Francis Bacon once commented that “the genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs.” Covering the widest possible range of areas from the deepest philosophic contemplation of universal significance to the commonest daily activities of every household, proverbs have long been justifiably entitled a highly condensed encyclopedia of a nation and its culture. As a special plane of language and culture, proverbs reflect almost every aspect of the features of a nation: its historical process, geographic condition, folk customs, social system, cultural heritage, national psycho-traits, philosophic trends, religious tradition and so on. Therefore the importance of proverbs is quite obvious.
In addition, the frequent appearance of proverbs in newspapers, magazines, literary works, TV and radio programs, and even in daily speeches suggests that proverbs indeed have an inexhaustible life. After all they are crystallization of folk wisdom of a nation over the ages. In almost every aspect of the daily use of one’s mother tongue or the foreign language one is learning, namely in such activities as listening, speaking, reading, writing and translating, proverbs are now and then involved and oftentimes play a significant role. In this sense, a good command of some fundamental proverbs of one’s mother tongue and especially those of the foreign language one is learning appears to be both essential and important.
设为首页
加入收藏
总编信箱
投稿或申请专栏请先 [登 陆]
