Cultural Differences in Everyday Conversation between Chinese and English1.doc

中西日常交谈文化对比Cultural Differences in Everyday Conversation between Chinese and EnglishAbstract: There are many differences in everyday conversation between Chinese and English. Most important reason is that they have different culture. With the development of communication in the world, many misunderstandings and mistakes in conversation are appearing easily and not good for our communication. There is in separate relationship between language and culture. Language is the carrier of culture, and culture is connotation of language. Different culture affects the custom and ways of conversation. The difference show in the aspects as: greeting and farewells; ways of address; compliments and praise and miscellaneous social amenities. Studying culture especially for the communication patterns and social custom is a good way to know speakers patterns of thought, world views and values, which has so much help to avoid mistakes and make good conversation.Key words: language; culture; everyday conversation; communication 摘要：中西日常交谈有许多不同。最主要的原因是他们有着不同的文化。随着世界交流的发展，很容易出现许多谈话中的误解和错误，这不利于我们的交流。语言和文化有着不可分割的关系。语言是文化的载体，文化是语言的内涵。不同的文化影响着谈话的习惯和方式。不同之处表现在打招呼和告别、各种称呼、祝贺和赞扬和其他社交礼节。学习文化，尤其是交流方式和社会习惯有利于了解谈话者的思维模式，世界观和价值观，对避免错误，完成好的谈话有很大帮助。关键词：语言；文化；日常交谈；交流(ContentsI. Introduction.1II. The Relationship between Language and Culture.1III. Cultural Differences in Conversation.3A. Greetings and farewells.3B. Ways of address.4C. Compliments and praise.6D. Miscellaneous social amenities.8IV. Conclusion.9Works Cited10I. IntroductionAn important function of humans language is promoting interpersonal communication. Using language correctly can help promote emotion, developing friendship, respecting each other and improving interpersonal relationships. Dialogue as the essence of language use is very important for our communication. As the structures of our linguistic resource emerge from their real world uses, so do their meanings. That is why the linguistic resources we choose to use do not come to us as empty forms ready to be filled with our personal intentions, rather, they come to us with meanings already embedded within them. These meanings, however, are not derived from some universal, logical set of principles; rather, as with their shapes, they are built up over time from their past uses in particular goals that, in turn, are shaped by cultural, historical and institutional force. (Hall 157) The primary function of language is to transmit informations. At present, most words we speak is still form of dialogue. Making dialogue can not be separated from our life and communication. In middle schools, teachers think that teaching English is just to teach vocabulary and grammar. So, English teaching only lays stress on analyzing grammar structures and explaining lots of language knowledge, which give students many difficulties in learning and using English. When they talk to a Chinese, they can easily open their mouthes and find the topic of conversation. But when they talk to a foreigner, they always dont know how to begin the chat. We learn language, the primary intention is to express our meanings and understand the meanings of others. However, after learning the language, we cannot communicate with each other, then the language we learnt lose its function. Sometimes because of not knowing the custom, many mistakes will be made easily. As a result, the listener cannot understand you. The mistakes even can make the listener angry and stop talking. These all make the study of the cultural difference in everyday conversation between Chinese and English necessary and important. There are four most important aspects we need to pay attention to: greetings and farewells, ways of address, compliments and praise and miscellaneous social amenities.II. The Relationship between Language and CultureLanguage is a set of symbols used and understood by a large community of people. plus. the. bining. those. symbols (Samovaretalh151). Language is not merely an instrument for voicing ideas but also is itself the shape of ideas, the guide for the individuals mental activity.(Hoijer 194) Language comprise structural and propositional systems transcending their users and contexts of use. Sociocultural conceptualizations see language as dynamic, living collections are considered central forms of life in that we use them not only to refer to, or represent, the world in our communicative activities. Language is our most important tool in communication.Culture. is. the. total. accumulation. of. beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions. and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people(Davis 24). To locate culture one must look not in individual mind, as an accumulated body of unchanging knowledge, but in the dialogue, the embodied actions, discursively rearticulated (Bhabha 177) between individuals in particular sociocultural contexts at particular moments of time.Learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture (Deng 5). That is to say, language is at the same time a repository of culture and a tool by which culture is created. In making visible the mutual dependency of language and culture, current understandings overcome the analytic separation of the “linguistics applied “approach. Because culture is located not in individual mind but in activity, any study of language is by necessity a study of culture. Language is a part of culture. It cannot be equated with culture. We do not know the exact period of time when language and culture appeared, but we can say for sure they appeared at the same time. There is no culture that has no language as its part. Language and culture are not separable. We can say that culture is the general environment of different activities in language. Language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture just as a mirror. Culture is reflected in language, and at the same time it exists in the intellectual structures that a certain group use their language (He 158). In this sense, we ought to really pay special attention to cultural aspects when we are engaged in the task of translation. However, the relationship between them is not just that between a part and the whole. It is much more complex than that. Language is the carrier and container of culture and it also exerts its influence on culture. Human knowledge and experience are described and stored in language. Customs, habits and behavioral patterns can be described and analyzed in language. Social institutions, value systems, beliefs, world views can be described, analyzed and evaluated in language. Even the visual arts like painting, sculpture, and dancing and the auditory arts such as music and singing can be described and evaluated in language. To be sure, culture can exist in the form of materials. But language as the medium of communication is indispensable in their production and use. It is concluded that language and culture are closely related, influencing and shaping each other. To learn a foreign language implies to learn the culture in which it is spoken. A language can never be learned in a cultural vacuum. Culture is learned through