embodiment of wisdom, but also the symbol of prestige. Few people in western countries are willing to rely on seniority and call themselves "old". In their view, "old"
It is synonymous with "useless" and is associated with the meanings of "outdated" and "obsolete and useless". British and American people don't like being called old, and they don't sell it by being old. In western culture, they regard age as an extremely important personal privacy. Women, in particular, are more afraid of being asked about their age. Even if they are willing to say their age, they have to let others guess. At this time, their real purpose is to expect others to praise how young they look. For another example, the British and Americans are very taboo about the word fat. People say that fat can make people depressed, unhappy and disgusting. When it comes to fat meat, it may be considered as worthless waste and should be thrown away. People in China say "Xiao Pang" and "Xiao Pang" when they see children, which shows their love for children. They say that fat is "fat" for adult men and "plump" for adult women, which means praise and compliment. In daily life and work, we often hear people say that something is "fat" or "fat", implying something rare or a desirable position. China people not only don't hate being fat, but also praise it.
The same thing, different cultural backgrounds, different views. People in China despise dogs, so there are some sayings, such as "running dogs", "running dogs", "shameless dogs", "a coward" and "dogs look down on people". In western countries, people appreciate the bravery and loyalty of dogs and often praise them, and compare people to dogs. Such as aluckdog, loveme, love me, love my dog, and dogs have dogs.
Everyone has his day. Just as dogs are used to describe people as "very ill", "tired" is as tired as dogs. On the contrary, China people love cats very much, and it is often intimate to describe people's greed with "greedy cats", while in western culture, "cats" are used to describe "malicious women".
The cultural differences between China and the West are not only manifested in the differences in values and customs, but also related to the differences in living environment, religious beliefs and historical allusions.
1, living environment:
The emergence of Chinese is closely related to people's work and life. Britain is an island country, and the navigation industry once led the world in history; The Han people live and multiply in the Asian continent, and people's lives are inseparable from the land. Metaphor is to spend money lavishly. English is a spender, while Chinese is a spender. There are many idioms about boats and water in English, but there are no identical idioms in Chinese, such as resting on an oar and keeping your head on it.
Water (struggling to survive), everything is here.
Sea (at a loss) and so on.
In the cultural atmosphere of Chinese, "East Wind" means "Spring Breeze", and summer is often associated with intense heat. "The sun burns like fire" and "The sun burns like fire" are words that are often used to describe summer. However, Britain is located in the western hemisphere and has a maritime climate, but it is the news that the west wind heralds spring. Ode to the west wind by Shelley, a famous English poet, is a hymn of spring. Summer in England is a warm and pleasant season, which is often associated with "loveliness" and "gentleness"
"Beauty" is interlinked. Shakespeare compared his lovers to summer in one of his sonnets, and I can compare them to summer.
Summer? /You are cuter and gentler.
2. Religious belief
Buddhism has been introduced into China for more than 1000 years. People believe that there is a "Buddha Lord" who controls everything in the world. There are many languages related to this, such as "offering flowers to Buddha", "not burning incense in leisure, cramming for Buddha's feet temporarily" and so on. In many western countries, especially in Britain and the United States, people believe in Christianity, which is related to "God helps those who help themselves".
Hell of a curse.
3. Historical allusions.
There are a lot of historical allusions in English and Chinese. These idioms are simple in structure and profound in meaning, and often cannot be understood and translated word by word. Such as "Learning from the East", "Falling into Sun Shan" and "Ye Gong Long Hao". The Achilles heel of English (the only weakness)
Waterloo, Penelope's Web, Pandora's.
Box. . Pandora's box-the root of disaster, trouble, disaster, etc.
For various reasons, there are so many cultural differences between China and the West, and cultural differences are obstacles to cross-cultural communication. The process of modernization has accelerated the circulation of spiritual products and material products, making all ethnic groups a "global village" and cross-cultural communication an indispensable part of every ethnic group's life. If an enterprise wants its products to sell well in the international market, it needs not only superb economic and technical means, but also a deep understanding of the culture of the target country, so that the product can meet the psychological needs of the people of the target country in packaging design and practicality. For example, in China, "Dragon".
It is our spiritual totem and a symbol of good luck and strength. China people are also proud to be descendants of the dragon. However, in the eyes of westerners, they don't have that kind of special feelings for dragons, and even understand dragons as terrible monsters with claws and claws. If an entrepreneur doesn't know much about this, he will push the products printed with the "dragon" pattern to the international market. Can this product stimulate westerners' desire to buy? Whether it can create high benefits for enterprises. Therefore, overcoming the communication barriers caused by cultural differences has become a problem facing the whole world. As middle school English teachers, we should attach importance to the teaching of language competence in English teaching, especially to cultivate students' communicative competence in daily teaching, and treat the role of cultural differences in language as an important issue in English teaching.
