Do I need to know culture & lifestyle in learning second language?

Question

I'm studying English for academic reason.Do I need to know the culture & lifestyle of English people to learn it?If so,how far?

Answer 1

Yes, you do need to learn about culture and lifestyle. What makes it difficult is that English speakers have so many different cultures and lifestyles. For example, swearing is much more acceptable in Australia than it is in parts of the United States, but Australians are much less "pushy" than Americans, and consider "pushy" behaviour rude. Business phone calls in Australia usually begin with "G'day. How are you going?" "Good thanks," and often some more small talk, before the business is dealt with, and then end with a variety of "Thanks,", "See you later," and so on. Other English speakers may not include this amount of small talk.To an Australian, leaving it out seems like abrupt, even rude behaviour. (Other English speakers also have difficulty with the fact that "How are you going?" means, "How are you?", or "How do you do?" in other parts of the English speaking world.)
By and large, English speakers like more personal space than a lot of other people around the world. (Australians like a LOT, especially out in the country, where getting closer than about 6' to another person can be seen as crowding them, unless you know them well, or you need to get in close.)
You will need to know this sort of thing if you are going to do business with English speakers, because they will respond better, and so you will have greater success, if they feel comfortable with you, which means you have to know what makes them feel comfortable.

Answer 2

Absolutely. Language is structured according to culture and lifestyle. Language communicates the culture and lifestyles of people. In many languages, such as Spanish, how you communicate a specific idea will vary according to the region that you are in. English is a bit more uniform, but it is still necessary to learn the culture of the group that you are concentrating on. There is a Big difference in the way you communicate in America as opposed to England, or Ireland or Scotland or South Africa or Australia. A general knowledge of English will get you around anywhere you go, but from an academic standpoint, you might have to concentrate on the culture of your interest if you wish to communicate with them effectively. If England is your target culture, then you need to know as much about the English as you can learn. There is a huge difference between English society and American society.

Answer 3

Yes , it definitely helps . I went to England and even though I have been learning English since my childhood ; I found that English people's accent was different in some ways . For e.g - The way I used to say "wet" was interpreted by a British Man as akin to the way Polish people say so with an emphasis on "V' . There were some more tidbits that were different . Likewise there is a German word :

Freut Mich but an English speaking person would probably speak it in a way different from Germans and they may not understand what is being said.
So culture & Lifestyle is important .

Answer 4

I have experience as a speaker of English learning Japanese. I would say you need to know about the culture and society of the language that you learn. I would think that English would be easier I believe that its culture and society are better known than some other languages. It would make studying English much easier.

Answer 5

I think it's impossible to fully learn a language perfectly unless you've grown up around it, and have taken in the culture naturally. I've taken Spanish in school and the teachers try to teach you the culture by making you watch videos and listen to Spanish music, but I don't see how it's beneficial.

Answer 6

Studying any language is tough enough,but you have to do some research into the social and religious etiquette that go with it so you don't make a mistake and offend your host(s) in the event you should visit a country that speaks that language.

Answer 7

it is helpful to know about culture and lifestyle when learning a foreign language

how far? all the way, sometimes it's real fun

Answer 8

It's helpful to have an understanding of culture because this affects the way expressions are put together.

Answer 9

First, you would learn from the texts you would have to teach and read. For me it was one of the reasons to start learning English. Now I want to learn portuguese cause I'm fond of Brasil. It's both fun and hurd work!

Answer 10

no, but u need 2 have a little knowledge about the basic background of the language, like where its from, how was it used and little stuff like that. and even if u don't know them, u can still study the language!