Cultural Differences between English and Chinese in Idioms Origins英语专业毕业论文.doc

Cultural Differences between English and Chinese in Idioms Origins [Abstract] Different people from different cultures may have different understandings of the same sentence because they know little about the target cultures. While the ultimate aim of English teaching as a foreign language is to cultivate students' competence to apply English correctly, fluently, and appropriately in cross-cultural communication. However, due to lack of knowledge of cultural differences, many college students fail to achieve this purpose during the actual communicating activities. It is necessary for us to study the cultural differences in some fields between China and Western countries. Language is the most principal means for inter-cultural communication. Idioms, a part of language, are the essence of culture in every country. Using language in such communication, we often come across some idioms with distinctive cultural characteristics, so it is a very important and complicated thing for us to understand and use these idioms correctly. Therefore, in this paper, we will discuss the idioms reflecting the differences of Chinese and Western cultures in various levels with many lively, important, and interesting examples of idioms. [Key Words] idioms; origins; cultural differences between English and Chinese Introduction Language is inseparable from culture. For one thing, language is a part of culture and plays an important role in it. For another, as a mirror of culture, language is strongly influenced and shaped by culture; meanwhile, it reflects culture. Idioms include metaphorical phrases, slang, colloquialism, proverb and so on. As an essential part of the language and culture of a society, idioms are characterized by their concise expressions, rich and vivid, involving geography, history, religious belief, living conventions and so on. They are usually highly specialized in meaning and closely tied to distinctive cultural features and cultural attitudes. It is beli