关于文化差异的英文作文

关于文化差异的英文作文（精选12篇）

1.关于文化差异的英文作文 篇一

专业论文

工种：西餐烹饪技师

题目：论中西方饮食文化差异

------观念与饮食方式

姓名：

身份证号： 等级：技师 准考证号：

培训单位：北京旅游学院培训部

鉴定单位：

鉴定所 2009年06月07日

内容提要：

在悠久的历史文化中，中西方不同的思维方式和处世哲学造就了中西文化的差异，从而造就了中西方饮食文化的差异。餐饮产品由于地域特征、气侯环境、风俗习惯等因素的影响，会出现在原料、口味、烹调方法、饮食习惯上的不同程度的差异。正是因为这些差异，餐饮产品具有了强烈的地域性。中华饮食以食表意、以物传情，其博大精深不可言喻。西方饮食精巧专维、自成体系。中西饮食文化的差异来自中西方不同的思维方式和处世哲学。在中国，烹调是一种艺术；在西方，烹调则是一种劳动。

关键词：

文化，中餐，西餐，饮食方式，思维方式，口味，烹调

目录

一、两种不同的饮食观念

1.西方人饮食观念 2.中国人饮食观念

3.饮食观念及味道和营养

二、中西饮食对象的差异

1.中西菜肴用料的不同 2.中餐主张素食 3.西餐注重营养

三、饮食方式的不同

1.用餐方式及餐具 2.用餐礼仪

四、中西饮食未来前景

在科学发达的今天，中西餐饮仍就存在着不可忽视的缺点和弊端。那么如何避免和剔除两者的缺点，如何改善两者的饮食结构，如何将两者进行有机结合，如何让中西方饮食为人类健康做出更大贡献，是我们长期需要努力的方向。这里将简要从下面四个方面谈谈中西方饮食文化的差异。

一、两种不同的饮食观念 1.西方人饮食观念

中国人吃口味，西方人吃营养。对比注重“味”的中国饮食，西方是一种理性饮食观念。不论食物的色、香、味、形如何，而营养一定要得到保证，讲究一天要摄取多少热量、维生素、蛋白质等等。即便口味千篇一律，也一定要吃下去——因为有营养。这一饮食观念同西方整个哲学体系是相适应的。形而上学是西方哲学的主要特点。西方哲学所研究的对象为事物之理，事物之理常为形上学理，形上学理互相连贯，便结成形上哲学。这一哲学给西方文化带来生机，使之在自然科学上、心理学上、方法论上实现了突飞猛进的发展。但在另一些方面，这种哲学主张大大地起了阻碍作用，如饮食文化。在宴席上，可以讲究餐具，讲究用料，讲究服务，讲究菜之原料的形、色方面的搭配；但不管怎么豪华高档，从洛杉矶到纽约，牛排都只有一种味道，无艺术可言。作为菜肴，鸡就是鸡，牛排就是牛排，纵然有搭配，那也是在盘中进行的，一盘“法式羊排”，一边放土豆泥，旁倚羊排，另一边配煮青豆，加几片番茄便成。色彩上对比鲜明，但在滋味上各种原料互不相干、调和，各是各的味，简单明了。

2.中国人饮食观念

中国人是很重视“吃”的，民间有句俗话：“民以食为天，食以味为先”。这句谚语就说明我们把吃看得与天一样重要。

中国人在品尝菜肴时，往往会说这盘菜“好吃”，那道菜“不好吃”；然而若要进一步问一下什么叫“好吃”，为什么“好吃”，“好吃”在哪里，恐怕就不容易说清楚了。这说明，中国人对饮食追求的是一种难以言传的“意境”，即人们通常所说的“色、香、味、形、器”，来把这种“境界”具体化，恐怕仍然是很难涵盖得了的。

中国饮食之所以有其独特的魅力，关键就在于它的味。而美味的产生，在于调和，要使食物的本味，加热以后的熟味，加上配料和辅料的味以及调料的调和之味，交织融合协调在一起，使之互相补充，互助渗透，水乳交融，你中有我，我中有你。遗憾的是，当我们把追求美味作为第一要求时，我们却忽略了食物最根本的营养价值，我们的很多传统食品都要经过热油炸和长时间的文火饨煮，使菜肴的营养成分受到破坏，许多营养成分都损失在加工过程中了。因而一说到营养问题，实际上就触及到了中国饮食文化的最大弱点。

3.饮食观念及味道和营养： 由于中西哲学思想的不同，西方人于饮食重科学，重科学即讲求营养，故西方饮食以营养为最高准则，进食有如为一生物的机器添加燃料，特别讲求食物的营养成分，蛋白质、脂肪、碳水化合物、维生素及各类无机元素的含量是否搭配合宜，卡路里的供给是否恰到好处，以及这些营养成分是否能为进食者充分吸收，有无其他副作用。这些问题都是烹调中的大学问，而菜肴的色、香、味如何，则是次一等的要求。即或在西方首屈一指的饮食大国——法国，其饮食文化虽然在很多方面与我们近似，但一接触到营养问题，双方便拉开了距离。

尽管我们讲究食疗、食补、食养，重视以饮食来养生强身，但我们的烹调术却以追求美味为第一性要求，致使许多营养成分损失于加工过程中。近年来我国厨师参加世界烹调大赛，人家端上一个菜营养成分开列得一清二楚，我们则拿不出这份材料。经人提问，亦瞠目结舌不知所云，大大地吃了哑巴亏！

基于对营养的重视，西方人多生吃蔬菜，不仅西红柿、黄瓜、生菜生吃，就是洋白菜、洋葱、绿菜花（西兰花）也都生吃。因而他们的“沙拉”有如一盘兔饲料，使我们难以接受。现代中国人也讲营养保健，也知道青菜一经加热，维生素将被破坏，因而我们主张用旺火爆炒。这虽然也使维生素的含量下降，但不会完全损失，可味道却比兔饲料好吃得多。因而中国的现代烹调术旨在追求营养与味道兼顾下的最佳平衡，这当然也属于一种“中庸之道”。

二、中西饮食对象的差异

1.中西菜肴用料的不同

西方人认为菜肴是充饥的，所以专吃大块肉、整块鸡等“硬菜”。而中国的菜肴是“吃味”的，所以中国烹调在用料上也显出极大的随意性：许多西方人视为弃物的东西，在中国都是极好的原料，外国厨师无法处理的东西，一到中国厨师手里，就可以化腐朽为神奇。足见中国饮食在用料方面的随意性之广博。

2.中餐主张素食

据西方的植物学者的调查，中国人吃的菜蔬有600多种，比西方多六倍。实际上，在中国人的菜肴里，素菜是平常食品，荤菜只有在节假日或生活水平较高时，才进入平常的饮食结构，所以自古便有“菜食”之说，菜食在平常的饮食结构中占主导地位。中国人的以植物为主菜，与佛教徒的鼓吹有着千缕万丝的联系。他们视动物为“生灵”，而植物则“无灵”，所以，主张素食主义。

3.西餐注重营养

西方人在介绍自己国家的饮食特点时，觉得比中国更重视营养的合理搭配，有较为发达的食品工业，如罐头、快餐等，虽口味千篇一律，但节省时间，且营养良好，故他们国家的人身体普遍比中国人健壮：高个、长腿、宽大的肩、发达的肌肉；而中国人则显得身材瘦小、肩窄腿短、色黄质弱。有人根据中西方饮食对象的明显差异这一特点，把中国人称为植物性格，西方 人称为动物性格。

三、饮食方式的不同 1． 用餐方式及餐具：

在用餐方式上。在中国，无论什么宴席，都是大家团团围坐，共享一席，美味佳肴放在桌子中间，它既是一桌人享用的对象，又是大家交流感情的媒介。在餐桌上，中国人都喜欢互相劝酒，夹菜，举杯共欢，非常和睦生趣。而西方就不同了，当他们聚在一起吃饭或请客时，劝酒，夹菜并没有中国人那么热情，并且客人与主人之间也没有那么客气。西方人更注重个人的独立性，各吃各的，没有中国人聊欢共乐的情趣。中餐上桌的菜讲究丰盛多样，一般是8或10碟、12碟，品种多样，从主菜到汤，到甜品，到水果，次序也讲究。而西方人宴客则是以牛、羊、猪排等为主食。

在餐具方面，差异就更甚明显。众所周知，中国人包括亚洲一些黄种人的国家，使用的是筷子，汤匙，吃饭也用碗盛；而西方人呢，则是盘子盛食物，用刀叉即切即吃，喝汤则有专门的汤匙。筷子与刀叉作为东西方最具代表性的两种餐具，筷子和刀叉影响了东西方不同的生活方式，代表着不同的两种智慧。

筷子古时候单叫箸，箸的起源可追溯到周代，《礼记》、《荀子》、《史记》都提到箸，在《韩非子》特别提到以荒淫奢侈闻名的纣王，使用“象箸”进餐。浙江大学游修龄教授认为：东西方出现进食工具筷子和刀叉的不同，和环境有关系，筷子要发源于有竹子的地方。而东汉、许慎的《说文解字》说：“箸从竹声。”则恰好验证了这样的结论。筷子的特点是“以不变应万变”，料想方的扁的，长的短的，硬的软的，统统可以一夹就起来，确实神奇。这一直很让中国人骄傲，并将其视作先进的象征。

刀叉的出现比筷子要晚很多。据游修龄教授的研究，刀叉的最初起源和欧洲古代游牧民族的生活习惯有关，他们马上生活随身带刀，往往将肉烧熟，割下来就吃。到了城市定居以后，刀叉进入家庭厨房，才不必随身带。但大约到18世纪才有了四个叉尖的叉子。所以西方使用刀叉不过四五百年历史。同筷子的简单相比，刀叉种类较多，属于专用工具，但由于这种“专”往往表现出“大巧若拙”而被国人忽视。回到餐桌上，也许应对炖得稀烂的黄豆猪蹄，筷子还能游刃有余，一旦碰上牛排，恐怕筷子就要自惭形秽了，刀叉这时表现出它们的专业特长。

