-
Styles
This
section
mainly
deals
with
differences
in
style
between
English
and
Chinese,
and
especially those that reflect cultural
differences.
1
Writing Styles
Comparing
English
and
Chinese
narrative
and
descriptive
texts,
we
can
easily
find
that
Chinese
ones
are
usually
more
flowery
or
ornate
than
English
ones.
The
following
paragraph
from a student’s composition is typical
of this kind of faulty writing in
English:
I
walked
joyfully
along
the
path
that
was
lit
up
by
the
golden
rays
of
the
morning
sun.
Beautiful flowers of many colors were
blooming. How fragrant they smelled! Little birds
were
singing in the trees, as if
greeting me “ Good morning! Good morning!”… my
heart was bursting
with happiness---
(
我在小路上愉快地散步。朝阳金色的光芒把小路照亮。绚丽多彩的
鲜花正在盛开。这
些花儿多么芬芳！小鸟在枝头歌唱，好像在对我打招呼
“
早晨好！早晨好！
”
我心花
怒放。
)
One of the common
faults in this matter is that Chinese learners of
English are inclined to
use
too
many
adjectives.
Adjectives,
of
course,
are
necessary
in
good
writing.
They
are
like
paints that brighten
and bring scenes and events to life. But if not
used with care, they can have
the
opposite effect---quickly kill interest and
produce boredom. English writing experts usually
use as few adjectives as possible. When
they do use one, they choose the simplest and the
most
precise.
Overuse of adjectives is bad.
Indiscriminate use is also bad. Many learners try
to dress up
their writing by resorting
to a host of adjectives and adverbs. Some
modifiers, such as “great”,
“marvelous”, “wonderful”, “very” are
those that have been ove
rworked and
have long lost flavor.
A study of
English writing will show that good writers are
often those who choose their words
with
precision. Their verbs especially ignite one’s
imagination. Here, for example, are sentences
from Shakespeare:
A poor player
That
struts
and
frets
his hour upon the
stage
And
then is heard no more.
But
screw
your courage to the sticking-place,
And We’ll not
fail.
Another
point that deserves our attention is that Chinese
and English-speaking people seem
to
look differently on the use of set phrases and
expressions. The former tend to use well-chosen
“four
-
character
expressions”,
since
more
knowledge
of
those
set
expressions
suggests
good
education. While the
latter, who value creation much, prefer to use set
phrases as less as possible
and even
take some of them as cliché
s.
For
example,
to
a
native
English-speaker,
the
following
sentence
would
be
taken
as
an
example of
poor writing:
He slept like a log and
woke up at the crack of dawn, fresh as a daisy.
(
他酣睡一夜，破晓醒来，感到精神焕发。
)
This sentence is vivid but it is not
fresh and attractive because it contains three
cliches:
sleep
like a log,
at the crack of dawn, fresh as a daisy
.
Set phrases and expressions originally
caught people’s attention precisely
because they were
and are so
colorful and express an idea so well. But overuse
caused them to lose their charm and
freshness. The English language is full
of this kind of expressions such as
last but not least, it
goes without
saying, by leaps and bounds, in our day and age,
as busy as a bee, happy as a lark.
Chinese
“four
-
character
expressions”,
however,
have
their
place
in
Chinese
writing
even
though they have been used over and
over again. One seldom finds a piece of Chinese
expository
writing without a number of
them. For example, one could hardly pass judgment
on a writing
without using some of the
following: “
一气呵成
”
，
“
别具一格
”
，
“
引人入胜
”
，
“
慷慨激昂
”
< br>，
“
栩
栩如生
< br>”
，
“
言简意赅
”
，
“
咬文嚼字
”
，
“
油腔滑调
”
，
“
强词夺理
”
，
“
牵强附会
”
，
etc. They often
add
the
touch
that
brings
the
passage
to
life.
“Four
-charact
er
expressions”
properly
used
may
make
Chinese writing more vivid. Of course, even in
Chinese writing, excessive use should be
avoided.
Besides,
in
persuasive
writing
such
as
social
or
political
essays
and
editorials,
English-speaking writers tend to be
less militant in tone and language than most
Chinese. The
idea is to let the fact
speak for themselves. In other words, the facts
themselves should be able to
convince
the reader. Thus in such types of writing, one
finds rather sparing use of such phrases
as
we must, we should not,
it is wrong to, it is absurd, cannot be denied,
resolutely demand.
The
tone
is usually restrained; the language is generally
moderate. In present-day Chinese social and
political writings, facts are of
primary importance, of course, but considerable
stress is also laid
on
militancy,
on
making
one’s
stand
clear.
This
difference
in
attitudes
is
an
important
one.
Experience has shown that a hard-
hitting essay or editorial in Chinese does not
always have the
effect
intended when translated into English.
Instead of
convincing
people, the blunt tone and
language
often antagonize people or arouse suspicion that
the writer does not have a strong case
and must resort to fiery language,
rather than rely on facts and reasoning.
Similar to the above, good English
persuasive writing is generally that which
presents the
facts convincingly,
without the writer stating specifically the
conclusion he would like to have
the
reader draw. At most, the conclusion should be
stated briefly, for English-speaking people do
not like to be forced into some ideas
or be told what to think.
As a result,
when Chinese learners of English write such kinds
of texts, a proper tone and
diction
need to be chosen and adequate facts should be
given.
2
Speaking styles
It
is
often
said
that
Chinese
learners
of
English
are
easy
to
speak
bookish
English.
One
reason is that the environment we learn
English
——
most learning
materials are in written form
and
the
chances
to
practice
oral
English
is
relatively
rare.
Another
may
be
a
cultural
reason.
Generally
speaking,
English
native
speakers
write
in
the
way
that
common
people
speak.
However, the case is
quite
different
in
China. For
thousands
of
years written
Chinese keeps
a
long
distance from oral Chinese. Being able to read and
write has long been regarded as a sign of
cultural
sophistication.
It
was
not
until
the
May
4
th
Movement
in
1919
that
the
two
forms
of
Chinese
began
to
come
close.
However,
influenced
by
the
tradition,
some
Chinese
people,
especially educated ones often speak
bookish Chinese and consequently the English they
speak
is relatively bookish.
In
order
to
speak
English
naturally,
the
learners
first
need
to
learn
English
more
through
tapes,
radio,
TV
,
movies,
etc,
and
then
it
is
quite
necessary
for
them
to
know
some
typical
characteristics of spoken English. The
following are some of them summarized by Gillian
Brown
and George Yule, two American
linguists: