Chapter 13: Language Thinking and Cultural Differences

辣白菜味辣条

1. Comparison of ways of thinking:
Chinese is a "rule by man" language, which emphasizes meaning and flexibility; English is a "rule by law" language, which emphasizes form and rules.
For example, the Chinese "我/有意/见/他" may be ambiguous due to the sentence segmentation, while the English needs to clarify the structure through grammar.
2. Influence of cultural differences:
Chinese English is often misinterpreted due to cultural differences. For example, "Good morning, teacher" does not conform to the English naming habit and should be changed to "Good morning, Sir/Miss".
Reflections：
Language is the carrier of culture, and the root of Chinglish lies in the "negative transfer" of native language thinking to the target language. For example, the Chinese phrase "人山人海" literally translates to "people mountain people sea," which is a failure in literal translation, while English requires cultural equivalent expressions such as "a sea of faces." One must read original materials, understand Western cultural logic, and gradually free oneself from the constraints of Chinese thinking.