仁者见仁，智者见智，关于筷子和刀叉与思维方式的关系很难得出结论。不过关于使用筷子更有利锻炼思维能力的说法却着实有科学依据。科学家们曾从生理学的观点对筷子提出一项研究成果，认定用筷子进食时，要牵动人体三十多个关节和五十多条肌肉，从而刺激大脑神经系统的活动，让人动作灵活、思维敏捷。而筷子中暗藏科学原理也是毋庸置疑的。

著名的物理学家、诺贝尔物理奖获得者李政道博士，在接受一位日本记者采访时，也有一段很精辟的论述：“中华民族是个优秀民族，中国人早在春秋战国时期就使用了筷子。如此简单的两根东西，却是高妙绝伦地运用了物理学上的杠杆原理。筷子是人类手指的延伸，手指能做的事它几乎都能做，而且不怕高温与寒冷。真是高明极了！”

2． 用餐礼仪：

在礼仪方面，中西两者更显不同。在中国古代，在用餐过程中，就有一套繁文缛节。《礼记·曲记》载：“共食不饱，共饭不择手，毋放饭，……毋固获，毋扬饭，……卒食，客自前跪，撒饭齐以授相者，主人辞于客，然后客坐。”这段话大意主要是：大家共同吃饭时，不可以只顾自己吃饭。如果和别人一起吃饭，必须检查手的清洁。不要把多余的饭放回锅里，不要专占着食物，也不要簸扬着热饭。吃完饭后，客人应该起身向前收拾桌上的盘碟，交给主人，主人跟着起身，请客人不要劳动，然后客人再坐下。这些礼仪有的在现代也是必要的礼貌。在西方宴席上，主人一般只给客人夹一次菜，其余由客人自主食用，若客人不要，也不便硬让人家再吃，也不要按中国人的习惯频频给客人劝酒，夹菜。吃东西时，也不要发出响声，但客人要注意赞赏主人准备的饭菜。若与人谈话，只能与邻座的交谈，不要与距离远的交谈。所以，归根结底还是感性与理性之间的差异。但是，这种差异似乎在随着科学的发展而变的模糊。越来越多的中国人以不再只注重菜的色、香、味，而更注重它的卫生与营养了。尤其是在经历了非典以后。还有，人们因为越来越繁忙的工作，觉得中餐做起来太麻烦，不如来个汉堡方便等。这样一来在饮食上差异也就不太分明了。

四． 中西饮食未来前景：

对于中国人，我们一出生便开始了品味中式饮食了，因而或多或少对厌倦中式饮食。同时我们现在又正处与经济全球化的形式中，西方饮食的进入使得我们有了新鲜感，开始习惯出入西式快餐店，品味与中式饮食不同的西餐或西式快餐。然而，中国人的饮食观念和习惯毕竟与西方有天壤之别，这决定了中式饮食在我国人民心目中的基础地位，它决不会因为西餐的介入而改变。但随着社会的发展，生活水平的逐步提高，西餐在中国会越来越盛行，但它只能是大多数人生活的“调味剂”，总不会有中国人将西餐当主食的一天。

参考文献：

1、百度搜索：《中西方饮食文化的差异》

2、《饮食文化》——（wfm86hc—Tom.博客）

3、《中国的饮食文化》

（万方数据库----数字化期刊）

4、《西方饮食文化》

（万方数据库----数字化期刊---教科文艺）3.中西饮食文化差异及发展趋势研究

专业论文作者：

（签字）

2009年06月07日

2.关于文化差异的英文作文 篇二

一、中英文广告的语言差异

中文广告讲究文化色彩, 以字感人, 偏重于呼唤功能。语言上惯用夸张、评述性用语;而英文广告语言表达客观具体, 突出信息功能。语言简洁通俗, 口语居多, 便于理解记忆。两者差异具体表现在以下几个方面:

1.语音

中英文分属两个不同的语系, 有着不同的语音特点。汉语是汉字表义、拼音表音;而英语是音形结合的。中文广告中的叠音现象是英文不具备的独有的特点, 把相同的两个音节重叠, 构成重叠的音律形式, 便于加深印象, 增强美感。 如:

晶晶亮, 透心凉 (雪碧广告)

悠悠岁月久, 滴滴沱牌曲 (沱牌酒广告)

而英文广告中的头韵又是有别于中文广告的一个重要特点。所谓头韵, 就是在一个词组、一行诗或句子中有两个以上彼此靠近的词, 其开头的音节具有相同的字母或声音。 如:

Health, humor and happiness. Gifts we’d love to give. (星期六晚报广告)

Double delicious, Double your pleasure. (某食品广告)

2.词法

中英文两种语言词法结构上存在明显的区别。汉语属于孤立语, 缺乏词形变化;英语属于屈折语, 存在复杂的词形变化, 词和词的关系主要靠词形变化来表示。

中文广告用词十分讲究, 广告用词的最明显的特点是四字结构的使用。特别是产品广告中的套语, 大多为四字结构, 如“规格齐全”、“品种繁多”、“款式新颖”、“经久耐用”、“品质优良”等, 不仅数量多, 而且使用频率高。

英语广告在用词方面却不如汉语那样讲究, 而用简单口语, 杜撰大量新词、错词和合成词是英语广告用词的一大特色, 使消费者能在不经意间注意到广告的商品。这样既体现了产品的新、奇、特, 满足了消费者追求新潮的个性心理, 又可取得某种修辞效果, 引人注目。 如:

(1) 用 super-、 ex- 、-que、-aid 等词缀来创造新词, 如:

superslim (减肥食品) ;timex (天美时表) ;footique (女鞋) ;band-aid (邦迪)

(2) 用倒拼、错拼、合成等方法创造新词, 如:

klim (美国一奶粉, 由milk倒拼而成) ; Ezyrub (易擦鞋油) ;OIC (Oh, I see! 缩写眼镜广告) ; hi-fun (由hi-fun演化合成新词, 意为超级趣味) 。

3.句法

中英文广告在句子结构、语法规则上也同样存在一定的差异。中文广告在句式上整齐对仗, 妙趣横生, 以达到音律对称、结构整齐的效果。而这种效果主要体现在回环、顶真、镶嵌等修辞手段上。

利用回环修辞, 强调产品的特点, 达到加深印象的效果。例如:

痛则不通, 通则不痛。 (园田牌通风透骨广告)

再如利用顶真的修辞, 使中文广告句子紧凑, 别具匠心。 例如:

车到山前必有路, 有路就有丰田车。 (丰田汽车广告)

这种句式上的特点源于汉语句法规则的灵活性, 英文则缺乏这方面的特点, 而具有简洁 、客观、逻辑性强的特点。英文广告写作可以概括为KISS 原则, 即:Keep it short and sweet! 简短清晰的句式, 经济实惠, 节奏急促, 跳跃性强, 易于记忆且给人印象深刻, 容易激发消费者的情绪, 是英文广告用语的首选。 例如:

Easy to shoot, Easy to share, Share moments, Share life. (柯达相机广告)

Coca-cola is it. (还是可口可乐好!)

二、中英文广告的文化差异

在国际贸易中, 商务广告是打开国外市场的一种重要手段, 由于地域和历史等原因, 不同的国家和民族必然在文化传统和风俗习惯上存在很多差异。因而中英文广告中的文化差异不容忽视。具体体现在如下几个方面。

1.价值观取向不同

中国人受传统的思想影响, 在价值观方面呈现中庸、保守的特点。强调群体意识和归属感, 并崇拜权威和名誉, 所以在广告词中常常出现“经久不衰”、“大众所选”、“老少皆宜”、“驰名商标”等字样。“上海名牌产品, ISO9001国际体系认证”, “中国环保产品, 质量信得过重点品牌”等称号。 例如:

中意冰箱, 人人中意。 (中意冰箱)

大宝啊?不错!价格便宜量又足, 我们一直都用它! (大宝SOD蜜广告)

与此相反, 西方价值观追求个性、自我、自由, 看中客观数据, 不看中别人的选择, 所以在英文广告中会常出现special、creative、distinguished等字样。 例如:

Volvo is never meant to be a car for any but the discriminative few. (沃尔沃汽车)

It makes you feel like the man you are. (别克汽车)

2.社会习俗的差异

由于历史、宗教、信仰的不同, 东西方在社会风俗习惯上存在很大的差异。比如中国人喜欢红色, 西方人认为红色象征暴力和流血;中国人忌讳“4”、“7”等数字, 西方人忌讳“13”;中国人认为龙是神圣吉祥的象征, 西方人认为龙 (dragon) 是罪恶、邪恶的象征;中国人喜欢用美丽的鸟虫作广告, 西方人认为鸟虫给人以质量低劣感, 而使用大量大人物名作商标, 如:Apollo (阿波罗钟表) 、Chrysler (克莱斯勒) 、 Lincoln (林肯) 。

“孔雀”牌彩色电视机不能直译为“Peacock color TV”, 孔雀 (peacock) 在汉语中是十分优雅美丽的象征, 而西方人通常认为孔雀是“污秽”, “自傲”的。 著名的中成药乌鸡白凤丸, 如果被翻译为Black Cock Pill, 必将在国际市场销售中受阻, 因为 “cock”在英语中除雄鸡之意外还有“男性生殖器”之意, 所以必须改译为 Black Roaster Pill。凤凰牌自行车中英译“Phoenix”, 在英语文化中是“死而复生”的含义, 这样的自行车必定给人以不祥之感。

3.思维方式的不同

中国人受传统文化的影响, 思维方式是螺旋形的, 所以中国人的表达方式是含蓄的、间接的。这就决定了中国广告善于用大量的华丽辞藻, 罗列详细的具体信息做铺垫。

而西方人的思维是直线型的, 所以西方人的表达方式直截了当, 一目了然, 开门见山。这决定了英文广告在布局谋篇上会先亮要点, 再讲细节, 语言倾向直白。

三、 结束语

国际商务广告是跨国界、跨语言、跨文化的商品推销的重要手段。国际商务广告创作、翻译得好坏, 不仅直接关系到产品的国际竞争力, 而且还间接关系到出口国的文化底蕴, 也体现了对贸易国的尊重。本文仅对中英文广告在语音、词法、句法以及文化层面进行了初步的对比研究, 而国际商务广告的创作和翻译是一项极富挑战的工作, 需要的不仅是一些简单的方法和技巧, 而是营销哲学、语言能力、思维能力、创新能力、文化艺术鉴赏力的综合能力。只有具备了这样的能力, 才能从一个新的高度, 翻译出具有实用价值、审美价值的好广告, 从而促进我国对外贸易的发展。

参考文献

[1]吴克明, 刘志伟.英语广告词精品[M].北京:北京大学出版社, 1999.

