Abstract: Chinese and English idioms originate from historical allusions, fairy tale, religion belief, daily life and so on, and have been accumulated as a big part and special kind of language culture with national features of a country. As more exchange and integration of different cultures, translations of idioms have been an indispensable task for translators. Common translation methods usually include literal translation, free translation, translation of amplification and omission, as well as translation of division and combination. However, during the procedure that we translate original idioms into target texts, there are some problems involving in cultural differences. It is just these cultural differences that remind us of the significance to realize and study the target language culture. Idioms express national features of a country, so sometimes we cannot make translations convey meanings of original ones accurately. Therefore, to solve this kind of difficulty efficiently, discussion and analysis of cultural differences, especially in terms of geographical environment, religions and beliefs, history, customs, ways of thinking and values, definitely play important roles in building a bridge between English and Chinese languages.
Keyword: idiomatic translation; cultural differences; English and Chinese idioms; literal translation; extended meaning