The interference brought by cultural differences between China and the West in English learning in middle schools is mainly manifested in the following aspects:
1, address format
In Chinese, kinship terms are often widely used, often among non-relatives: young people call their elders "uncles" and "aunts"; Address peers as "Big Brother" and "Big Sister". But in English, kinship terms are not widely used in social intercourse. If we call our English-speaking elders "Uncle Smith" and "Aunt Brown", they will feel uncomfortable. In English culture, such kinship terms are only used when they are closely related, instead of surnames, only first names, such as "Uncle Tom".
Another example is that students know that teacher means "teacher" and call "Miss Wang" as "teacher" accordingly.
Wang. In fact, English teachers are just a profession. People in China have a tradition of respecting teachers and valuing morality. "Teacher" is not only a profession, but also a kind of respect for people. Because of this cultural difference, students have a simple understanding: Miss Wang = Miss Wang. In addition, "Secretary Tang" and "Nurse Zhang" customarily referred to in Chinese are called Secretary Tang and Nurse Zhang, which sounds incredible to people in English-speaking countries. In English, people are usually called Mr.,
Miss, madam, etc.
2. Thanks and thanks
Generally speaking, we in China seldom use "thank you" among family members. If you use it, it will sound strange, or there will be a distance between the two. In English-speaking countries, "thank you." Used in almost all occasions, between all people, even between parents and children, brothers and sisters. Send a bottle of drink and prepare a delicious meal, and the other party will say "thank you." No matter what others help you, you should say "thank you"
You .. "This is the minimum etiquette.
When people ask if they want something to eat or drink (do you want it?
What to eat/drink? ), we are usually used to answering politely: "No, don't bother" and so on. According to the custom of English-speaking countries, if you want, you don't have to refuse and say, "Yes, please." If you don't want it, just say "no, thanks." . This also fully reflects the different styles of implicit China people and frank English-speaking people.
Step 3 worship
In English-speaking countries, compliments are often used as the opening remarks of conversations. The content of praise mainly includes personal appearance, appearance, newly bought things, personal belongings, personal excellent work in a certain aspect, etc. Usually, when praising other people's appearance, they only praise the results of her efforts to dress up, but not her natural beauty. So many people praise other people's hairstyles, but few people praise other people's hair. Praise others, the most common answer is: thank you. For example, A: Your skills look good.
B: Thank you.
You
4 Privacy
When people in China meet for the first time, they will ask about their age, marriage and income, expressing their concern. However, English-speaking countries are disgusted with this, thinking that all these involve personal privacy. For example, in JEFC lesson 16, there is a conversation: "How old are you, madam?
Reading? ""Ah, it's a secret! "Why did Mrs. Reed refuse to tell her age? Because people in English-speaking countries want to look energetic and youthful in each other's eyes, and keep their actual age secret, especially women. For example, China people care about "Where are you going?" "What are you doing? "In English, it has become an interrogation of spying on other people's privacy and listening to other people's words, which is unpopular.
Step 5 say hello
China people are used to asking, "Have you eaten?" If you say this to people in English-speaking countries, they will think you want to invite them to dinner. People in English-speaking countries usually talk about weather, health, transportation, sports and hobbies.
6, festivals
Cultural differences between China and English-speaking countries are also obvious in festivals. Apart from festivals in China and English-speaking countries (such as New Year's Day), both sides also have their own unique festivals. There is spring in China.
Festivals, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and so on. English-speaking countries have Valentine's Day.
Sunday (Valentine's Day), Easter (Easter), April Fool's Day (April Fool's Day) and Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving, Christmas
Day (Christmas) and so on. The customs and habits of Chinese and western festivals are also very different. In festivals, people in China often refuse other people's gifts and accept them helplessly, but they usually don't open them in person after accepting them. If you open it in person and smile, you may be suspected of "greedy for money." In British culture, people usually open gifts from others and praise them in person, and thank them gladly.
7. Cultural connotation of vocabulary.
English vocabulary has accumulated rich cultural connotations in long-term use. In teaching, attention should be paid to the introduction of cultural meanings of English vocabulary to prevent students from making subjective evaluations simply from the vocabulary itself. For example, whether in English-speaking countries or in China, red is usually associated with celebrations or festivals, and there is "Red Letter Day" in English. Especially in China, red symbolizes the positive significance of revolution and socialism, but in English, "red" also means a dangerous state or makes people angry, such as "red flag". When you see "in the" in business English.
Red ",don't think it is profit, on the contrary, it means loss and debt." "
In teaching, there are various methods of cultural education. Teachers should adopt flexible methods to improve students' cultural sensitivity and cultivate their cultural awareness, so that they can actively and independently absorb and integrate into the new cultural environment. For example, strengthen the comparison between Chinese and western cultures, and consciously and naturally infiltrate the differences in conversation topics and values between Chinese and western cultures in terms of address and greetings into teaching. Another example is to absorb and experience foreign cultures through various channels and means. You can collect some articles and pictures from English-speaking countries to let students know about foreign art, history and customs.
In a word, there are many differences between Chinese and western cultures. In English teaching, we should not only attach importance to language teaching, but also strengthen the cultural introduction of language and attach importance to the influence of language and cultural differences on language. Only in this way can we use language correctly in practice.