[2]郭贵龙, 张宏博.广告英语文体与翻译[M].上海:华东师范大学出版社, 2000.

[3]吴娅敏.中英文广告语言特点的对比研究[J].科技信息:学术版, 2007 (27) .

[4]牟章.汉英广告语言的异同及商业广告翻译中语用失误研究[D].中国优秀硕士学位论文全文数据库, 2004.

3.关于感冒的英文表达 篇三

（In the Clinic 在诊所）

Doctor: Good morning. What’s troubling you?

医生： 早上好。你哪里不舒服？

Patient: Good morning, doctor. I have a terrible headache.

病人： 你好，大夫。我头疼得厉害。

Doctor: All right, young man. Tell me how it got started.

医生： 别着急，小伙子，告诉我怎么回事。

Patient: Yesterday I had a running nose. Now my nose is stuffed up. I have a sore throat. And I’m afraid I’ve got a temperature. I feel terrible.

病人： 昨天我老流鼻涕。现在有点鼻塞。喉咙很痛。恐怕还伴有高烧。感觉糟透了。

Doctor: Don’t worry, young man. Let me give you an examination. First let me take a look at your throat. Open your mouth and say “ah”.

医生： 小伙子，别担心。让我给你检查一下。我先看看你的喉咙。张开嘴说“啊”。

Patient: Ah.

病人： 啊。

Doctor: Now put your tongue out. All right, let me examine your chest. Please unbutton your shirt. Let me check your heart and lungs. Take a deep breath and hold it. Breathe in, and out. By the way, do you have a history of tuberculosis?

医生： 把你的舌头伸出来，好的。接下来让我检查以下你的胸膛，把衬衫的扣子解开，让我检查你的心和肺。深呼吸，屏住气，吸气，呼气。顺便问一下，你曾经患过肺结核吗？

Patient: No, never.

病人： 没有，从来没有。

Doctor: Look, your throat is inflamed. And your tongue is thickly coated. You have all the symptoms of influenza.

医生： 听着，你的喉咙发炎了，舌苔很厚，这些都是感冒的症状。

Patient: What am I supposed to do then?

病人： 那我该怎么做呢？

Doctor: A good rest is all you need. I’ll write you a prescription.

医生： 你需要好好休息，我马上给你开药。

Patient: Thank you very much.

病人： 谢谢。

Doctor: That’s all right. Remember to take a good rest.

医生： 不客气。记住好好休息。

Patient: I will. Goodbye, doctor.

病人： 我会的。再见，大夫。

Doctor: Bye!

医生： 再见！

Related Expressions相关表达

1. I’ve got a cold. / I’ve got a bad cold.我感冒了。/ 我感冒很严重。

2. I’ve got a runny nose. / My nose is running. 我流鼻涕。

3. I’ve got a sore throat. 我嗓子疼。

4. I’ve been coughing day and night. 我一直在咳嗽。

5. I can’t stop sneezing. 我打喷嚏打个不停。

6. I’ve got a temperature. / I’m running a high fever. 我发烧了。/ 我发高烧。

7. I’ve got a very bad headache. / This headache is killing me. 我头很痛。/ 我头快痛死了。

8. I feel sore and ache all over. 我觉得全身酸痛。

9. I am trembling with cold. 我冷得全身发抖。

10. I feel like I’m dying. 我觉得我好像要死了一样。

11. I feel dizzy. / My head is swimming. 我头晕。/ 我头昏脑胀的。

12. I have a stuffy nose. 我的鼻子不通气。

13. I have been like this for about a week. 我这样大约有一个星期了。

14. I don’t feel like eating anything. 我什么都不想吃。

15. I have no appetite at all. 我一点胃口都没有。

cold 感冒

sunstroke 中风

flu 流行性感冒

cough 咳嗽

tuberculosis 肺结核

fall ill 生病

suffer from 患病

feel very bad 感到不舒服

vital signs 主要病症

blood pressure 血压

temprature 体温

rhythm of the heart 心率

run a fever 发高烧

feel dizzy 头昏眼花

be short of breath 呼吸急促

feel chilly 发冷

have difficulty in breathing 呼吸困难

have a headache 头疼

have a sore throat 嗓子疼

4.关于教育方式的英文作文 篇四

——Robert Frost

Nowadays, students are not as diligent and docile as their former generation,which makes the teachers feel headache.How to let their students focus on their study? Some teachers take this kind of measures to deal with their uneducable students——flunking students.Personally, I can’t agree with this method.It’s horrible both to students and teachers.From the students’ side, this method can only reduce students’ motivation and confidence for studying well rather than increase their mood of learning.After all, a flunking grade is not a laudable result for everybody.If someone gets flunked, he or she will feel that maybe he or she can’t do anything well.Recently, some college students killed themselves because they failed in critical exams.So flunking students can’t save them but hurt them.From the teachers’ side, this approach may ruin their images in their students.Most students dislike teachers who always give a lot of flunking grades.It makes them think that this kind of teacher is stubborn, carping and difficult to get along with.If the students have had this thought, how could they be motivated by their flunking grades?

5.关于成功的英文小作文怎么写 篇五

What is success?It is what everyone is longingfor.Sometimes success would be rather simple.

What is success? Different people hold views on Thisquestion. Some think that one is successful if he canmake a great deal of money. Others argue thatsuccess means holding an important governmentpost.

关于成功的英文小作文篇2： Success means different things to different people. For some, it is money and power. For some, it is getting something you want. For some, it is the sense of achievement they get after trying really hard. It is really based on what kind of person you are.

6.关于太阳能英文作文 篇六

Earthships are built to utilize the available local resources, especially energy from the sun. For example, windows on the sunny side admit light and heat, and the buildings are often horseshoe-shaped to maximize natural light and solar-gain during winter months. Likewise, the thick, dense outer walls provide effective insulation against summer heat.

Internal, non-load-bearing walls are often made of a honeycomb of recycled cans joined by concrete and are referred to as tin can walls. These walls are usually thickly plastered with stucco.

7.英文电影片名的地域翻译差异 篇七

由于历史、政治、社会生活等多方面的原因，内地与港台三地在外来语翻译方面存在诸多差异，同样的差异也反映在电影译名上，折射出两岸三地有各自的地域文化特点和语言运用特色。

电影片名翻译是一项重要而富有创造性的工作，它作为一种鲜活的语言运用实例，体现着整个社会的文化理念、文化价值趋向及审美习惯。电影片名翻译作为翻译的一个类别，要遵循翻译的一般原则和方法，但它同时又是电影文化交流甚至商贸的一项内容，具有一定的特殊性。近些年来，翻译界对电影片名翻译越来越重视，一些翻译工作者纷纷提出了自己的看法。其中包惠南先生指出，影视片名的翻译“既要符合语言规范, 又要富有艺术魅力;既要忠实于原片名的内容，又要体现原片名的语言特色，力求达到艺术的再创造”，要讲求“大众化、通俗化、口语化和艺术性”，“要能起到很好的导视和促销作用”。据了解，中国大陆和香港、台湾地区目前各自独立进行英文电影片名的中文翻译工作，已形成三足鼎立之势。虽然翻译界有普遍认可的既定翻译标准，但由于三地区文化背景、历史沉淀和语言习惯的差异，同一部英文片名的中文译名在三地常常天差地远、各具风格。笔者搜集整理了近几年英美大片在中国内地、香港及台湾地区的不同译名，并进行对比分析，分别论述了三地区对电影片名翻译标准的理解与侧重，以及翻译策略的不同运用等。

（二）电影片名翻译的原则

现代汉语大词典写道，翻译就是“把一种语言文字的意义用另一种语言文字表达出来。”它是一门语言表达的艺术，是科学性与创造性的完美结合。清末翻译家严复在《天演论》的 (译例言》中说：“译事三难：信、达、雅。”虽然他是就文言文的翻译所发表的个人看法，但后人却一直将其视为各种语言翻译的质量标准。信，谓之忠实;达，谓之通顺;雅，则谓之修辞。也就是说，翻译必须做到语义准确，句子通顺，词藻优美。只有符合这种标准的译文，才能称得上翻译的精品。严复所提出的“信、达、雅”的原则，是就一般的语言文字翻译而言的，但电影片名的翻译有其特殊性，仅有“信、达、雅”是不够的。对于任何一种文艺作品而言其名称或标准的要求除了能够表达主要内容之外，还必须做到简洁明快，易读易记。因此，笔者认为，电影片名的翻译原则除了“信、达、雅”之外，还应符合下面四个原则：

1. 信息价值原则

片名翻译要忠实传递与原片内容相关的信息，做到翻译标题形式与原片内容的统一，也就是所谓实现信息价值的等值。捕风捉影，离题万里，背离信息价值的翻译是片名翻译的大忌。

2. 文化价值原则

翻译不单纯是语言转换的过程，同时也是两种文化交流的社会现象。在片名翻译中体现文化价值，促进文化交流和理解，是电影片名翻译的重要任务。

3. 审美价值原则

片名的翻译讲求摆脱原文词语束缚，深入把握作品的思想美学内容，以艺术家的匠心对待原片，进行新的艺术创造。用本族语言的艺术形式传达原作的形象、情感和语言的艺术美，从而将美感经验传导于观众。

4. 商业价值原则

电影是一门文化性和商业性兼具的艺术，在片名翻译时当然需要考虑到商业因素。这首先要求译者充分把握译语文化特征和审美情趣，创造出的语观众所喜闻乐见的电影标题，引起其心理认同，激发审美愉悦而产生观看欲望。

