中西文化差异比较(英文).docx

中西文化差异比较(英文).docx

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ThedifferencebetweenChineseandwesternculture

Withtherapidlychallgingword,peoplethroughouttheworldhavefounditincreasinglynecessarytominimizetherateofmisunderstandingduetomiscommunicationintheircontactswithanother.Intheoastmosthumanbeingswerebom,lived,anddiedwithinalimitedgeoographicalarea,neverencounteringpeopleofotherculturalbackgrounds.Itmightbesaidthattechnologicaladvanceshavebeenmosteffectiveincreatingtheborderlessword,theglobalcommunity.Asourworldshrinksanditsinhabitantsbecomeinterdependent,peoplefromremotculturesincreasinglycomeintocontactonadailybasis.Itisnolongerhardtofindsituationsinwhichmembesofinceisolaredgroupsofpeople.Nowthesepeoplemaylivethousandsofmilesawayorrightnextdoortoeachother.Soallthepeoplearefacedwiththechallengeofunderstandthisworld.Sowhentheeastmeetwest,therearemanyproblems.Someproblemsarelistedasfollows.

Firstofall,thewayofeating.Allhuamanbeingshavecertainbasicneeds.Ourfundamentalneedsforthingsthatkeepusalive.Thisisthephysioligicalneed.Allindividualsmusteatinordertosurvive.Butwhatpeopleeat,whentheyeat,andthemannersinwhichtheyeatareallpatternedbyculture.Nosocietyviewseverythinginitsenvironmentthatisedibleandmightprovidenurishmentasfood.Americanseatoystersbutnotsnail.TheFrencheatsnailsbutnotlocusts.TheJewseatfishbutnotpork.TheHinduseatporkbutnotbeef.TheRussiandeatbeefbutnotsnake.Weallhaveideasaboutwhatkindsoffoodaregoodtoeat.Wealsohaveideasaboutwhatkindsoffoodarebadtoeat.Asaresult,peoplefromonecultureoftenthinkthefoodthatpeoplefromanothercultureeataredisgustingornauseating.Dislikeisnottheonlyreasonwhysomeculturewillnoteatacertainfood.Insomeclture,certainfoodsaretaboo.Sometimesthefoodtaboosmaybesostrongthratjustthethoughtofeatingforbiddenfoodscancauseanindivdualtofeelill.Wecanalsofindculturedifferenceinwayofbringupchildrentreatingtheearly,greetingeachother,sayingandspendingmoneybeforeotherpeopledoineveryday,butinsomeEnglish-speakingcountries,peopledonotagreewithus.WeChinesemayenjoysomethingthatisnotusuallyconsiderasediblebytheEnglish-speakingpeople.Generallyweperfertohavethinghotandmuchemphasisonthetaste.Weeatfromoneplatewhenweareeatingwithothers,andweliketoseatonebyone,andintheshapeofaround.Ontheopposite,someEnglish-speakingcontries,mostofthepeopleliketoseatintworows,twopeoplefacetoface.Theyhavetheirownplate.Ontheaspectoftablemanners,therearemanydifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish-speakingpeople.Forexample,insome

Englishi-speakingcountries,Breadplatesaretotheleftofthemainplate,beverageglassesaretotheright.Saladfork,knifeandsoupspoonarefurtherfromthe

mainplatethanthemaincourseknife,forkandspoon.Wheneatingbreadrolls,breakoffapiecebeforebuttering.Usetheknifeonlytobutterthebread,nottocutit.Theyshouldnotstarteatingbeforeyourhostdoesorinstructstodoso.Atlargermeals,itisconsideredokaytostarteatingonceothershavebeenserved.Whenfinished,placetheknifeandforktogetheratfiveotheforkontheleft.Itisconsideredrudetoclockwithanswerthetelephoneatthetable.Ifneedtotakeanurgentcall,excuseselfandgooutside.Trytoeatallthefoodyouareserved.ButinChina,thetablemaimersaredifferent.Chinesetraditionallyeatricefromasmallbowlheldinthelefthand.Thericebowlisraisedtothemouthandthericepushedintothemouthusingthechopsticks.SomeChinesefinditoffensivetoscoopricefromthebowlusingaspoon.Ifriceisservedonaplate,asismorecommonintheWest,itisacceptableandmorepracticaltoeatitwithaforkorspoon.Thethumbmustalwaysbeabovetheedgeofthebowl.Thehostshouldalwaysmakesuretheguestsdrinksaresufficientlyfiill.Oneshouldnotpourforonesself；butshouldoffertopourforaneighbor.

Whenyourdrinkisbeingpoured,youshouldsay"thankyou**andtapfingersonthetabletoshowappreciation.Whenpeoplewishtoclinkdrinkstogetherintheformofacheer,itisimportanttoobservethatyoungermembersshouldclinktheedgeoftheirdrinkbelowtheedgeofaneldertoshowrespect.

