Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007

It's hard to be sure, Gloria.  "Culture equipment" really doesn't mean
much of anything in English, and using it would brand the speaker as
non-native.  From what you say, "cultural awareness" might work, or
possibly you need a new verb as well, giving you something like
"become famliar with culture."

One problem is that "culture" has two somewhat different meanings,
either of which may apply here.  One has to do with the arts, the
other with the general environment.  Thus you might hear someone who
likes fine paintings, classical music, and the plays of Shakespeare
described as "cultured."  But you may also encounter the word in a
context like: "The new kid rapidly fit in with the gang-based culture
of his neighborhood." This latter one isn't necessarily negative in
implication; it could just as well be "high-achieving culture" as
"gang-based culture."  I think the usage you're asking about is closer
to the first type, and that's the basis for my suggestions.  But watch
out for the other one.

Good luck.

Probably something like "cultural education", so they are "equipped"
with culture. The "culture equipment" translation cannot be said to be
correct, I'm afraid.

Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

"Cultural equipment" is likely to provoke only some sign of amusement or
bemusement from a native user of English.  Why don't you let us see the
real original term (better would be to include with it the original of
the sentence) and then let's see if we might help you.

There's something I don't yet know about what the sentence wants to
communicate, and I think that if I knew it, it might be easier to find
what you're looking for.

WHOSE "equipment" does the government seek to cultivate? Is it that of
each citizen as an individual, or that of the entire country
collectively? For what purpose are they cultivating it?

I do realize that if every individual's "equipment" is cultivated, the
"equipment" of the entire country is cultivated as well. It's just that
the way English speakers tend to think of "equipment" is different for
an individual than for a culture.

Considering what you said that the Chinese phrase means, I'd say that
both "level of cultural appreciation" and "capacity of cultural
appreciation"  are good choices. The difference (and this is a nuance
thing,) is that "level" refers to where the person is now, and
"capacity" refers to how far they can ultimately go.  With that in
mind,  I think that "capacity" may be the better choice, but only by a
narrow margin.  

Another option would be "cultural awareness", but that phrase to an
English-speaker doesn't necessarily carry the aspect of "through
cultivation" that you mention. I can have cultural awareness of
something that I know about only in passing or from casual contact.

In the target sentence, I would also change "good" to "high";  both
"level" and "capacity" imply relative measurement, and a relative
measurement is rarely referred to as "good",  but it is commonly
referred to as "high" or "low".

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I would simply say ::

in order to cultivate good taste

hth