（三）三地对于电影片名翻译原则的不同理解与运用

总体来看，内地对于电影译名一般采取直译，看上去直截了当，比较严肃并且忠于原名，但有时会有呆板拘谨之感，今年来正逐渐增加意译的做法，但总体看来还比较符合电影主旨;综观我国百余年的翻译历史，不管是严复老先生的“信、达、雅”，还是鲁迅先生提倡的“宁信不顺”，其共同基础都是忠实于原文。深受此标准影响的中国大陆的翻译家抱着严谨、认真的态度，尽可能忠实地反映原片的信息内容，准确地传递原片承载的文化，带给观众以美的享受。香港的电影业已经发展为一项成熟的娱乐产业，绝大多数观众看电影就是为了娱乐消遣、追求刺激，满足视觉和听觉的需要，而非受教育或提高品位。这也是香港武侠片、警匪片以及无厘头电影大行其道的原因。因此此地区电影片名的翻译也就投观众之所好，多将其做同化的处理来迎合观众的口味，以实现商业价值为终极目的。但是香港电影译名的商业化、本地化，不容易为香港以外的观众所接受。台湾地区电影片名的翻译与香港地区有着相似之处，同是处于高消费地区，同是受到商业浪潮的猛烈冲击，再加上本土思想言论的开放，外国电影到了台湾经常被“改头换面”，很多时候给人以触目惊心”的感觉，属于典型的“眼球经济”，因此台湾电影译名采取意译较多，但有时录用的名字与电影本身没有较多联系，商业化色彩也比较厚重。(见表1)

（四）内地与港台电影译名差异原因根源分析

1. 从语言学角度分析

音译上的差异是外语翻译中普遍存在的一个现象，由于这是一个见仁见智的问题，如果没有一个权威机构来统一译名，差异就在所难免。这种差异的出现没有太多规律可循。但总的来说，内地在翻译外语专名时比较注意紧扣外语音节和字母，用字时比较注意辅音的清音与浊音的对立，而港台在处理这类问题时似乎比较灵活，不大拘泥于某个字母、甚至音节与汉语的严格对应。因此首先在音译的电影译名中，内地与港台之间就有较大分歧。比如：“Amelie”，内地译为“阿梅丽”，香港译为“爱美丽”，台湾则译为“艾蜜莉”。

音译与意译上的差异。港台与内地在翻译有些电影片名时，采用的方法不太一致，通常是一方采取纯意译，另一方采取意译加音译两者相结合的方式，其结果才造成了三地译名的明显差异。(见表2)

当然对于一些抽象或引发歧义的电影片名，内地译者也会采用直译意译相结合，或音译意译相结合的方式，如经典老片Waterloo Bridge，为了避免直译成“滑铁卢桥”，而引起歧义，译者保留了原片名中的“桥”(Bridge)，又考虑到原片内容是爱情悲剧，加上“魂断”两个字。“魂断蓝桥”这一凄美而富有诗意的中文译名赢得了广泛的赞誉。

2. 从三地历史文化、经济与社会心理角度分析

从社会语言学角度看，适用于不同的彼此隔绝的地区中的同一种语言，在经过较长时期相对封闭的独立发展之后，除了该语言本身会随着各自社会的变化而发生某些变化之外，不同地区使用的语言间也必定会发生某些差异，隔离的时间越久，差异就越明显。

香港被英国统治丽150年之久，英语已经对香港的语言文字应用进行了全面的渗透，加上香港原本就使用的粤语方言，使得香港的语言具有极大的特殊性，很难被香港以外的地区的人们理解和接受。如“The Cable Guy”译为“线鬼衰人”, “The Princess Diaries”译为“走佬俏公主”。还有“Adaptation”译为“何必偏偏玩谢我”, “Pay It Forward”译为“拉阔爱的人”，这样的片名相信不熟悉香港文化的人一定无法理解。然而我们不能说这样翻译就一定不好，毕竟除了文化、教育、语言习惯等原因外，民族语言的凝聚力和社会各阶层对于词语的接受性方面的差异也是不容忽视的重要因素。加之香港是高度发达的商业社会，而电影作为重要的消费品，自然会从商业角度出发，往往靠一些吸引眼球的名字来吸引观众，这种做法本身无可厚非，可是因此带来的译名混乱的后果确是我们不愿看到的。

由于历史原因，台湾与内地相隔数十载，彼此语言接触甚少，各自都在不同的情况下发展变化，导致了两地汉语的较多差异，这种差异不可小视。而且台湾近年来在翻译电影片名方面所表现的“自由”程度和“豪放不羁”的态度简直可以说是恣意妄为。台湾的片商在定影片译名时，很多时候似乎根本不考虑影片原名和内容，只是一味的迎合“市场需求”。于是一些能吸引眼球的字眼诸如魔鬼、黑色、战士、悍将就频频出现在电影译名中，至于这些字眼和原片有无关系，则不予考虑。这样，一系列的流行公式也应运而生，如大家耳熟能详的“XX总动员”、“XX动员令”、“XX战警”和“XX追缉令”。例如，动作明星施瓦辛格因主演“魔鬼总动员” (Total Recall) 走红后，他所主演的电影就全在中文译名前冠上“魔鬼”二字。“The 6th Day”译为“魔鬼复制人”，“The Terminator”译为“魔鬼终结者”，“End of Days”译为“魔鬼末日”，“Commander”译为“魔鬼司令”，就连他的一部喜剧片“Kindergarten Cop”也译为“魔鬼孩子王”。

（五）结束语

中国内地、香港和台湾三地由于地域、历史文化背景、社会心理、价值取向等方面的不同，造成了电影片名的翻译标准、策略上都存在差异。译名既然是以本地观众为目标，就必须符合本地观众的欣赏与品味。三地的翻译从整体上来说，都较为适应当地译语观众的需求。因此我们不能单纯地来评判哪个的翻译方法是最佳译法。国内有些翻译工作者曾就目前电影片名翻译的这种“三足鼎立”局面予以，认为这造成了同一部影片有三个不同的汉语译名的混乱局面，使观众误以为它们是不同的电影，认为这一局面令人堪忧，亟待打破。然而，笔者认为翻译本来就没有纯粹而简单的“绝对标准”，这种文化现象的电影片名翻译也应与具体现实结合起来，因地制宜，灵活变通。三地片名翻译的“鼎势”虽说让人有些眼花缭乱，但也给了三地翻译工作者难得的比较素材，让他们在比较中加强交流、学习、取长补短, 从而有利于整体提高中国翻译界的电影片名翻译水平。

参考文献

[1]包惠南.文化语境与语言翻译[M].北京:中国对外翻译出版公司, 2001.

[2]贺莺.电影片名的翻译理论和方法[J].外语教学, 2001, (1) :56-60.

[3]郑玉琪, 王晓冬.小议电影片名的英汉翻译原则[J].中国翻译, 2006, (2) :66-68.

8.从中英文姓名透视中西方文化差异 篇八

语言和文化是共生共存且互为表里的，语言是文化的载体和呈现，而文化则是语言的基底和内涵。因此，我们常说，一个民族的语言是该民族文化的表现。基于这样的认识，我们在探究语言问题之时，就应当在致力于语言本体研究的基础上，进一步着眼于其文化内涵的深度发掘，这才是我们语言学研究的题中之义。

值得一提的是，姓名是任何语言中都有的，尽管不如其他词类，如动植物词、颜色词、数字词这样有鲜明的对应关系，但不同文化中的姓名仍蕴藏着一定的文化差异。姓氏作为人类社会中最简单且最为直接有效地用来区分人与人的象征符号，是人类社会从蛮荒蒙昧的原始社会迈入人类文明社会的标志之一。而随着社会的发展演变，姓名不仅具备了区别功能的实用性作用，在各种社会中，姓氏在相当大程度上还具有一定的文化功能。在日常的社会交往中，交际双方首先遇到的信息就是姓名和称呼。

一个在本民族人看来不成其为问题的姓名和称谓，在跨文化交际中扮演着何等重要的角色，当我们对另一方的文化知之不多或者一知半解的情况下，很容易出现交际上的误会与尴尬，而这些是可以通过我们将两种语言进行比较分析加以掌握的。尽管近现代学者研究姓名已经开始逐渐深入到文化层面，并取得了一定的成果，但往往更多的局限于语言学层面，而同文化的联系显得稍有隔阂，实际上中英文姓名文化的诸多异同是我们跨文化交际中不可忽视的重要部分，它将对我们了解两个民族的语言乃至历史文化提供可靠的参照。

从最直观的形式出发，中文名和英文名的差异是显而易见的，中文名的姓在前，名在后，而英文名中的形式则是first name(given name)+middle name+family name（surname），其中first name相当于中文姓名中的名，而family name指的则是中文姓名中的姓，可见中文与英文的姓名在姓与名的次序上是有所不同的，且中文姓名中不存在英文姓名中为的middle name这一“中间名”概念。而深究中英文姓名的差异则可追朔到它们的起源乃至历史的发展，下面我们就来具体分析一下它们的不同之处，试图从姓名以管窥豹地对两种语言及其文化有一定的了解，为跨文化的交流提供些许便利。

谈到姓氏中的名，我们可以从中文名和英文名在选择时的自由度来加以比较。首先以历史的眼光来看，传统的中国名字在选择上有一个典型的现象，即避讳。这是人们为了表达对已过世或有名望、受人敬仰的先辈的敬畏之情，而在命名时的一种处理。《礼记·典记》曾记载道：“名字者不以国，不以日月，不以隐疾，不以山川。”发展到后来，则有了“公讳”和“家讳”，到汉以后的避讳又有了所谓的“国讳”、“圣讳”。在汉民族历史上曾经存在的这种严格的姓名避讳制度实际上是建立在严格的封建等级制度之上的，到了现代社会，民主思想进入了中国之后，传统的避讳制度便成为了历史而不复存在。相较于中文名的这种严格的避讳制度，英文名在西方社会则没有将等级制度反映在名字上，在他们看来重复使用某个名字更多的是为了表达某种特殊的意义，有时是为了希望子女能继承先辈的某种精神，有的则是为纪念家族中的某一位成员或表达对某一位成员的爱戴、敬仰和怀念之情，父子同名在西方社会中是很常见的一种做法，如著名的黑人人权领袖马丁·路德金，美国前总统乔治·布什。这体现在称呼上则表现为比较熟悉的朋友和同事之间多用名相称，与汉语文化里的称呼方式不同。因此，注意到这种区别有助于我们在跨文化交际上避免前文提到的类似于初次见面不知如何打招呼的尴尬。

