Definitions
What is language?
Language is the system of human communication, which consists of the structured arrangement of sounds (or their written representation) into larger units, e.g. morphemes, words, sentences, utterances.
What do we understand by translator's false friends? Give some examples.
The term 'translator's false friends' means a word that has the same or similar form in the source and target languages but another meaning in the target language. For example, herb = лекарственное растение, герб = emblem; accurate = точный, аккуратный =tidy; fabric = ткань, фабрика = factory; lunatic = сумасшедший, лунатик = sleepwalker; repetition = повторение, репетиция = rehearsal.
What are the elements of Cultural System?
Language, Religion, Education, Values, Beliefs, Material culture
What are international words?
Words of identical origin that occur in several languages as a result of simultaneous or successive borrowings from one ultimate source are called international words.
How is language related to culture?
Language is linked to all the human-life aspects in society, and understanding of the surrounding culture plays an important role in learning a language.
What is culture?
Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts.
What are some examples of phonetical differences between Russian and English?
The nasal sonorant /ŋ/ sound at the end of words like sing or thinking, interdentals like /θ/ (think), /ð/ (mother), post-alveolar /r/ (river) are difficult for Russian learners to produce correctly. English people studying Russian have difficulties with palatelized consonants [п’, б’, т’, д’, к’, г’, м’, н’, ф’, в’, с’, з’, р’], the voiceless unicentral affricate [ц], the backlingual fricative voiceless [x].
What are cultural norms? Give some examples.
Norms are agreed-upon rules by which a culture guides the behaviour of its members in any given situation.
Examples: wear a hijab in muslim cultures, bow to show respect in asian cultures
What is a language barrier? What can it cause?
A barrier to communication between people who are unable to speak a common language.The meaning of LANGUAGE BARRIER is a difficulty for people communicating because they speak different languages. The main problem is the problem of spending time and effort to master a foreign language.
What is the influence of culture on communication and language?
Culture shapes how we talk to one another, what kind of language we use, and what kinds of communication are considered appropriate.
What is a cultural lag?
Cultural lag is the notion that culture takes time to catch up with technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag.
What grammatical categories exist in English, but not in Russian and vice versa?
In English there are definite and indefinite articles, but in Russian we do not have them at all. Also there is such form of verb as Gerund in English. The Russian adjective has not only the category of the degrees of comparison, but also the categories of number, gender and case. The English adjective has only the category of the degrees of comparison. There are 6 cases in Russian that are Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental, Prepositional.
What kinds of people are considered to be successful in Eastern/Western communities?
Eastern cultures are mostly collectivistic, so there people are considered succsessful if they are from a succsessful groups ( large rich family, big succsessful company). Family values prevail
Western cultures are mostly individualistic, so there a person would be considered succsessful irrespective to groups that he belongs to. Career values prevail.
How does language influence our personal identity?
Language shapes a person, determines his behavior, lifestyle, worldview, mentality, national character, ideology. Language reflects for a person the world around him, language also reflects the culture created by man.
What is a cultural language?
A cultural language is a language that is learned by many members of other speech communities for the sake of access to the culture of which it is the vehicle.
What is ethnocentrism?
Ethnocentrism is the measuring and judging of one culture by another culture.
What non-verbal means of communication may be misinterpreted in different cultures?
Gestures such as thumbs up can be interpreted differently in different cultures. It is taken as “Okay” sign in many cultures whereas is taken as a vulgarism in others like Latin American cultures and in Japan some even take it as money. Western cultures mostly consider eye contact to be a good gesture. It shows attentiveness, confidence and honesty. Other cultures such as Asian, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and Native American do not take it as a good expression. It is taken as a rude and offensive expression.
What would be the attitude of society towards a 30-year-old getting higher education in Russia and in Europe?
It's very unusual for russian's universities to have a student in his 30's, who gets his 1st bachelor degree, while there are more such students in Europe.
The reason could be high level of collectivism in Soviet Union that is still reflected in our culture. It was important to get an education and a job that will benifit society
How does language function?
In the process of language functioning as an instrument of communication, the language changes. The change in the structure of the language in the process of it’s development establishes new rules for the functioning of the language.
In which areas can we see culture's influence on language?
Mostly we see it in everyday vocabulary related to colors, food, weather etc.
What is The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis about?
The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, refers to the proposal that the particular language one speaks influences the way one thinks about reality.
What are non-equivalent words? Give some examples.
Non-equivalents are the source language words which have no corresponding lexical units in the target language vocabulary. For example, the Russian words матрешка , самовар , the Japanese word sake, the Spanish word machete, or the word from American Indian canoe have no equivalents in other languages.
Imagine the situation. You are businessman from India, who came to Germany on business. What are your main difficulties?
Time perception: India is a polychronic culture, Germany is a monochronic culture
Difficulties in communication: India is high-context culture, Germany is low context culture
Different level of power distance: it would be unusual for Indian businessman to use "du" (ты на нем) in communication with his chief
Any idea can be symbolically expressed in any language. Do you agree?
Symbolic communication includes gestures, body language and facial expressions, as well as vocal moans that can indicate what an individual wants without having to speak. Research argues that about 55% of all communication stems from nonverbal language. Symbolic communication ranges from sign language to braille to tactile communication skills.
Language or culture – which came first?
Language and culture are closely linked to each other, and they have grown in tandem; in the first instance, however, the language was necessary for the establishment of culture. If culture can be likened to a living cell, then language is its DNA, encoding cultural information and making possible its transmission.