Of Language, Culture and Teaching

Bypassing the eternal and unsolved problems of the definition of culture in superficial technical discussions, this paper deliberates on culture and language with the view to showing that proficiency in a language and deep understanding of whatever phenomenon can be more helpful in matters of culture and especially in language teaching rather than technical terminology and statistics. It overviews two books on cultural practices from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and refers to personal observations and recent teaching practice. In conclusion, it narrows cultural representation in language down to the condition of two people in verbal contact, their sensitivity to and skill in verbal expression and each other’s satisfaction. Concrete illustrations and observations supplement the notion of skill in verbal expression and cultural awareness in personal and group communication. Keywords: sociocultural traditions in historical contexts, two persons in communication, verbal choices in context, skill, intellectual discipline and responsibility as culture.