Language is an inseparable part of culture. Language cannot exist without culture. Culture is the knowledge acquired in society while language is language ability unique to human beings and it is a set of knowledge system acquired or learned in the social language background. (Hu 30) Generally speaking, language is a symbolic system, it is the main way in which people communicate. Therefore, adding knowledge of language and culture and cultivating students’ intercultural awareness consciously in the process of English teaching started to appeal English teacher’s attention. In view of this point I will briefly write about the settings and main contents of the differences between the source language culture and the target language culture. Then I will analyze the intercultural awareness. Besides, I will make a conclusion about the topic and give some suggestions about how to deal with the problems existing in intercultural teaching. In the end, I will talk about the goals, principles and methods in cultivating students’ intercultural awareness.

II. Cultural Differences Between English and Chinese

Each country, community, even social group has its unique culture, which makes its language different from other languages or bring some language varieties. So in the process of the communication with people from different countries, communities, what people exchange is not just the language itself, but also the culture. However, it seems impossible and unnecessary for us to have a systematic study of target culture, which covers almost everything. The difficulty shows that culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional and complex. A good solution to this problem can selectively explore those origins that result in different cultural phenomena which are closely related to the language. 
When it comes to culture in English speaking countries, the cultural differences between Chinese and English and the difficulties they bring to students’ English learning are mainly in the following respects.
2.1 Differences in Geographical Background
Geographical environment can also influence the culture. Different topography, climate and other national conditions make different people have different expressions in the face of the same phenomenon. For example, Chinese directions usually take the form of east, north or west, south; but in English, they are called “northeast and southwest”. In addition, “east wind” means “spring”. There is a saying “east wind blows, spring comes”, which shows the Chinese people’s favor for it; however, the east wind in British refers to the cold wind blows from northern Eurasia, so the British dislike the east wind. But they like the west wind formed by Temperate Marine Climate and the North Atlantic Drift. So the geographical cultural differences help Chinese people avoid misunderstanding. The weather of British is changeable, so when people meet, the weather forms the staple of their conversation such as “how is the weather?” or “Do you take an umbrella?” While in China, people pay more attention to subsistence problems, so they usually greet with “have you eaten?” . 英语教学中跨文化意识的培养(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_18268.html