Western cultures and theirinfluence on English

Teaching from the Perspective of their

Daily habits and habits

【Absrtact】the cultural exchange between China and the West has begun since ancient times， but it is not a much discussed problem to help students understand the cultural exchange between China and the West. From the point of view of practice， this paper discusses how to carry out the education of cultural exchange between China and the West.

【Key words】eastern culture； western culture； cultural exchange between china and the west

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】李澤潞，湖南省衡陽(yáng)市第一中學(xué)。

Cultural difference is the difference between different cultures. When they meet， they will react with shock， competition and loss. This article carries on the elaboration to this.

1. Differences in the meaning of Daily Life between Chinese and Western cultures

English words idioms proverbs and so on often imply certain cultural connotations. Compared with the Chinese language some of them have different cultural connotations some of them have different commendatory or derogatory meanings and some have different denotation of cultural connotations. The word “red” in Chinese does not exactly correspond to “red” in English. And the English word red is sometimes not the Chinese word for “red.” “red ruin” is a fire， “red battle” is a bloody battle， “red ink” is a deficit. And green is not “green.” The word “dragon” holds supreme respect in China and is a symbol of the Chinese nation. In Britain and the United States， however， it is a kind of breathing smoke and fire， ferocious can be photographed monster. It’s a symbol of disaster. In Britain and America， funerals wear black. China wears white， and if we wear white， we will offend them.

2. Differences in the use of language in Chinese and Western cultures

There are differences in the word order of speech between China and the West. Because of the different modes of thinking between China and the West， there are great differences in the word order of speech. For example： the comparison of Chinese and English prefaces in simple sentences， Chinese： subject + time adverbial + place adverbial + manner adverbial + predicate + object， I play basketball happily on the playground every day； English： subject + predicate + object + manner adverbial + place adverbial + time adverbial I play basketball happily on the playground everyday. In greeting people， there are differences between China and the West. For example， it is natural for Chinese people to meet and ask each other， “where are you going？”So we can’t take it for granted， “where are you going？” Instead， we can say something like “how are you？ “something like that. In terms of address， there are differences between China and the West. In China， surnames are put before and after， whereas in the West， the opposite is true.

3. Cultural differences between East and West in explicit English expressions

The differences between Chinese and British kinship appellation. As we know， a first name consists of a family name and a given name. In Britain， the order is given name + family name； in Chinese， the opposite is family name + given name. We even have the distinction between the first name and the last name in reverse， not to mention the complicated appellations. Differences in figurative meaning of animals. Most of the Chinese idioms related to dogs contain derogatory meanings， such as “foxfriend dog party”， “dog jumping the wall”， “wolf heart and dog lung”， “dog leg”， and so on. Although the number of pet dogs has increased greatly in recent years， the “status” of dogs seems to have changed.

4. Summary

In short， the cultural differences between China and the West actually exist in every detail of life， this article only from a few “points” to carry out a simple exposition. With the continuous development of science and technology， the Earth has become more and more “small”， but only when we really understand the different regions and different cultures， the distance between the world will be really closer.

References：

[1]Matthew M.M.P.D. A Cultural Perspective Of The Feeding Habits[J]. Internet Journal of Nutrition Wellness，2004（1）.