当时间的车轮驶入二十世纪下半叶，等级观念制度在中国已经不再占主宰地位，人们彻底放弃了传统的家庭宗室观念，在名字的选择上，中国人迎来了一个极度自由的新时期。越来越多的父母为了使自己的孩子拥有一个耳目一新的名字，在命名时往往标新立异，不但喜欢用生僻字，如“陈一氍”、“鲁暐”，还喜欢用父母双方的复姓来起名，如“张杨细雨”、“陈余落雁”、“汪孟子骏”，甚至将一些常用词组作为名字，如“王妃”、“王子”等等，究其原因，无外乎是这些父母想要避免孩子与他人重名，表达对孩子的美好祝愿，同时显示出自己的文化素养和审美追求。事实上，随潮流取名在近几十年的中国历史中是有先例的，比如建国初期以“建国”、“援朝”、“解放”、“跃进”为名，六十年代出现的“自力”、“自强”、“卫红”、“卫东”为名，七十年代出现的“文革”为名等，都体现了中国人随着社会的高速发展而在精神层面上的一种需求，以及他们赋予名字深刻内涵背后的心理诉求。与此形成鲜明对比的是，西方人在名的选择上基本是限制在有限的范围之内，其选择也具有相当的随意性。对于他们而言，为孩子选择名字几乎是在一种完全闭合的状态中，因为一般的英语工具书后通常都附有英语名字的列表供他们选择，在他们眼中，名字并不像中国人看来如此的重要，名字仅仅是用来区别于社会成员的符号而已。可见，仅仅在姓氏这样一个并不大的问题上都给与了较大关注的中华民族无愧为一个有着深厚历史积淀和人文情怀的民族。

综上所述，中英文姓名从起源、形式、功能及取名和称呼方式上蕴含的文化信息都不尽相同，这正是中西方文化差异之体现。通过对中英文姓氏的语言文化层面的对比研究，有助于我们加深对两种民族姓名文化内涵的了解，进一步认知中西方在文化心理、传统思想和价值取向等方面的异同，相信在这类问题上更深入的探讨，对跨文化交际是有着一定的现实意义的。

[1]周一农.词汇的文化蕴涵[M].上海：三联书店，2005.

9.南北方人的差异英文 篇九

The differences between southerners and northerners are always interesting to talk about.Although they live in the same country, they have different cultures.First, also the most important on, I think, is their personalities.As southerners, they are always considerate, careful and introversive, while northerners are robust, enthusiastic and extroversive.These are mainly caused by the different geographical environment they live in.there are plenty of plains and few mountains in northern part of China, which could have northerners stretch to the horizon.Instead, the southern part of China is a mountainous area.Thus, northerners are usually more generous than southerners.Second, the difference lies in diet.This can be obviously presented in two aspects.On one hand, in a meal of northerners, wine is probably necessary and most of wine is white spirit.There is no lack of tipplers here.While, things change in southern part, where wine is in dispensable.What’s more, most southerners drink millet wine with small cup.On the other hand, the customs of eating.Northerners always speak loudly and play passionate games.While southerners are relatively elegant, gentle and more or less graceful.The last but not least, difference lies in the way of thinking and behaviorpatterns.Northerners are always helpful to friends;therefore, it is not very important to tell who is wrong.However, it is not the personal loyalty but the responsibility that counts most in southerners’ mind.From what has been discussed above, we can see there are many differences between northerners and southerners.I hold the belief that we can be as intimate as a family as long as we accept cultures from each other.

10.关于应聘的英文对话 篇十

A: May I come in? B: Yes, please.A:Hello,My name is Lucy.I am coming to your company for an interview.B: Thank you for coming.Can you sell yourself in half a minutes？ Go for it.A: Yes.I am 21 years old, born in hubei province.I was a recent graduated.My major is accounting.I have passed CET6, computer two level ,qualification certificates, as well as the primary accounting title certificate.I think that l am an open-minded person.And music is my favourite avocation.B: How do you think of your English? A:I think my English is good enough to communicate with English speaking people.B: What other foreign language do you speak? A:I did self_study of Korean in college, and I can carry on some simple conversations in Korean.B:Why do you want to apply for a position in our company？

A:Your company is very reputed,I heard much praise for your company.B:Why do you think you are qualified for this position? A:My graduate school training combined with my experience as an intern should qualify me for this particular job.I am sure I will be successful.B:If you are hired, when will it be convenient for you to begin to work? A:If you like, tomorrow is ok.B: Well, that is all for the interview.Thank you for your interest in this job.A:Thank you, sir.I will look forward to hearing from you.B:We will inform you as soon as we have made our decision.Goodbye.A:Goodbye.

11.中华文化英文讲系列 篇十一

我们现在通常所说的社区（community）其实在老北京人那里早就有了，那就是“胡同”。关于“胡同”的英文表达，有两种处理方法：一种是直接音译为hutong （英文中一般将hutong视为单复数同形，因此下面英文部分中复数形式的hutong也没有加s），了解中国文化的老外也都可以理解；还有一种方法就是采用英文中的对应词alley，alley在《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》中的英文释义如下：“An alley is a narrow passage or street with buildings or walls on both sides.”虽然alley不足以表达“胡同”的意思，但是对于初来中国、对中国文化不甚了解的外国人来说，alley这个词可能更容易理解。北京的胡同起源于元朝。通常认为，“胡同”一词最早来源于蒙古语，意思是“水井”，因为那时候人们的水源多是水井，生活的区域就是以水井为中心的。

在向外国朋友介绍胡同的概况时，可以参考下面这段英文表达。

Beijing has a community of alleys， or “hutong” in Chinese. These are the centuries-old， tree-lined alleyways that are the true heartbeat of this unique city and a real-life link to its fascinating past. The alleys go back almost 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty and are in fact a Mongol invention. After Genghis Khan’s （成吉思汗） unruly hordes reduced Beijing to rubble， the capital was redesigned with these narrow alleyways crisscrossing the city. In fact， the word “hutong” comes from the Mongolian word for “well，” as people living in that period inhabited areas around wells which were their source of water. By the Qing Dynasty there were 2，000 hutong， and by the 1950s that figure had almost trebled. （Based on BBC： Old Beijing at Its Timeless Best）

胡同的生活相比于现代化的城市生活有很多独特之处。闹中取静是胡同的一个显著特点——胡同地处城市中心，却没有集市和街道的喧哗。这是因为胡同一般比较狭窄，没有现代化交通工具带来的噪音，多是黄包车走街串巷。但是，这并不是说胡同里是死一般的沉寂，来来往往的小贩叫卖声仍然让胡同散发出生活的气息和生机。当然，城市现代化逐渐侵蚀了古老的胡同。现在，即使是在留存下来的胡同中，也免不了听到私家汽车的鸣笛声和马达声。

需要说明的是，在旧时，胡同里的主要交通工具并不是我们现在常看到的三轮脚踏车，而是黄包车。在英文里，“黄包车”一词是rickshaw，源于日语，在《柯林斯高阶英汉双解学习词典》的英文释义如下：“A rickshaw is a simple vehicle that is used in Asia for carrying passengers. Some rickshaws are pulled by a man who walks or runs in front.”旧时胡同里的黄包车对应的就是该释义的后一句话。

上文所述的胡同的特点可以用英文表达如下。

In the old days， life in the hutong remained peaceful and provided an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. Although located downtown， the hutong were free from the noise of traffic， as they were too narrow to bear much. Instead， rickshaws went up and down and hawkers’ shouts greeted the whole neighborhood.

The modern life style， however， has gradually broken the tranquility as private cars have rushed into the hutong and the shouts of hawkers have disappeared as modern grocers and shops， as well as restaurants， bars and even clubs， have moved in to replace them.

nlc202309081854

胡同的名称——市井气息与历史文化同在

北京胡同的名称都可以追根溯源。如果用文字将北京每一条胡同的历史做一番梳理，那很可能是一部鸿篇巨制。分类说来，北京胡同的命名也五花八门：有以生活必需品命名的，有以历史名人命名的，有以旧时政府机构名称命名的，还有浪漫的名称和寄托美好愿望的名称。

关于北京胡同名称的概况，可以用下面这段英文来表达。

Just as the history of the hutong can be traced back about 800 years to the Yuan Dynasty， the names of individual hutong have also passed down their own traditions and culture. They are named after daily necessities， famous people or government sectors. What’s more， there are also names of romance and good wishes.

生活必需品最贴近老百姓的生活，因而以此命名的胡同不胜枚举。中国有句古话：“开门七件事，柴米油盐酱醋茶。”北京就有七个胡同的名字，一样不落地把这七件生活必需品囊括了进去，分别是：柴棒胡同、米市胡同、油坊胡同、盐店胡同、酱坊胡同、醋章胡同和茶儿胡同。

关于胡同名称与生活必需品的关系，可以用英文表达如下。

Daily necessities are the closest to people’s lives， so the number of hutong named after them is countless. An old Chinese sayings goes， “Firewood， rice， cooking oil， salt， soy sauce， vinegar and tea are the seven necessities of daily life.” As a result， there are seven hutong which are each named after one of these items.

为了纪念一些名人，我们会用名人的名字来命名道路、街道（如张自忠路）。古时也有用名人命名的胡同，如现在的红星胡同在1965年以前就叫做“无量大人胡同”，再早以前的名称是“吴良大人胡同”，正是得名于明朝大将吴良。

关于胡同名称与名人的关系，可以用英文表达如下。

In modern times， some roads or streets have been named after famous people in commemoration of them， such as Zhang Zizhong Road to honor the hero General Zhang Zizhong who sacrificed his life in the Chinese people’s War of Resistance Against Japan. In ancient times， the names of hutong also followed the same convention. For example， today’s Red Star Hutong was originally called Milord Wu Liang Hutong， named after the famous general Wu Liang in the Ming Dynasty.

