The function of language is not only to convey information, but the most important thing is to convey the content of our report. Regarding the language knowledge of the world, there is a fixed "meaning space" regarding the national characteristics of a specific community that uses this language. The picture of the language world is formed as a collection of knowledge about the world, embodied in vocabulary, grammar, and language. National character is an elusive national phenomenon. The culture, history, living conditions and activities of any nation have formed a certain psychological characteristic peculiar to that nation (ethnic group), which is considered to be one of its characteristics. These psychological characteristics are related to certain phenomena. For example, the degree of conscious regulation of emotions and feelings of each nation is different: some people are more conservative in expressing their feelings and emotions, and some are more emotional and direct.
What is national character? Does it exist? When people are different, can they summarize typical characteristics on an overall scale? An English proverb says that it takes all sorts of things to create a world. Should we believe that nations are people from different races and with their own characteristics? The definition of the concept of "national character" is very complicated and contradictory.
For the proverbs that reveal the national characteristics of the people in the target language country, the proverbs with special interest and relevance are the product of people's language awareness and are passed on from generation to generation. Proverbs reflect people's rich historical experience and thoughts related to people's work, lifestyle and culture. Use proverbs correctly and appropriately to give speech unique originality and expressive power. As M. Sholokhov pointed out: "...In any form of language, people's thoughts have not been described so powerfully. Its national history, social structure, daily life, and world outlook are all clearly reflected like proverbs. "
Proverbs can be used in the process of learning different aspects of foreign languages. Let us consider the use of proverbs as a means to improve students' speech skills. Provide students with proverbs and proverbs, which are used to practice the difficult pronunciation of English in the students' mother tongue, and can be used as phonetic training to improve auditory-phonetic and rhythm-intonation skills. For example, the proverb has an aspiration and a way, if a cat is not there, a mouse can play, and I don’t know what to do until it loses it. It is used to practice oral and labial sound [w]; without health, there is no wealth. Try the interdental sound [ɵ], [ð]. Difficult sounds are first pronounced individually, and then in phrases and sentences where the sounds appear in words. Perform chorus and personal work. Frequent use of English proverbs selected according to the phonetic principle has a positive effect on cultivating and improving students' phonetic skills.
Find the proverbs with similar ideas, explain them and give examples from your own life.
- Words cut more than swords.
- When pigs fly.
- A thing that is said is said, and forth it goes.
- Do not look upon the vessels but upon that which it contains.
- A good name is sooner lost than words.
- Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.
a) The tongue is not steel, yet it cuts
b) Never fry a fish till it's caught.
c) Better the foot slip than the tongue trip.
d) Appearances are deceptive.
e) On the second Sunday of next week.
f) It is easier to fall than to rise.
Proverbs have great potential in improving various speech activities: they can be used as a means to develop oral and writing, listening and reading skills in foreign language classes.
In teaching oral language, it is recommended to use creative tasks to improve students’ cognitive activities and promote the ability to express and defend their opinions. Let us consider the practice in the secondary education stage to cultivate students' conversational speech skills on the theme of "food, healthy food".
Fill in the blanks with the suitable proverbs. Then in pairs make your own dialogue and tell the class, try to use proverbs in your speech.
- Tastes differ
- Eat at pleasure, drink with measure
- A hungry belly has no ears
- Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
- Health is better than wealth
- Live not to eat, but eat to live
In the Restaurant
– What shall we have?
– The three-course meal, I suppose. I'm hungry as a wolf.
– I think I'll have green peas, fruit and a cup of tea without sugar.
– Are you on a diet?
– I have to be on a diet. I'm afraid of getting fat. I'm an actress starring at a local theatre. Our producer likes to say:‘a) ………………..'
- ‘b) …………….', of course. But I'm sure that a spicy roast beef is much tastier than
vegetables.
– Is it your keep-fit programme?
– Yes, it is. My motto is ‘c)…………………….' and enjoy life as it is! You aren't a fitness fanatic, are you?
– I wouldn't say so. I only try to follow the doctor's advice.
– Which is?
– To walk as much as possible and take the stairs, not to eat bread and sweets.
– The recommendations are rather useful. But isn't it boring?
– If you are in perfectly good health, you can live well and have more pleasures of life. As they say: ‘d)…………………'.
– You are right. But ‘e)…………….'. I'll start with fish in jelly, a bowl of cabbage
soup then a beefsteak with mushrooms and fried potatoes and a cup of strong tea with a chocolate cake.
– How careless of you! ‘f)………………..'.
The improvement of the English proficiency of senior students, their speech becomes more fluent and accurate, so that they can not only carry out reproductive activities, but also express their attitude to the given words, express agreement or disagreement. Therefore, the following tasks can be used:
Give a piece of advice to your partner paraphrasing the proverb.
Proverbs can be used for developing situational dialogues and monologues at senior stage of learning.
Illustrate the use of proverbs in any life situation. Tell the case of your life, confirming the correctness of proverb.
Students come up with stories, which can be homework or classroom activities, and then they show their stories and choose appropriate proverbs. Other students agree or disagree to prove that their answers are reasonable. Therefore, students develop their own skills, draw their own conclusions, and summarize information.
In the process of advanced foreign language teaching and learning, proverbs can become meaningful support for further discussions. Teachers need to attract students and motivate them to discuss issues further. So, for example, the subject relationship-friendship is preceded by the following proverb: They are rich, who have true friends. When a friend asks there is no tomorrow. Do you agree with these proverbs? Express your opinion. Then students can work in groups, and the topic of discussion is the issue of friendship-who is the real friend? Finally, each group of speakers expressed and defended their views and demonstrated their views. During this discussion, a portrait of a real friend was shown. As homework for the purpose of developing writing skills, students may be asked to write an essay about true friendship, using one of the proverbs as the theme of the work.
In order to improve students’ listening skills, develop their analytical skills, and provide trainees with different listening situations, they analyze and critically evaluate them; then, for each situation, students choose appropriate proverbs to prove that their choice is correct.
Listen to the following situations. Match the proverbs in the box with the appropriate situation.
Never too late to learn. Don't judge a book by its cover. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
Situation 1
Mary had a big problem and she didn't know what to do about it. After she told the problem to her best friend, she felt much better.
Situation 2
A new girl came to our class. She was very weird. She often wore very dark and strange clothes. We all thought that she was very bossy and serious and she didn't want to talk to us. Later we found out that she actually was very polite and intelligent.
Situation 3
My uncle, who is 50 years old, decided to start learning again. He said that he had always wanted to study Spanish and he hadn't had any time to do that when he was younger.
In the process of using foreign language proverbs, students enriched their vocabulary and improved their social and cultural knowledge; they also created favorable conditions for the development of their creative activities and increased their motivation to learn foreign languages.
The following exercises can stimulate memory, cultivate students' intelligence and creative associative thinking, because visual support helps to understand the illustrations in the pictures. The students processed the pictures through pictures. According to their content, they need to find the appropriate proverbs and speak their own answers. This task can be used to learn a foreign language at an advanced level. Guess the proverb using the pictures.
In short, we have concluded that proverbs are an indispensable multifunctional tool in foreign language teaching. They are valuable training materials to improve students' knowledge of languages such as grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics. They also play an important role in the process of strengthening education. The use of proverbs in the process of learning foreign languages can help improve various types of speech activities and develop students' imagination and creativity. Using proverbs in the classroom is beneficial because they create a good environment and the learning process becomes more enjoyable and interesting.
