Учитель английского языка

ГБОУ школы 497

Жарова Алина Эдуардовна

г. Санкт-Петербург

2014 год

Contents

1 Introduction                                                                                          2

2 Mentality                                                                                              3

3 Concept “Home and house”                                                                 4

4 Concept “land and nature”                                                                   6

5 Concept “God”                                                                                     7

6 Conclusion                                                                                            9

7 List of literature                                                                                    10

Introduction.

       Projects are more and more popular nowadays. This method lets people not just learn and find out new information about the subject, but also gives us an opportunity to live through all the stages and get some practical points.

       The topic of our project is “Proverbs and sayings as the reflection of the Russian and English mentality.” Proverbs and sayings are really old and give us the key to the way of thinking of our ancestors, something that formed people’s mentality through the years. This is one of the possible ways to understand common attitude to some global things like love, God, nature, family. These are the basis of cultural and social world formation.

        The main purpose of our project it to classify different proverbs and sayings, put them into similar categories and compare the Russian and English  view point  on these certain subjects, to find similarities and spot the differences that go through years and generations.

        This topic is always actual because it is getting more and more important to take into consideration mental difference between people. This is a necessary thing to know due to the tourist development and international co working.

        The product of our project is a booklet with our classification and conclusions. This booklet can be used by teachers at the lessons and students for the self education as well as by people who are interested or have to communicate with English partners.  

Mentality.

        There are many definitions of the word “mentality”, we have chosen the one that touches upon all the aspects of human’s live. (12; 18)

       Mentality is the way of thinking, system of values, and viewpoint of the whole nation.

        It is connected to national character and is reflected in  history, culture and traditions, proverbs and sayings.

        Russian mentality was formed in the country which is situated in the south-east of Europe. Large territory of the country didn’t make people fight for the place of living, so the Russians have peaceful character by nature. On the other hand climate is not that successful as in Europe and for a long time Russia didn’t have the sea in its territory which made it difficult to develop trading relationship and sell goods. (7; 193)

        At the same time European people had better climate and well developed sailing relationship formed since the Roman Empire.  But Europe has a higher population density and people had nothing left to do but to fight for the place of living.

       All these factors influenced on the development of two cultures – Russian and Western ones, their attitude to nature, land, other people, richness and poverty, family.

       In our research we are going to analyze attitude of this two cultures to home, land and God through the use of proverbs and sayings and make our own conclusion.

Concept “Home and house”.

       In Russian and culture these concepts are connected to each other and have a lot in common. Russian people consider home not just like a roof over one’s head but also a place to relax and feel safe.

       In the English language we even have two different words- home- a place where our soul is and house-a building for any organization.

        So in both cultures home helps not only physically but also emotionally.

Дома и стены помогают;

East or west, home is best;

В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше;

Every bird likes its own nest best

There is no place like home;

       But it is necessary to pay attention to some difference which is not usual for the Russian culture.

An Englishman’s home is his castle. 

        Analogue of this proverb exists in the Russian language but it is translated from English and came to Russian culture later as this country had no castles and Russian homes have never played a role of such a protector from enemies or other people. (9;12)

       Russian proverbs have a motive of protection, though not of one’s own house but the country as a whole.

Не родом богатырь славен, а подвигом;

 Моё богатство – сила богатырская, моё дело – Руси служить, от врагов оборонять;

      This means that Russian people associate their home with all the country. Russia is a home for its citizens and the English do not have such a close connection. Concepts of home and country have different connotation for the English, they love home, feel safe and home, but home doesn’t equals homeland for them.

Concept “Land and nature”.

        Every nation has bright and positive attitude to its country. Russia, England and America are not exceptions.

        Russian nation demonstrates desperate love to its country. Archaic forms such as «мать - сыра Земля», «Родина-мать», «земля – матушка» are still used. In all these examples motherland is female, mother, woman and motherland are very closely connected in the Russian language.