还有一些胡同是以旧时政府机构名称命名的。比如禄米仓胡同，就是旧时存储京官俸粮的地方。再比如府学胡同，是旧时官办的最高学校所在地。

这部分内容可以参考如下一段英文表达。

Some of the hutong got their names from the government sectors which were located in those hutong. The famous ones include Lumicang Hutong in which the granary for feudal officials’ salary was located， and Fuxue Hutong where the highest educational administration in feudal China used to be located.

对于有着浪漫气息的胡同名儿，外国人理解起来恐怕就有些难了。比如陈升的流行歌曲《北京一夜》中出现的“百花深处”，就是护国寺和新街口附近的一条胡同。2002年，英国的一家公司邀请世界上15位大师级导演各自拍摄10分钟的短片，串成一部叫做《十分钟年华老去》（Ten Minutes Older）的电影，旨在展示当代世界电影的最高艺术水准。制作方邀请的中国导演是陈凯歌，他所拍摄的短片就叫《百花深处》，译名为“100 Flowers Hidden Deep”，颇有几分诗意。还有人将“百花深处”翻译成Blooming Flowers Place，也说得通。对于诗意的中文名称，如何在功能对等的基础上翻译成英文，这本身就是见仁见智、众说纷纭的。

上面这段内容可以用英文表达如下。

It must be a little difficult for foreigners to appreciate the romance of some of the hutong’s names. For example， the hutong mentioned in pop star Chen Sheng’s song “One Night in Beijing” is called “100 Flowers Hidden Deep，” as it was translated by the famous Chinese film director Chen Kaige in one of his movies. The name of this hutong has been translated as “Blooming Flowers Place” by others， while in fact， at present， it is only a shabby neighborhood without any flowers.

中华民间文化特别重视良好祝愿和吉利话，特别是喜欢“福禄寿喜”“平安吉祥”这样的字眼。这一点也体现在胡同的名称上，因此有福顺胡同、寿比胡同、寿逾百胡同、平安胡同、安福胡同、吉市口胡同、永祥胡同等多个这类名称的胡同。

上面这段内容可以用英文表达如下。

Chinese folk culture highlights good wishes of happiness， fortune and longevity， and auspicious words of safety， wellness and auspice. The custom is also reflected in the names of hutong， so a lot of hutong include these words in their names.

北京的胡同深藏着历史故事和百姓生活，从这个意义上说，她就是一部大书，既带你领略多姿多彩的老北京文化，又帮助你了解千奇百怪的人文历史。天气好的日子，带着你的外国朋友在胡同中走起来，还能练练你的英语口语呢！

12.关于文化差异的英文作文 篇十二

Previous research indicates that the effectiveness of advertising is highly dependent on cultural variations (Cheng and Schweitzer, 1996;Culter and Rajshekhar, 1992;Monga and John, 2007;Shavitt and Zhang, 2004) .Scholars have studied whether advertisements with appeals adapted to the audience's important cultural values (e.g., individualism for North A-mericans and collectivism for Chinese) tend to be more persuasive and better liked than appeals unadapted to such values (Zhang, 2004) .More recently, Hornikx and O'Keefe (2009) conducted a meta-analytic review of the research and found that adapted ads are somewhat slightly more persuasive and better liked than unadapted ads.

Generally, researchers have paired countries to test for differences in several values portrayed in advertising to determine the most effective methods.Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) conducted the largest and most widely recognized study of this nature using Hofstede's (1980) four cultural dimensions and Pollay's (1983) list of common advertising appeals.Unfortunately, they did not compare the value systems and perceptions of effective advertising of the Mainland Chinese with those of the United States.As such, smaller marketing firms are forced to develop advertising programs based on data extrapolated from research on Korean and Taiwanese value systems (Emery and Tian 2003) .

China's gross domestic product is reported to be$$1.335 trillion by the middle of 2010, surpassing Japan's GDP of$1.286 trillion, making China the second largest economy in the world (Gustin, 2010) .Accordingly, the Chinese consumer market is the second largest in the world in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) and is growing at a double-digit pace since 1990s (Sun 2007, Fraser and Raynor 1996) .As early as in 2001 it was predicted that the Peoples Republic of China would be the second largest Internet user and that the Chinese language will be the most used language on the Internet by 2005 (Rodrigues, 2001) .This prediction was witnessed to be true in the end.As of June 2010, the population of China's Internet users climbed to 420 million, 36 million more than at the end of 2009 (Gao, 2010) .The fast growth of the economy, coupled with Chin's enormous population of over 1.4 billion people, has made China attractive for global marketers.It was reported that multinational agencies mostly headquartered in the United States have been seeking markets in China and bringing their offices to China.At the same time along with their increased incomes, the Chinese people have started to demand a wider choice of products and services.Chinese consumers have become more used to employing advertising as their information source to make purchasing decisions, and in addition, more and more companies use advertising as the means to promote their products and services (Chang and Chang, 2005;Gustin, 2010) .

Advertising has become one of China's fastest-growing industries.According to Nielsen Media Research, the United States ranked first in advertising in 2005, and China ranked third, after only the United States and Japan (China Advertising Yearbook, 2006) .At the current annual advertising spending growth rate, China is expected to become one of the world's top five advertising markets within a few years (China Association of Advertising, 2009) .All this equates to tremendous opportunities for international advertising firms to help their present clients expand into China or to assist the Chinese with marketing their products abroad.

This task, however, is particularly daunting for companies trying to do business with China because of the scarcity of empirical research.Cultural differences serve as the hardest barrier to overcome as they have been deeply ingrained in the Chinese citizens over thousands of years.In fact, as some American firms have learned advertising that are effective in other markets may not work at all in the China market;more interestingly, that some advertisements which are effective in certain areas of China may not work in other areas in the same country (Kurlantzick, 2002, Tian, 2000) .Meanwhile the cross-cultural pragmatic failure in English advertisements translated from Chinese has been identified as a significant issue for Chinese marketers to consider when launching advertising campaigns in the Western country markets (Sun, 2007) .

A review of cross-cultural advertising studies published in 18 major periodicals between 1980s and earlier 1990s found that only one study pertained to China and none compared China with the United States (Samiee and Jeong, 1994) .Emery and Tian (2002a, 2002b) updated this study between 1992and 2001 and found three studies pertaining to China and only one that compared China with the United States.Since then although no systematic study has been done on this subject scholars have started to pay attention to it.For instance in her recent new book Brand New China Wang (2008) offers us a unique perspective on the advertising and marketing culture of China, demonstrates the influence of U.S.branding theories and models on advertising in China.The purpose of this study is to partially address this movement by comparing effective advertising appeals between China and the United States.

2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Cultural Values

The first step to successful cross-cultural marketing is to understand cultural differences (Briley and Aaker, 2006;Lillis and Tian, 2010) .The reasoning is that consumers grow up in a particular culture and become accustomed to that culture's value systems, beliefs, and perception processes.Consequently, they respond to advertising messages that are congruent with their culture, rewarding advertisers who understand that culture and tailor ads to reflect its values (Cheng and Schweitzer, 1996;Culter and Javalgi, 1992, Desmarais, 2007) .AlbersMiller's (1996) study of 55 country pairs indicates that similar cultures have similar advertising content and dissimilar societies have dissimilar advertising content.Hofstede's (1980) seminal study regarding the relationship between national culture and work-related values is the most frequently cited benchmark for cross-cultural understanding (Tian, 2000) .Hofstede considered that a country's value system could be depicted along four dimensions:individualism (IDV) , power distance (PDI) , uncertainty avoidance (UAI) , and masculinity (MAS) .

Hofstede explained that the dimension of individualism was the degree to which individual decision-making and actions are encouraged by society.This dimension reflects the way people live together.In a collectivistic society, at the lower end of the individualism-collectivism continuum, individualistic behavior may be seen as selfish.

The power distance dimension indicates the degree to which power differences are accepted and sanctioned by society.In other words, it indicates how different societies have addressed basic human inequalities in social status and prestige, wealth, and sources of power.The societal norm in a country with a high score on the PD dimension is for powerful people to look as powerful as possible.People with power are considered to be right and good.Powerful people are expected to have privileges.In countries with large power distance, the exercise of power gives satisfaction and powerful people try to maintain and increase power differences (Hofstede, 1980) .

The uncertainty avoidance dimension represents the degree to which society is unwilling to accept and cope with uncertainty.People use law, religion, and technology to address uncertainty.This dimension is related to anxiety, need for security, dependence on experts, and the application of information (Hofstede, 1980) .

The masculinity dimension indicates the degree to which traditional male values (assertiveness, performance, ambition, achievement, and materialism) are important to a society.The opposite end of this continuum has been labeled femininity.The societal norm in a country with a high score on the MAS dimension is to try to be the best while valuing achievement, productivity and“machismo”.In these countries, big and fast are considered beautiful (Hofstede, 1980) .

Hofstede's research has been instrumental in furthering an understanding of cross-cultural consumerism and is often used as the basis for selecting between customized and global approaches to marketing (Tian, 2000) .Unfortunately, Hofstede was not able to map the Mainland Chinese culture at the time of his 1980 study.Later Hofstede explained that his 1980 study used the cultural values of IBM employees in offices around the world.At that time China did not have IBM offices and access to comparable employees was denied (Hofstede, 1993) .Fernandez, et al. (1997) , however, updated the original Hofstede study and for the first time included dimensional values for Mainland China.It is important to note, however, that Fernandez, et al.used undergraduate and graduate students in their study.The relationship between China and the U.S.in that study is presented as a standardized score in Table 1.

