Sino-Western Regional Differences and Translation

Abstract

We all know that language is a part of culture and plays a very important role in culture. Some social scientists consider language as the keystone of culture. They maintain that culture would not be possible without language. On the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it also reflects culture. In general terms, language is the symbolic presentation of people’s character, which contains their cultural and historical backgrounds as well as their ways of living and thinking and their life values. So we need to pay great attention to Chinese and Western cultural differences, especially Sino-Western regional differences when we try to translate. Due to the differences between Chinese and Western culture, only through finding the correct strategies to the culture factors, can we improve the accuracy of the translation. According to the definition put forth by Nida, cultural differences refer to the differences between historical heritage, social customs and cultural tradition between different countries and religions, which are the reflection of the history developing. From the above explanation, we may have an understanding about the culture on the whole. Cultural differences are broad and it involves many aspects, so it is very difficult to give an accurate definition. Generally speaking, we can consider that, cultural differences refer to the different cultural values, different thought pattern, different social norms, and different communication styles among different people from different countries and cultural backgrounds.