language. Without language as the medium for formal or informal instruction, no culture could ever be learned. Social scientists tell us that cultures differ from one another and each culture is unique. As cultures are diverse, language are diverse. It is only natural then that with differences in cultures and differences in languages, difficulties often arise in understanding between cultures and across cultures. Understanding is not always easy. Learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms. It also means to see the world as native speakers of that language see it, learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behaviors of their society, learning to understand their “language of mind”. So to speak, learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture. III. Cultural Differences in ConversationWhen people in different cultures communicate with others, they have to follow some norms limited and regulated by different cultures concretely. It is necessary to know such rules as when to make conversation and when not to make conversation, what to say and what not to say, and what kind of situations suitable, and how to say. The cultures are different, the norms of them are therefore different. There will be four parts to illustrate different manifestations of conversation in different cultures.A. Greetings and farewellsAn american studying in China had an appointment at noon. As he was getting on his bicycle a Chinese friend passed by. “吃了吗?” the young Chinese asked. This, of course, is a common Chinese greeting around meal time and the American merely nodded with a smile, waved goodbye and went off. He realized that his friends remark was nothing more than a Chinese way of saying Hello or Hi. If the greeting had been put literally into English “Have you eaten yet?” Or “Have you had your lunch?” It would have sounded rather unusual. To Americans, the greeting might means this:“I havent either. Come on, let s go together and get something to eat,” or “If you havent, I was just going to invite you to my place.” In other words, it could indicate an invitation to a meal. Actually, another foreign student who had not been long in China once complained in broken Chinese: Why you always ask me whether I have my meal or not? I have money. To his way of thinking, people were concerned that he was not getting his meals properly because of lack of money. Clearly, he was offended. There is a similar Chinese greetings, such as “Where are you going?” or “Where have you been?” The natural reaction of most English-speaking people to this greeting would most likely be “It s none of your business!”Fortunately, not all greetings sound strange or arouse displeasure, Many are similar, some are merely different. While greetings in many languages often indicate the time of day, there may be inconsistencies within a language. English has Good morning, Good afternoon and Good evening but not Good noon. And Good night is not a greeting at all, but an expression of farewell. When Chinese meet for the first time, there is no special expression for the occasion, but when most English-speaking people meet for the first time, they often say something like “Im pleased to meet you.” And when they part, they are expected to remark “It s nice meeting you” or “It s nice to have met you.” or something similar. When people part, they usually say “Good-bye,” “Bye-bye.” Similar expressions are found in almost all languages. But in the more or less fixed conversational formulas that precede Good-bye, there may be interesting differences, as in Chinese when a distinguished guest drops in for a visit, or if the visitor is one with whom the hosts are not very familiar. The Chinese custom when such a guest leaves is for the hosts to see the visitor to the door or gateway. It is customary for the guest to say to his hosts请留步. The final words of the hosts are usually 慢走，走好，慢点儿. None of these should be translated directly. “Stay here.” would sound strange; “Go slowly, Walk slowly” would be equally so. A smile and a gesture of farewell would be enough. B. Ways of addressIn recent years, the trend of many English-speaking people has been to address others by using the first nameTom, Michael, Linda, Jane, etc. rather than calling the person Mr. Summers, Mrs. Howard or Miss Jones. This is especially common among Americans, even when people of roughly the same age, but also of different ages. It is not a sign of disrespect. It is not at all uncommon to hear a child calling a much older personJoe, Ben, May, Helen. etc. This may even include the childs parents or grandparents. People of different social status do the same. For example, many college students call their professors by their first names. The professors do not regard this as a sign of disrespect or familiarity, but rather, as an indication that the professor is consider affable and has a sense of equality. This, of course, is quite counter to Chinese custom. One can imagine the reactions of adults if a child were to call a grandparent by his or her first name, or a student to do the same in calling a teacher. A quick reprimand, and possibly even a spanking for the child, would be sure to follow. One can infer from the preceding that the Chinese custom of addressing members of ones family, relatives or close neighbors as 二哥，三婶，周大伯，should not be carried over into English. In English, the name alone, whether it is for man or woman, would ordinarily be enough. The main exceptions are addressing ones parents (Dad, Mom, Mum or Mother), ones grandparents and sometimes an older relative. Notice that the given name, and not the family name, is used. And even with relatives, Americans tend to use just the first name and leave out the term of relationship. It should be mentioned that in English Brother Joseph or Sister Mary would commonly be understood as referring to person belong to a Catholic group or some religious or professional society. Another common Chinese form of address is the use of a persons title, office, or occupation, such as 黄局长，林经理，马校长. But one seldom hears English speaks addressing others as Bureau Director Smith, Manager Jackson, and Principal Morris. In English, only a few occupations or titles would be used: Doctor-is common for those authorized to try cases in law court; Governor-and Mayor-may be used for those who hold such offices, although often without the name. The same with Professor-. However, there are very few others. It should be noted that in addressing military officers in Chinese, 陈司令,郝团长,梁排长are common. English-speaking people, however, tend to use the rank of the person, and not the command or duties that he has been assigned; for example, Captain Johnson, rather than Company Commander Johnson, Admiral Benjamin, rather than Fleet Commander Benjamin.English translations of Chinese works usually keep such forms as Grandpa, Auntie, Sister-in-law, but they sound strange to the English ear. In English-language writings about China, such terms are used in order to keep or give a Chinese flavor to the story. Certain of these terms, though, are especially troublesome. How to address a teacher has long been a problem. Should it be Teacher or Teacher Zhang?