Note:1990 data excepted from Fernandez, Carlson, Stepina, &Nicholson (1997)

2.2 Advertising Appeals

The second step to successful cross-cultural marketing is to understand a society's sensitivity to advertising appeals.Advertising appeals are the specific approaches advertisers use to communicate how their products will satisfy customer needs by embedding a culture's values, norms, and characteristics (Arens and Bovee, 1994;Hornikx and O'Keefe, 2009) .The appeals are typically carried in the illustration and headlines of the ad and are supported and reinforced by the ad copy.Researchers have argued that cultural values are the core of advertising messages and typical advertisements endorse, glamorize, and inevitably reinforce cultural values (Desmarais, 2007;Pollay and Gallagher, 1990) .

Advertising has been long viewed as a mirror to reflect the values of certain cultures and previous studies have reported that advertising content differs across cultures (Cheng and Schweitzer, 1996;Nelson and Paek, 2005) .Evidence indicates that different cultures seem to emphasize different advertising appeals.For example, Japanese ads have been found to contain more emotional and fewer comparative appeals than A-merican ads (Hong, Muderrisoglu and Zinkhan, 1987) .Advertising in China has been found to contain more utilitarian appeals that focus on state of being and promise a better life (Chan and Cheng, 2002) .

2.3 Combining Cultural Values and Advertising Appeals

Although sparse, research on cross-cultural advertising appeals is generally conducted by pairing countries to test for differences in several values portrayed in advertising to determine the most effective methods (Zinkhan, 1994) .AlbersMiller and Gelb (1996) conducted, perhaps, the largest and most referenced test of cross-cultural advertising appeals using Hofstede's (1980) four cultural dimensions and Pollay's (1983) list of common advertising appeals in eleven countries.Pollay developed a list of 42 common appeals by drawing on previous advertising literature and values research in other disciplines.Albers-Miller and Gelb, however, did not examine China because of the lack of Hofstede dimensional measures.

Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) used six coders from various countries or regions (i.e., Taiwan, India, France, Mexico, and two from the United States) to relate Pollay's appeals to Hofstede's dimensions.The coders were instructed to relate each appeal to one end of a single cultural dimension or to indicate that the appeal related to none of the dimensions.Appeals retained for their research were ones for which at least four of the six coders indicated the same hypothesized relationship.Twelve of the 42appeals were eliminated because of the lack of agreement about a hypothesized relationship or because the appeal did not relate to any of the dimensions.Additionally, 10 of the remaining 30 appeals failed to support the hypothesized dimensional values at p<.10.The relationships between the dimensions and the 20significant appeals are summarized in Table 2.

Note:Plus and minus symbols indicate convergence or divergence between Pollay's appeals and Hofstede's dimensions.

2.4 Advertising Appeals in the Chinese Context

Advertising as a means of marketing has been widely accepted by Chinese society after Deng Xiaoping launched his reform and open-door policy.Advertising in China has riveted the attention of scholars not only within China but also scholars from the West.In the earlier stage of the market economy oriented reforms, Chinese consumers were suspicious of advertised products, because they perceived that only bad products needed to be advertised.This phenomenon is perhaps a reaction to the fact that early Chinese advertisements often used exaggerated claims, destroying all credibility for their so-called miracle products (Liang and Jacobs, 1994;Zhang, 2004;Sun, 2007) .It has been discovered, however, that Chinese consumers generally indicate foreign advertisements are attractive and trustworthy.This makes Western advertisers have an advantage over their local counterparts, since Chinese consumers have a high regard for products imported from the West (Ha, 1996;Zhang and Shavitt, 2003;Yan, 1994;Wang, 2008) .

Zhang and Neelankavil (1997) conducted an empirical study by investigating the effects of different advertising appeals used across cultures;their findings indicated that cultural differences along the individualism-collectivism dimension affect people's reactions to certain advertising appeals.It was suggested that appeals that emphasize individualistic benefits are more effective in the USA than in China.When appeals emphasizing collectivistic benefits are employed, they are generally more effective in China.However, such effects can be moderated by product characteristics.Different product types may serve to influence the effectiveness of culturally congruent advertising appeals (cf.Zhang and Shavitt, 2003) .In the study done by Zhao and Shen (1995) the findings clearly demonstrate that most of the respondents use mass advertising as their chief source of information about products.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the Chinese market, in particular the use of social networks in China for business purposes.This type of social network or personal connection has been termed as Guanxi in Chinese.It is suggested that Guanxi can be classified into three categories, namely (1) expressive ties for family members. (2) instrumental ties for strangers, and (3) mixed ties for familiar people.Lee and Dawes limit their study to Guanxi of the mixed-tie type because most business situations fit this type (Lee and Dawes, 2006) .

Because of its relational nature, some have identified Guanxi with a traditional form of relationship marketing.Understanding and managing Guanxi is not only useful in the development of partnerships under the current economic situation in China, but also is necessary for access to the Chinese market in terms of advertising and promotion (Toms and Arias, 1998) .Guanxi is the foundation of Chinese business negotiations;the meaning of Guanxi and using it can also be applied in advertising to differentiate between the characteristics of Chinese and Western negotiations in the marketing context.Guanxi is a characteristic of Chinese culture and provides a starting point for understanding Chinese consumer behaviors.Western cultures have inherently different characteristics.As culture is so important in the marketing process, it is necessary to apply the five dimensions of culture as outlined by Hofstede (1991) and to place these in the Chinese context (Buttery and Leung, 1998) .

3 METHOD

3.1 The Design of the Study

This study uses the 20 advertising appeals employed in the Albers-Miller and Gelb study (1996) that were found to be the most highly correlated with the Hofstede dimensions (coder inter-rater reliabilities>.77 and correlation values above.40 at p<.10) .Using Pollay's list (1983) of appeals and synonyms, the Chinese and American researchers selected several descriptive words from each of the 20 appeal categories that were most likely to have the same meaning within each culture.For example, the terms beautiful and detailed are often used cross-culturally to represent ornamental appeal.In turn, these descriptors were refined by a focus group of five Englishspeaking Chinese students and five U.S.students until there was an agreement on which descriptor would be used to represent a particular appeal.Each descriptor was translated into the Chinese language and dialect of the participating university students and placed on questionnaires administered by the U.S.and Chinese researchers.

All items were measured on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from (1) “extremely important”to (4) “important”to (7) “not important”.The scale descriptions were translated into Chinese and then back-translated into English by different bilingual translators.Again, scale variances were subsequently resolved by the focus group of students to ensure equivalency between versions.The country scores were calculated by summing the responses for each appeal across the individuals within a given country and then calculating the means of those individuals'scores.The significance of differences between the means of the appeals was determined by a t-test.The probability, however, of finding a significant difference by chance alone increases rapidly with the number of tests.One solution to this multiple testing problem is to make a Bonferroni correction to the probability associated with each test by multiplying it by the number of tests executed (SPSS Applications Guide 2001) .We considered only those values less than p=.002 to be supportive.

The study used undergraduate college students in an attempt to capture the perceptions of new consumers as they begin to integrate their view of appeals with their value system.Although this group did not have years of purchasing experience, it was hoped that their perceptions might be predictive of future trends.Further, students and young adults have an inordinate influence on purchasing in China because of the deference families give to their only children.Lastly, we believed it was important to use of young adults in this study in order to parallel the Fernandez, et al. (1996) reference study.

Data from a randomized (gender, age, socio-economic class, martial and minority status) sample consisting of 300undergraduate college students at three state universities in metropolitan cities in northeastern and northwestern China and300 undergraduate students at two state universities and one private college in the southeastern United States was collected.While neither China nor the United States is a culturally homogeneous society, we believe that our sample groups adequately represent the young, college age population.Lastly, using a selection of ads the students were given 15 minutes of training on advertising appeals.They were also trained on the questionnaire's scale.Ninety-Eight percent of all the questionnaires received had useable data.

3.2 Hypotheses

Directional hypotheses were created for each of the 30 appeals based on the notion that a country's value system (Hofstede dimensions) would be reflected by the importance their citizens placed on the appeals (Table 2) .For example, the Mainland Chinese culture is considered very masculine (Fernandez et al., 1997) .As such, one would expect the Chinese to rate the masculine appeal of effectiveness as very important.Conversely, one would expect that they would rate feminine appeals as not very important.

For the purpose of developing comparative hypotheses, the value systems were considered significantly different, if the cultural dimensions between countries differed by more than 1.64standard deviations (p<.05) .For example, the difference between China and the U.S.on the MAS dimension is 2.78standard deviations or a significance of p<.01.As such, we hypothesize that Chinese consumers would consider appeals associated with masculinity (e.g., effectiveness, convenience, success) tobesignificantlymoreimportantthan U.S.consumers (i.e., C>US) .Additionally, because the Chinese and U.S.differed by 2.48 standard deviations, we posited that U.S.consumers would consider appeals associated with individualism (e.g., independence, distinctiveness, self-respect) to be significantly more important than Chinese consumers (i.e., C

4 RESULTS

The results of the hypothesis testing are summarized in Table 3.A Levene's test indicated that equal variances could be assumed for each of the appeal items.Overall, the findings appear to suggest that the Hofstede dimensions offer only moderate value in predicting the importance of various advertising appeals in China.The results failed to support each of the four hypotheses developed from the masculinity dimension;in fact, one was supported in the opposite direction.Specifically, the appeal of“natural”which was thought to be more important to U.S.consumers was, in fact, more important to Chinese consumers.This non-support of the appeals is particularly noteworthy, since the Chinese culture was the most masculine of all15 countries in the Fernandez et al. (1997) study by more than one standard deviation and significantly (p<.001) more masculine than the U.S.Interestingly, both the U.S.and Chinese consumers rated“effectiveness”as the most important of the 30 appeals.Surprisingly, however, the Chinese consumers gave high rating to the appeals of“innocence”and“natural”, which are generally considered more feminine.

