Differences between Chinese and western customs and habits

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 your own paddle, keeping your head on the water, all at sea 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, gentleness and beauty. Shakespeare compared his lovers to summer in one of his sonnets. Can I compare them to 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 America, people believe in Christianity, which is related to the curse of "God helps those who help themselves" and "going to hell".

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". Achilles' heel (the only reason for weakness), Waterloo (failure), Penelope's web (an unfinished work), a 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, the "dragon" is our spiritual totem, a symbol of good fortune and strength, and China people are proud to be descendants of the dragon. However, in the eyes of westerners, there is no such special feeling for the "dragon", and even the "dragon" is understood as a terrible monster with its teeth bared. 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 ability, 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 a teacher means "teacher" and call him "Miss Wang" accordingly. 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 usually address themselves as Mr., Ms. and Mrs..

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." In public, no matter what others help you, you should say "thank you", which is the minimum etiquette.

When people ask what they want to eat or drink (do you want 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.

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 1 lesson 16, there is a conversation: "Mrs. Reed, how old are you?" "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 others' privacy and listening to others' 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 are Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival in China. English-speaking countries have Valentine's Day, Easter, April Fool's Day, Thanksgiving, 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 red" in business English, don't think it is profit, on the contrary, it means loss and debt.

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.