Unit 4 Language and Culture

Warm Up

Read the following humorous dialogues and try to translate them into Chinese.

Can they be rendered in Chinese as humorous as the original?

1. In a physics class

Professor: What is matter?

Student: Never mind.

Then what is mind?

It doesn’t matter.

2.

A: Why couldn’t Cinderella be a good soccer player?

B: She lost her shoe, she ran away from the ball, and her coach was a pumpkin.

More examples

1. ---Why time flies?

----Because somebody wants to kill it.

2. 7 days, without 7-Up, makes one weak (week).

3. Patient: Well, doctor, my nose runs and my feet smell.

Doctor: Hummm, that’s awkward. You’ve built upside-down.

More examples

5. English Learner: I’m sorry.

Foreigner: I’m sorry, too.

E Learner: I’m sorry three.

Foreigner: But what are you sorry for?

E Learner: I’m sorry five.

6. Policeman: Your dog keeps chasing a man on a bicycle.

Man: Nonsense, Officer. My dog can’t ride a bicycle.

More examples

What is the smallest bridge in the world?

What sentence is the longest in the world?

Which part of the clock is always old?

Why is Adam’s first day the longest?

What We Say Influences What

We Think, What We Feel

and What We Believe

1.Relationship Between L&C

When we learn a new word we tend to look for its meaning in the word itself. Yet in addition to its dictionary meanings, the same word may stir up different associations in people. Take the word dog for example.

From the above, we can infer that language not only expresses facts, ideas, or events which represent similar world knowledge by its people, but also reflects the people’s attitudes, beliefs, world outlooks, etc. in a word, language expresses cultural reality.

Language is a part of culture. It is one of the features that distinguish man from

animals. It is the key stone of culture.文化的冠石