In recent years, English learning has become nationwide and its importance is now accepted universally by people. In early days, English learners began to realize the influence of cultural factors in the process of language learning. As a social-cultural phenomenon, language is also the product of the development of social culture. Different Chinese and western cultural backgrounds generate diverse thinking patterns which leads to the way people communicate quite differently. So the existence of cultural difference leads to misunderstanding and errors easily in English learning. Therefore, only grasping the connotative meaning of culture in foreign language study, transforming freely between one's mother tongue and target language when they enter the same cultural background, can both sides make successful communication. The paper explores the cultural obstacles in English learning, analyzes the causes and suggests some approaches to avoid the phenomenon so as to enhance the ability of English learners and make English studying more valuable.