Береги землю родимую, как мать любимую.

         At the same time the Russian language has words connected to father: отечество, отчизна, отчий дом. In the English language such words have not been found. Even the word “motherland” is not widespread nowadays; instead of this they use “this country”.  We also haven’t found such words as motherland, fatherland, earth, soil, ground, land in English proverbs.(13; 215)

        To summarize everything that was said, it is necessary to admit that concept “motherland” is presented in different ways in two languages, Russian people feel sick far away from their homeland, they support and love it. While analyzing  English proverbs such affectionate love wasn’t mentioned.

Concept “God”

      God is the feature of the highest position in every religion and for every nation, God is somebody who has enormous power, who is asked for help and protection.

      All these facts have their own reflection in both languages and cultures.

      In the Russian consciousness full trust to God and hope is seen in almost any situation.

Бог даст день, Бог даст и пищу;

Бог дал, Бог и взял;

С Богом пойдешь, до блага дойдешь;

Божья рука – владыка;

Человек предполагает – Бог располагает.

      Some kind of fatality is seen in Russian attitude to God, instead of making decision themselves people put responsibility on God, he sees everything and helps everyone. In Russian opinion God is ideal, kind and wise.

      In English proverbs the main idea is to rely on your own forces, take into consideration your own abilities, recourses and energy. There is no idea of total hope, God is not someone who solves your problems no matter what. (16; 301)

God gives food, but does not cook it;

Put your trust in God, and keep your powder dry.

        In the conclusion we can say that there is difference in characters of the two nations. English people are used to rely on themselves; here comes the expression “a self-made man” While Russian people are fatalists and always hope that God will help them, they demonstrate some unity with God. Their relationship with God can be described as friendly, close, warm, trustful, English speakers can totally rely only on themselves, they achieve their goals themselves and God takes the role of judge. It is important to add that God still has a very meaningful place in people’s live.

Conclusion.

        There are some differences and similarities in Russian and English culture; they can be defined through proverbs and sayings.

         For both cultures concepts “home” and “family” are the most important values. To add to this home is not only a building but also a place for body and soul to be treated well

       Words “home” and “motherland” mean the same for Russian people, in English culture this concepts are separated.

       There are also differences and similarities in attitude to God and his role in people’s life. Both nations trust and highly respect God. It is considered as the most powerful person who can punish and praise you. The difference is that the English trust themselves in the first place, but at the same time know that they have God’s support. The situation is different with the Russians. They hope and trust God more than anybody else. If something goes wrong, God will always help and solve your problems for you. There is an expression in the Russian language “Да Бог знает” while the English say “who knows” .English people do their best and only after that ask for God’s help.

       All these points should be kept in mind in communication of different countries representatives. This information helps to understand Russian or English mentality and avoid misunderstanding caused by differences in the world viewpoints.

List of literature.

1 Архангельский В.Л. Устойчивые фразы в современном русском языке. Ростов-на-Дону: Изд-во Ростовского Ун-та, 1964. 315 с.;;

2 Брунова Е.Г. О новой жизни старых пословиц, Томский Государственный Университет, 2002. 258 с;

3 Буслаев Ф.И. Исторические очерки русской народной словесности и искусства//Т. 1. СПб., 1861 398 с;

4 Веретягин Н.Ю., Веретягин М.Ю. Отражение особенностей национального менталитета в русских и английских пословицах. Таганрог, 2012. 215 с;

5 Джунусов М.С. О мере своеобразия национальных культур/М. С. Джунусов, 2002 . - №5.-С.125-128;

6 Жигарина Е.Е. Функциональный характер и вариативность пословиц в современном бытовании, Томский Государственный Университет, 2002. 187 с;

7 Кара-мурза С.Г. Кто такие русские/ Сергей Кара-мурза. – М.: Алгоритм, 2012. – 240 с.;

