Abstract
Proverbs contain precious experience gathered and selected by many generations in short and vivid linguistic form, thus preserving cultural values and mentality of different nations. Health is the key value of any world culture.The purpose of the article is to analyze pedagogical potential of proverbs about health in teaching healthy lifestyle in foreign language classes. Research methods are analysis, system approach, generalization, inter-disciplinary approach.The authors divided proverbs about health into the following groups: 1. proverbs about environmental factors influence on human health; 2. physical activity, sport; 3. daily routine and hygiene; 4. healthy eating; 5. importance of work; 6. optimism, positive attitude to life.Discussing proverbs about health with students in English classes develops their lingua-cultural competence, and makes a valuable contribution into the health of future generations.
Highlights
Human health depends on several factors: genetics, environment, both natural and social, cultural traditions, and what depends on a person himself is his everyday habits, or his lifestyle
It is interesting to note that “saying” often comes as synonym of “proverb”, for example, several most renowned English dictionaries define "saying" as follows: a) a well-known and wise statement, which often has a meaning that is different from the simple meanings of the words it contains (Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary); b) a well-known phrase, expression, or proverb (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary); c) a well-known short statement that expresses an idea most people believe is true and wise[= proverb] (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English); d) a well-known expression, or a remark often made, known as a proverb (The American Everyday Dictionary)
It has been declared by international organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO)
Summary
Human health depends on several factors: genetics, environment, both natural and social, cultural traditions, and what depends on a person himself is his everyday habits, or his lifestyle. As for difference between proverbs and sayings, we are going take the broadest approach here and analyze all proverbs, sayings and even aphorisms, as we consider idiomatic phrases from pedagogical, not linguistic view point. Idiomatic phrases like the ones above contain precious experience gathered and selected by many generations. They preserve wisdom of traditional culture saved in short and polished linguistic form. By teaching proverbs in English language classes, we kill two birds with one stone: first, introduce a new linguistic unit, enriching idiomatic vocabulary, which is important for the upper language levels; second, increase awareness of a foreign language culture that may be similar or different from the native one.
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