Secondly,thewayofcommunication.Formbirthtodeath,communicationplaysanintegralpartinourlife.Therearesomelanguageproblems,includingthedifferentstylesofusinglanguagesuchasdirect,indirect;expansive,succinct;argumentative,conciliatory;instrumental,harmonnizing;andsoon.Thesedifferentstjdescanleadtowronginterpretationsofintentandevaluationofinsincerity,aggreeiveness,deviousness,orarrogance,amongother.Themisinterpretationnonverbalsignsandsymbolssuchasgestures,postures,andotherbodymovements.Itisadefinitecommunicationbarrier.Butitispossibletolearnthemeaningsoftheseobservablemessage,usuallyininformalratherways.Itismoredifficulttounderstandthelessobviousunspokencodesoftheothercultures.Language,asthecarrierofculture,iscreatedduringtheprocessofhumanbeingsproductiv'elaborandservesasthetoolofcommunicationtoconveythemessagebetweenpeople.However,ithasbeenendowedwithmagicandpowerinparticularlanguageacts.Astheoldsayinggoes,troublescomeoutofthetongue.Superstitiouspeoplethinkthatthelanguageitselfcanbringaboutfortuneormisfortunesothattaboostorestricttheuseoflanguagearecreated.Anyonewhoviolatesthemwillgetpunishment,whereasthosewhofaithfullyobeytherestrictionsoflanguagetaboowillgetprotection.Furthermore,linguistictabooschangewiththedevelopmentofsociety.Thepaperfirstlyanalyzestheevolutionoflinguistictaboo.Itisindicatedinthepaperthatlinguistictabooexistsinalmosteveryaspectofpeoples'lifeandisauniversalsocialphenomenoninChinaandBritain.BothChineseand

Englishcullu/vscnvincigivementaboutlinguistictaboossuchaspmmmciationtaboo,andvocabularytaboo.Howeverinfluencedbydifferentculturalbackgmunds.ideologiesandtheconceptsofvalue9ChineseandEnglishlinguistictaboosalsohavedifferences,asisdiscussedinthepaperfromtheaspectsoftaboosubjects,taboonumbersandnames•Atlast,thispaperputsfanvardtwoeffectivewaysofavoidingtaboo,thatis,usingeuphemismandhavingagoodknowledgeofthetabooculture.AndthisdiscussionwouldhelpEnglishlearnersimprovetheirabilityofcross-culturalcommunicationandachievebettercommunicationaleffects"Forexample.DuringtheJeudaltimes,peoplewetvnotequaltotherulersandweivsuppressedhytheii,superiors.Thedistinctionbetweentheupperandthelowerclasseswasalsoreflectedintheevaluationofthelanguageusedbythemrespectively.Thewordsofupperclassusedwereconsideredgoodandelegantwhilethoseusedbythelowerclasswereregardedasvulgarandindecentandshouldbeavoidedinthespeechofladiesandgentlemen.Inmodernsociety,asaresultofthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology^manynaturalphenomenaarenolongermysterious.Humanbeingsnotonlyconstantlyimprovetheirabilitiestoexploittheworldwheretheyarelivingthroughtheirgreatwisdomandknowledge,hutalsomakeeffortstoexploretheextraterrestrialworld.Sciencehasmuchmoresayintodayssociety.Thereby,thesuperstitiouselementsinlinguistictaboosdecreasewhilethosereflectingspiritualcivilizationincrease.

Inshort,bycomparison,wecanfindthatbothChineseandEnglishcommunicationreflectpeoplespsychologyforgoodwill,forsajetyandfortuneandpleasantness.TheChineseandEnglishpeoplerestricttheirwordsanddeedsthmughtaboos,（tyingtokeepaharmoniousrelationshipbetweenhumanandnature,orbetweenpeopleandsociety.Theycuvareflectionofpeoplespursuitoffreedomandequality.

Themostimportant,thedifferentwayoffamilystructure,familyvaluesandfamilyeducation.Familystructureisthebigdifferencebetweeneastandyvesi9traditionalChinese,amonymanyotherAsians,repecttheireldersandJeeladeepsenseofdutytowardthem・Childrenrepaytheirparentsrsacrificesbybeingsuccessfillandsupportingtheminoldage.ThisisacceptedasanaturalpartoflifeinChina.Incontrast,takingcareofagedparentsisoftenviewedasatremendousburdenintheEnglish-speakingcountries,whetvagingandfamilysupportarenothonoredhighly.InsomeEnglish-speakingcountriesarestillextrmelyfamily-oriented.Theyarededicatedtohelpingtheirchildrenandwillsacrificegreatlyfortheirchildrentogetanedcuation.Inturn,thechildrenaredevotedtotheirparents,whoo/tenlivenearby.Grownchildrenwhogoawayandleavethecountry^fortheeconomictvasonstypicallysendlargepartsoftheirsalaryhometotheirparentsandtherestofthejamily.5insomeAsia,anydecisionsoractionsaredonefromfamilyconsideration,notindividualdesires.Peope^sbehaviorisjudgedonwhetherit

bringsshameorpridetothefamily.Thechildrenaretrainedtorelyontheirfamilies,tohonorelderlypeople,andtofearforeigners.Andmanyofthemthinkthattheiractionsinthislifewillinfluencetheirstatusinthenextlife.

Thewayoffamilyedcationisalsothedifferent.Weallknowthefamilyeducationistheelementaryeducationforchildren.Manyseriousproblemshaveappearedinoureducationsysteminrecentyears.Almosteveryonehasrealizedtheimportanceofsolvingtheseproblemsandmanypeoplehavepresentedalotofvaluablesuggestions.Therearema