Second, the ultimate purpose for us to learn a language is to use it in our communication with other people who speak it, mainly the native speakers. Suppose we know nothing about the US or Britain, including its government, its people, its tradition, and its other aspects. Do you think you can speak English properly, thus achieving effective communication with the American or British people? I’ll say at least I can’t.
第三,我们还需要知道我们所学语言国家的人民的生活方式才能妥当地讲他们的语言。举个例子吧:中国人吃猪肉,但穆斯林不吃。还有,穆斯林宗教气氛浓郁,每天多次举行仪式。如果我们不知道这些事情的话又怎能指望与他们交流而不招致麻烦呢?按照这一逻辑,如果我们不能保证妥当地讲好他们的语言,我们又怎么说他们的语言我们学得很好呢?
Third, the lifestyle of the people whose language we are learning is also something we need to know in order that we can speak their language properly. For instance, the Chinese eat pork, but this is not the case with Muslims. Also, Muslims are very religious people and perform rituals many times a day. If we don’t know these things, how can we expect to communicate with them without incurring troubles? In this logic, if we cannot make sure that we are speaking their language properly, how can we say that we have learned their language well?
由此,我们可以得出结论了:学好一门语言,我们还必须了解这个国家以及这个国家的文化和其人民的生活方式。
From the above discussion, we can draw the conclusion that to learn a language really well, we also need to learn about the country as well as the cultures and lifestyles of the people who speak it.