Differences in Ways of Thinking between Chinese and English
• 1. Integrity and Synthetic in Chinese vs Individuality and Analytic in English. • 搞得我心乱如麻。It made me upset. • 热得我满头大汗。The heat makes me sweat. • 只见她一身珠光宝气,绰约宜人。 • She showed up in a graceful manner, gleaning with jewelry. • 黑漆漆的,不知是日是夜。 • Pitch dark. I don’t know whether it is day or night. • 他省吃俭用,辛勤劳作,攒下了一笔钱。 • Thrift and diligence make him roll up a fortune.
• “A culture is a collection of beliefs, habits, living patterns, and behaviors which are held more or less in common by people who occupy particular geographic areas.” (D. Brown, 1978) • “Culture refers to the total way of life of particular groups of people. It includes everything that a group of people thinks, says, does, and makes.” (R. Kohls, 1979) • “The culture of every society is unique, containing combinations of norms and values that are found nowhere else.” (I. Robertson, 1981)