Usage of table manners in the English teaching

闵红艳

云南保山市隆阳区汉庄中学678000

Table manners are absolutely necessary and important in the life of people， and it’s actually the contents of our daily lives， we call it culture because it has special status in the Chinese culture and it has a great distinction between China and west. By studying these cultural differences we can find out a joint enhancing the communication between China and western countries.

1.Differences between Chinese and Americans in table manners

First of all， Western eating is different， they eat almost everything with a fork and a knife， and it appears that holding a knife in one’s right hand longer more than a few seconds is considered to be a good table manner. The system is that if it is absolutely necessary to use a knife， people take the fork in their left hand， and cut off a piece of meat， then they put their knife down， transfer the fork to their right hand， and only then do they transport the food to their mouth. It is considered good manners. Secondly， the main differences between Chinese and western eating habits are that unlike the China， where the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares， everyone has their own plate of food. Thirdly， use your fork and knife correctly and when leaving the table during the course of your meal， put your napkin on your chair， not the table. No one wants to see your stamped napkin， and at the completion of the meal， place it on the left of your plate； if your plate has been cleared you put it in the center. Fourthly， when in a situation where you have to pass the food or condiments to others at the table pass it to your right or counter clockwise. The western-style banquets， although the food and wine are very important， but in fact they are just the foil， the core of banquet is friendship by the conversation with the guests who sitting next to achieve the purpose of recreation. Only the Chinese banquet is more popular in the communion， but western banquet shows guests reflected in the friendship between neighbors.

Compared with western， in China Chinese eat almost everything with chopsticks， in western they eat everything with a fork and a knife； when the dishes are placed on the table and all people share them together not everyone has their own plate of their food； in China the dishes which are placed on the table， people almost don’t eat up all the food in the plate， instead of leaving a little food in the plate， it means the food is delicious very much； but in western， people almost eat up all the food in the plate to show the food is very delicious . China attaches much importance to the table manners. Firstly China has always been known the “nation of ceremonies”， our Chinese are famous for hospitality， in China a celebration no matter what there will be only one form as sitting together， sharing one feast. Chinese are very proud of their culture of cuisine and will do their best to show their hospitality. Banquet uses a round table， which has created a unity of form， which is courtesy and comity atmosphere. People toast each other and share the vegetables， which reflect the mutual respect between people in the face of the good things， also show the virtues of comity. In China， any banquets no matter what its purpose is held in the same way. People sit down around the table eating and drinking， entertainment and talking. There is little freedom and ease in this kind of banquet. While in the west， people have their dinner in a completely different way. Each of them has his own share of the food which is contained in his own plate. The food in his plate belongs to himself only. I think this way means individual freedom and healthy too. Secondly， Sometimes the Chinese host uses their chopsticks to put food in your bowl or your plate. This is a sign of politeness. The appropriate thing to do would be to eat the whatever-it-is and say how delicious it is. If you feel uncomfortable with this， you can just say a polite thank you and leave the food there， but don’t stick your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl instead lay them on your dish， the reason for this is that when somebody dies， the shrine to them contains a bowl of sand or rice with two sticks of incense stuck upright in it， so if you stick your chopsticks in the rice bowl， it looks like this shrine and is equivalent to wishing death upon a person at the table. So it is impolite. And keep in mind that doesn’t tap on your bowl with your chopsticks， beggars will do like that. Thirdly， do not talk at an excessively loud volume， don’t make noises while eating. As for drinking there are also many table manners， people at a table will usually say“gan bei”when toasting each other， “gan bei” means to raise up one’s wine glass or liquor cup and drink it all the way down so that glass or cup is “dried up to the last drop”. People dry up their glasses to communicate the message to others that they are sincere and joyful. It is quite acceptable for a foreign guest to take a sip instead of emptying the glass when toasting with his or her Chinese host.

2. Use table manners in the English teaching

As for English language learners， they all know table manners are a piece of cultural information， and how can we teach culture in our teaching？ In my opinion， I usually use DVDS， music， reading， PPTs， online programs， literature and newspapers and so forth， I think this can help my students learn about a culture from a variety of viewpoints and provide a broader perspective of this culture； then I asked my students to point out the things which they have already acquired about cultural information they have learned in class； and have them mention the differences they observe between their own cultures and the culture that they are studying； next I placed my students in pairs and asked them to explain to one another their understandings of a particular reading or assignment； last I gave my students a test . I think Chinese students know a little about western table manners， they don’t have many chances to communicate with the foreigners， either. For example， last year I taught a passage about “ Table manners from Wang kun in France” in Grade nine students book （Go for it ！）， in the classroom， I simulated a table manner setting which resemble the real life， I chose a group with ten students， the others were audiences， monitor acted a waiter， the ten people sat down to table which put two rectangle desks to make together a rectangle table， asked monitor to put ten plates of frozen ice cream on the long table， gave them ten sets of forks， knives， napkins and asked them to eat with food etiquette of western. To my surprise， most of them can master and understand that cultural information that their teachers gave them in class.

3.Conclusion：

On the whole， we language educators organized activities/tasks/exercise must be make students sound comfortable and clear， the tasks/exercise/activities should be reasonable， meaningful， close to real life； the situation which we choose should also be appropriate and resemble the real settings； As for our students’ errors or their slips of the tongue we shouldn’t be critical of them， in class if we have much more time ， we should do topical follow-up and linguistic follow-up， make sure that everyone understands clearly； at the same time we should encourage our students and make them have more confidence. If we did mostly like these， it is very easy for English language learners to understand or accept those table manners.

教育期刊网 http://www.jyqkw.com
参考文献?

［1］ 国家旅游局人事劳动教育司1宴会厅服务【M】北京：高等教育出版社，1996.?

［2］ 陈洁，得心应手-西餐礼仪【M】北京：世界知识出版社，2005.?

［3］ 筷子与刀叉（中共饮食文化比较）【M】杜莉，孙俊秀，高海微，李云云，四川科学技术出版社2007.?

［4］ SAMOVAR， IA，跨文化交际【M】北京：外语教学与研究出版社?

［5］ 义务教育课程标准试验教科书（新目标）Go for it -Students’ book ，Grade nine. 人民教育出版社，（美国）圣智学习出版公司合编?