Note:S=support, NS=nonsupport, and S-O=support in the opposite di-rection

Support was relatively strong for the hypotheses suggesting that there would be significant differences in appeals associated with individualism.Four of the five hypotheses were significantly supported at p<.001.Appeals, such as distinctiveness, family and popular were predictably important to U.S.consumers.Similarly, succorance (e.g., expressions of gratitude and pats on the back) which is normally associated with a collective society was predictably high for Chinese consumers (p<.002) .Although the appeal of independence was indicated as much more important by U.S.consumers, it was only significant at p<.014.Additionally, it is interesting to note that the appeal of“family”was significantly supported as an individual appeal and not as a collective appeal.This was the same result as the Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) study in examination of collective and individualistic societies.The fact that 80 percent of the hypotheses in this dimension were supported is particularly noteworthy, since the U.S.has been considered in past studies (e.g., Fernandez et al., 1996;Hofstede, 1980) as the most individualistic country in the world.

Support was moderate for the proposition that the U.S.and Chinese consumers would react similarly to appeals associated with uncertainty avoidance.Three of the five hypotheses were supported as the two non-supported hypotheses were significantly different at p<.001.Interestingly, the two non-supported appeals indicated that China might be slightly higher in uncertainty avoidance than the United States.The fact that the Chinese students considered the“tame”appeal particularly important and the“adventure”appeal as particular unimportant is a key indicator of a society high in uncertainty avoidance.This seems to be in keeping with most studies of Asian cultures, but is different from the findings presented by Fernandez et al. (1996) .

Support was mixed for the notion that the U.S.and Chinese consumer would view the appeals associated with power distance in a similar manner.Three of the six hypotheses supported this proposition.While the three non-supported appeals are significant at the p<.001 level, they seem to send a mixed message.For example, the U.S.consumer considers the appeals of dear (e.g., expensive) , status and humility to be significantly more important than the Chinese.The first two of these would normally be associated with a high power distance country and the third would be associated with a low power distance country.Further, the Chinese consumers indicated that the appeals of dear and status were less than important (i.e., mean score more than 4) .This is particularly surprising for a country with a non-representative style government and a small middle class.Lastly, an examination of demographical differences (i.e., age, martial status, gender and minority status) within the groups of the Chinese and U.S.indicated that there was no significant difference in their ratings.

5 DISCUSSION

Anthropologist Hall categorizes cultures into high context cultures and low context cultures.According to him the cultural context has certain impacts on the effectiveness of advertising.In“high context”cultures, such as the collectivist Asian cultures of Japan and China, the context in which information is embedded is as important as what is said.In low context cultures, such as the individualistic oriented North American cultures of USA and Canada, the information is contained in the verbal messages;in these cultures, it is important to provide adequate information relating to the product or service in order to satisfy their need for content.Conversely, people in high context cultures are often more effectively reached by image or mood appeals, and rely on personal networks for information and content (Hall, 1976;Lillis and Tian, 2010;Tian, 2002) .

It has been widely accepted that Hofstede's cultural dimensions could be accurately used as predictors of appeal effectiveness;the study by Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) has reinforced this acceptance by providing an enlarged content and scope.However, the results of this study tend not to fully support the above notion when applying the Hofstede's instrument as well as the improved format of the instrument by AlbersMiller and Gelb from a cross-cultural perspective, particularly within the cultural content of modern Chinese society.There could be several explanations for difference in predictability beyond the validity and translation of the instrument.

First, the eleven countries and region (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, India, South Africa, Israel, France, Finland, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, U.S.) used in the previous study by AlbersMiller and Gelb (1996) have significantly different market economies, political-legal and advertising systems than that in modern China.As such, the significance of individual appeals might vary considerably due to these differences.Second, Hofstede's dimensions although with updated values (1990) might be somewhat too old to be used in predicting the effectiveness of appeals as the business environment in terms of social-economical-cultural-technological structure has experienced tremendous changes all over the world.Third, the appeals may have significantly different values from one age group to the others given changes stated above, and moreover, given the fact that the Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) study was conducted by using an adult population.Fourth, the product usage visualized by the respondents may have moderated the effect on the importance of appeals.Fifth, cultural dimensions may not be fine grained enough to predict the effectiveness of appeals.In other words, changes in the perceived importance of advertising appeals may take place much more quickly than changes in cultural values;in fact, changes in the importance of advertising appeals may mimic current societal trends and may be precursors to cultural changes.

China as the largest developing country in the world has many special characteristics that differ from the United States, the largest developed country in the world, in terms of social system, economic development level, and cultural values.For example, the higher than predicted values of uncertainty avoidance for the Chinese consumers might be based on the lack of a well established legal system to protect consumers as well as the large amount of poor quality and counterfeit products.Therefore, American marketers should try to use appeals of caution, security and stability and seek endorsements from recognizable and trusted figures.A possible explanation for the appearance of a consumer power distance index lower than the U.S.might be that appeals such as ornamental, dear, status, and lack of humility are avoided because they are symbols of luxury which are widely viewed by normal consumers as appeals to the fubai fenzi (corrupt officials) only.

Although the economy of China has enjoyed a great progress in the last two decades, compared with Americans the great majority of Chinese people still have low incomes.The Chinese official statistics in 2008 indicated that China's annual per capita income was less than 16000 yuan RMB (about$2400 USD) .Households with the highest incomes accounted for 10 percent of the total population, with these annual disposable incomes averaging less than 44000 yuan RMB (about$6500 USD) .American advertisers should stress appeals such as economical, inexpensive, simplicity and humility to draw the Mainland Chinese consumers'attention.Awareness of these differences in terms of business communication is essential to ensure effective advertising.According to Zhao and Shen (1995) , the foreign advertisements that are the biggest hit with Chinese consumers are those for popular products that they can afford to buy, that they use often or plan to buy.The same study shows that there are ways of generating a positive attitude towards an advertisement and a brand image.One is to come up with a creative and entertaining advertisement by using innovative images;another one is to make the advertisement captivating and lively by using dynamic scenes with lots of action.It is interesting that Chinese consumers are very skeptical with regard to advertisement endorsed by celebrities;they believe the testimonials are false as actors are paid to say good sides about the products.

Here again, pitfalls could arise due to differences in color association or perception.For instance, in many tropical countries, green is associated with danger and has negative connotations.Red, on the other hand, is associated with weddings and happiness in China.Moreover, appeals to humor or sex also need to be treated with considerable care as their expression and effectiveness might be simply opposite from what the American advertisers perceive in the Chinese context.The dry A-merican sense of humor does not always translate effectively into Chinese language.

The fact that China scored lower than the United States on uncertainty avoidance represents a cultural reversal and is a particular indicator that China has experience a remarkable transformation from a socialism system (i.e., a low risk taking philosophy) to a market oriented socialist-capitalism system (i.e., a mixed opportunist risk taking philosophy) .This major change in ideology, however, might have been a catalyst of social value changes.The Chinese might be more curious of different ideas and more willing to take risks as their society moves more toward a market economy.On the other hand, the possibility exists that the relative change between the two countries is the result of the U.S.becoming more resistant to uncertainty.The shift made by the United States from being a weak uncertainty avoidance country in Hofstede's study to one of strong uncertainty avoidance seems reasonable in light of the political, economic, and social changes the United States over the past two decades.In particular, the increased uncertainty about the economic power of the United States may be a factor in the change.

Gender should be an important indicator for cultural difference, it is widely accepted that gender identity may have various functions cross-culturally in ways of social activities, including consumption behaviors.However, the result from this study indicates that in terms of masculinity appeal in advertising there seems to be no difference between American respondents and Chinese respondents, a rational possible explanation for the lack of a difference in masculinity between the two groups could be simply because of their age.There is a strong and universal relationship between masculinity and age;as the hormones associated with sexual productivity decrease, there is a corresponding increase in feminine values (Hofstede 1991) .As such, both groups indicated a relatively high importance to those appeals associated with masculinity.Therefore, American marketers may be successful in using the same masculine appeals in the Chinese youth market as they do in the U.S.market.Similarly, age may have had a powerful affect on the differentiation between the U.S.and Chinese students on the dimension of individualism/collectivism.Youth are at a stage in their life cycle where they are trying to be more independent and as such, may reflect more independent appeals.Additionally, the transition of China to a market economy coupled with increasing wealth and purchasing power may suggest more interest in appeals of independence and less on community.

6 CONCLUSIONS

The significance of cross-cultural differences in advertising has become even clearer as we continue to move toward a globalized marketplace.As such, it is important that marketing personnel not let old stereotypes drive their advertising strategies;this is particularly important in the Asian market, as China and Taiwan become formal members of the WTO.Our findings indicate that heuristics such as Hofstede's cultural dimensions may be too broad to capture the detailed differences required in launching an effective advertising campaign.A possible explanation is that cultural values change much more slowly than consumer values and therefore cannot be used to effectively predict consumer behavior.While the continued development of advertising heuristics is important, marketing personnel must continue to use the tried and true method of the focus group.This prevents the mistake of assuming that you know what the consumer thinks is important.In fact, the results of this might be considered as coming from a mini-focus group.

While the findings do not provide unequivocal recommendations for developing advertising, they do provide some general information for marketing practitioners seeking to do business in China.For example, one should consider the seven appeals (i.e., effectiveness, safety, tamed, durable, natural, nurturance and succorance, in descending order of importance) whose means were less than 3 to be very important to selling a product.Conversely, those ten appeals (i.e., casual, distinctiveness, community, status, adventure, dear, family, untamed, magic and popular, in descending order of least important) whose means were more than 4 should be avoided.In any case, the findings strongly suggest the need to consider market segmentation and to consult with an expert in Chinese consumer behavior before developing ads for their market.Lastly, the results suggest the need for future research on factors that may moderate an appeal within a culture (e.g., age, socioeconomic status, significant event) .

Finally, it is necessary to indicate that this study has several limitations.While our study intentionally used college students to get a“heads-up”on future consumer behavior, their perceptions may be significantly different from national perceptions.This is true particularly in the case of Chinese college students who are often the only child in the family and therefore might have limited purchasing experience.In addition the small sample size (numerical and geographic) prevents generalization and the differences in their college environments and socio-economic status may be significantly moderating perceptions.It is recommended that future studies should focus on a large scope in terms of geographic coverage and wrap a more complicated cultural content with a particular attention to the tremendous transformation in business world to a crosscultural perspective.