8 Леонтович О.А. Фразеологические обороты русского языка в лингвострановедческом аспекте.//Тез. докл. и сообщ. международной конф. МАПРЯЛ: "Современные подходы к формированию профессиональных качеств учителя-русиста зарубежной школы". – Волгоград, 1991. С.103-104;

9 Магировская О.В. Вторичная номинация концепта в современном английском языке (на материале пословиц и загадок): автореферат дис. канд. филолог. наук : 10.02.04 / Магировская Оксана Валериевна. - Красноярск: [б. и.], 2001. - 20 с;

10 Минина О.Г., Языковые маркеры традиционализма в русской и англоязычной культурах.// Материалы Международной научно-практической конференции факультета иностранных языков ТГПУ им. Л.Н. Толстого «Обучение языку и культуре: образы американского мира и их восприятие в современной России», Тула, 2013;

11 Ренковская Е. А. Некоторые особенности синтаксической структуры русских пословиц.// Материалы Международной конференции по компьютерной лингвистике и интеллектуальным технологиям «Диалог 2011», 2011;

12 Садохин А.П. Теория и практика межкультурной коммуникации: Учеб. пособие для вузов. – М.: ЮНИТИ-ДАНА, 2004. – 271 с.;

13 Степанов Ю.С. Концепты. Тонкая пленка цивилизаций. – М.: Языки славянских культур, 2007. – 248 с.;

14 Шанский Н.М. Фразеология современного русского языка. СПб, 1996. 219 с;

15 Arora Sh. L. The perception of proverbiality // Wise Words: Essays on the Proverb. - New York: Garland, 1994. 311 р;

16 Palmer G. B. Toward a Theory of Cultural Linguistics. - University of Texas Press, 1996. – 348 р.

List of dictionaries.

1 Большой энциклопедический словарь. Языкознание. Автор: гл. ред. В. Н. Ярцева. - Большая Российская энциклопедия, 1998. – 685 с.;

2 Большой Энциклопедический словарь Ларусса. Librairie Larousse: 1960-1964. – 10 т.;

3 Буковская М.В., Вяльцева С.И., Дубянская З.И. и др. Словарь употребительных английских пословиц/. – М.: Рус. яз., 1990. – 240 с.;

4 Васильева Л. Краткость – душа остроумия. Английские пословицы, поговорки и крылатые выражения.- М., 2004. 254 с;

5 Дубровин М.И. Английские и русские пословицы и поговорки в иллюстрациях. 2-е издание – М.: Просвещение, 1995. – 350 с.;

6 Жуков В.П. Словарь русских пословиц и поговорок, 7-е издание, стереотипное.- М., 2000. 293 с;

7 Ивин А.А., Никифоров А.Л. Словарь по логике. М: Гуманитарный издательский центр ВЛАДОС, 1998. – 384 с.;

8 Кузьмин С.С., Шадрин Н.Л. Русско-английский словарь пословиц и поговорок. М., 1989. 305 с;

9 Маковский М.М. Историко-этимологический словарь современного английского языка: Диалог, 2000. – 423 с.;

10 Новая философская энциклопедия. ИФ РАН (Коллектив авторов). – М: Мысль, 2000. – 2660 с.;

11 Ожегов С.И., Шведова Н.Ю. Толковый словарь русского языка: издательство "Азъ", 1992;

12 Райдаут Р., Уиттинг К. Толковый словарь английских пословиц.- СПб: Лань, 1997. - 256с.;

13 Rundell Michael. Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. 374 р;

List of internet resourses.

14 Семенов А.В. Этимологический словарь русского языка. [Электронный ресурс] URL:http://evartist.narod.ru/text15/001.htm (Дата обращения: 15.05.2913);

15 Online Etymology Dictionary. [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://www.etymonline.com (Дата обращения: 15.05.2013);

16 Oxford Dictionaries Online. [Электронный ресурс] URL: http://oxforddictionaries.com/ (Дата обращения: 15.05.2013);

17 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English language. [Электронный ресурс] URL:http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry_index