Taboos and English Learning

侯晓丽

【Abstract】With times past by requirement and development， the application and usage purpose of taboos is not simply for insults or violation； it has change into positive one. Especially with the arrivals of network era， the volume and meaning of taboos has been expanded extremely.

【Key words】Taboos； English； Learning

1. Taboos in Common Life

In our daily life， taboos are all around. They exist in our any moods. For example， when people are angry， taboos will be blurted out from mouths.Taboos are common in our life. So it is necessary to learn about usage and meaning to avoid the misunderstanding and misusing.

1.1 Taboos with Anger

Angry is more like a complex feeling in our daily life. People will find a way to abreact themselves. In this time， any words with strong emotional meaning will be used by catharsis， especially the powerful words like taboos. Taboos can be used to not only curse when someone get a smack in the eye， but also abreact of pressures， such as “go to hell！” or “Dammnit all！” and some taboos related to religions. But some vulgar words are more directly to show their anger， like “fuck it all” or “kiss my ass， you creep”， etc. In my point of view， people who use taboos to solve the abreaction are more civilized than the one who uses violence. In the rage moment， taboos have full play its important role of avoiding the generation of violent behavior.

1.2 Taboos in Compliment and Degree

Currently， taboo does not simply have the negative meaning， but also have the positive meaning. Indeed， the choices and understandings of lexical meanings will be narrowed or broadened with certain contexts. With the development of language， taboos has jumped out of the origin meaning and given themselves new positive meanings. Taboos can show someones compliment in a certain context.Most of the time， we can see taboos used as a adverb of degree， such as people will said “I am fucking good”， while “我他妈的好极了！” in Chinese. These two sentences mean that “I am extremely good” but using taboos as the adverb of degree.

2. Taboos in Language Learning

Recently， the following fact that the English learning initiative has decreased， however， is disputable. That things they learned in class and textbook can not use in life and disconnect from real world.College students are lack of confidence that can be sure to learn the real living language from text books. Taboo is absolutely treasury in linguistic data. It is not originally dirty. But we have given them dirty definition due to our fake sexual ethnic moral concept. At this point， I want to advocate give back students a right of learning real and nature language.

2.1 The Significance of Taboos Learning

First of all， I want to ask every English learner two question – why do you learn English？ What is your main purpose？ There are probably four reasons – first， speaking like a native； second， understanding what natives say； third， reading smoothly； fourth， writing successfully. Any kind of language is reflecting every aspect of life. I have always thought that the linguistic education should be systematic， all-sided， and authentic. Unfortunately， many a English learner has been learning English for several years but can use formal language.

2.2 Suggestions on English Learning

If you want to learn true language， immersive education will be the fastest way to learn language. It likes some students go to English-speaking countries to learn English. But not anyone has such opportunity. So in my opinion， you should take full use of internet besides class and textbook learning. In method is as follow：

（1）It demanded you to read a lot of English major newspaper or magazines， such as Times， Economist， FT， and some other journals. Also you can go to a website called Quora which is tantamount to Zhihu in China. Because in this question and answer mold website， you can not only learn knowledge you are in favor but also learn the language in the answer. The answerers always use daily expression unlike those expressions in textbook.

（2）It required you to watch a lot of English movies and series. The film and TV come from life that reflecting real world. You need to pay attention to any idioms in the screen and learn to be used alive. But students should also notice which kind of language match which situation.

I think English textbook should keep pace with times and could never disconnected linguistic environment. They should be systematic and integrated by real language environment. I hope there will be any books related to taboos to express and teach this kind of language systematically. Then taboos can be regulated and misused by students.

References：

[1]A S Hornby.Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary.6th ed[M].Beijing：The Commercial Press，2004：1796.

[2]Liu Li，A Comparative Study of Cultural difference Reflected through Chinese and English Taboos[J].湖北：湖北省中医药高等专科学校，2012.

[3]蔡康永.脏话到底脏在哪里.独唱团[M].台湾：书海出版社， 2010：17.