Daily Chinese Proverb: Anger

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Monday 16 November 2009 3 comments

I came across this Chinese proverb today. I am completely confused as to its usage. Funny imagery though. I couldn't find a picture to do this proverb justice either. Maybe it is just a way to express one's anger.

怒发冲冠
nù ​fà​ chōng ​guān​
lit. hair stands up in anger and tips off one's hat

Learning Mandarin: Inspired By Martial Arts

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Sunday 15 November 2009 1 comments

The following article is written by Karen, who lives in Canada and is part of my growing series of Guest Posts from people I have met online that are also Learning Mandarin. She founded the Chen Pan Ling Kuo Shu Preservation Group in Atlanta, Georgia with a friend. Without martial arts, she would never have started learning Chinese.

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My Chinese studies all started with martial arts. My teacher in Atlanta, Allen Pittman, had studied with Chen Yun Ching in Taiwan in the 70's. My friend and I realized he was still alive. A friend's father agreed to phone him for us; then we communicated by fax, and arranged a visit. Considering Mr. Chen knew little English, we thought anything we could learn would be helpful.

We took a Chinese I class at the community college, and found a college student who tutored us. She drilled us on pronunciation- a good thing. At least if our vocabulary was small, people understood what we did say. It also allowed us to use a dictionary and pronounce words correctly.

Our visit was a success, but I think our Chinese failed us. We took our clothes to the laundry, and the clerk ended up calling the hotel to find out what we wanted. I think the surprise of strangers visiting the laundry was more the issue than our language. There were very few Caucasians around. Once we left Taipei for Taichung, we only saw eight Caucasians in two weeks.

With the help of Mr. Chen's translator, we started setting up a teaching tour in the United States. I needed to know more Chinese! So, more tutoring sessions, listening to language CD's, and eavesdropping on conversations in restaurants. I could visit our Chinatown and have brief conversations. My tutor told me she shamed an American-born Chinese because my Chinese was better than his. I also worked with a professor from a local university, to provide more language practice.

We have continued our exchange of visits with Mr. Chen. We have been to Taiwan two more times and he has been to the US twice. He is returning to the US in 2010.

My skills are about those of a three year old. Studying Chinese is fun. I don't think additional Chinese skills will help significantly in my martial arts training, but I like learning the language. It is satisfying to visit Taiwan and not feel totally lost. I feel comfortable touring around Taiwan (dictionary in hand!).

It's tough being a self-guided student, though. The encouragement of language-learning bloggers, the expatriates living in Taiwan and China, and my fellow Twitter tweeters has encouraged me. I am now using Anki for SRS. It is easier and more accessible than cards. Our library has an ESL program that provides speaking practice. I rearranged my lunchtime to talk with my Chinese co-workers. I am using more language immersion, and purposely listening to things beyond my language skills to get a better sense of the language. Sometimes I can tell what it's about even if I don't get the details.

I make up stories about what goes on in my life, as if I were talking to a Chinese friend. "I went to Chinatown last week. There was a Chinese college professor there. She had brought her students to the market. The girls liked the candy. Some of the students bought tea. All the students thought the freezer area was icky. I don't think they learned much at the store." When I translate it back to English, it's not too bad. Maybe I have progressed and now can speak like a five year old! I look forward to speaking something closer to my own age level.

Daily Chinese Proverb: The Rice Is cooked

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

This Chinese proverb is the same as the English proverb 'what's done is done' or 'Let bygones be bygones'. It means that things are too late noe to do anything about them. In this situation, it is wise to forgive and be prepared to move forwards positivley as it's too late to change anything now.

In this situation; the rice is cooked. It cannot now be uncooked, therefore this proverb talks about how you must let things be as they cannot be changed after it is happened. Just your attitude and perception of the event can be changed.


生米煮成熟饭
shēng ​mǐ ​zhǔ​ chéng ​shú ​fàn​
the rice is cooked


Daily Chinese Proverb: Time Flies Like an Arrow

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Saturday 14 November 2009 1 comments

This Chinese proverb has a strong meaning for me today. It is the first anniversary of my girlfriend and I going out together. This proverb talks about how time flies, and resembles an arrow.

My first year with my girlfriend has gone scarily quickly, yet also seems like I have known her this way forever.

光阴似箭
guāng ​yīn ​sì ​jiàn​
time flies like an arrow


Daily Chinese Proverb: Business is Business

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Friday 13 November 2009 0 comments

This Chinese proverb relates to when you keep business seperate from private issues. It means keeping your private interests seperate from business, no matter what.

公事公办
gōng​ shì ​gōng ​bàn​
Business is Business


Daily Chinese Proverb: Suffering

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Thursday 12 November 2009 0 comments

This Chinese proverb is in a similiar vein to the English proverb 'to bear ones cross'. Which means - to accept trials or troubles patiently, as in the story of Jesus carrying his cross.

含辛茹苦
hán ​xīn ​rú ​kǔ​
to suffer every possible torment


Daily Chinese Proverb: All Roads To Rome

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Wednesday 11 November 2009 1 comments

This Chinese proverb is similiar to the English proverb "All roads to Rome". It means that there are many ways to go about things and there is no one right way to do it. This is very relavant when talking about how people learn Mandarin. There are so many different ways to learn, and none is 'one and only correct way' all the different methods are valid.


殊途同归
shū tú tóng guī
different routes to the same destination


Daily Chinese Proverb: Excited

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Tuesday 10 November 2009 0 comments

This Chinese proverb can be used in situations where you are in high spirits. This proverb means to be elated, really happy, I imagine people would use this before and during festivities.

兴高采烈
xīng ​gāo ​cǎi ​liè​
happy and excited

Daily Chinese Proverb: Superhuman

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Monday 9 November 2009 4 comments

This Chinese proverb when broken down literally means 'three heads and six arms'. It is metaphorical of being above the ability of a normal man. I think this can be used in situations where someone does something so far beyond what was expected of them that it was a 'superhuman' effort.

三头六臂
sān tóu liù bì
Superhuman


Incidentally I think that Greg has made a superhuman effort with his Heisig learning.


Photo Source: DamnDigital

Daily Chinese Proverb: Relax vs. Effort

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Sunday 8 November 2009 0 comments

These two Chinese proverbs are very much like the English pairs of proverbs that contradict each other.

Personally I feel that sometimes when you are really struggling to do something you end up making a mess of it by overthinking it. Yet times where you are relaxed you end up being more productive.

事半功倍
shì bàn gōng bèi
get twice the result with half the effort

事倍功半
shì bèi gōng bàn
get half the result with twice the effort


An English pair of contradictory proverbs like these above are

Many hands make light work
and
Too many cooks spoil the broth

Daily Chinese Proverb: Perfect Order

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Saturday 7 November 2009 2 comments

This Chinese proverb is about how things in order are perfect and methodical. For me it is a strong signifier of the historical Chinese figure Qin Shi Huangdi unifying the country. The emperor gave the unified empire a single currency, a standardised system of weights and measures and a legal system and introduced a common written language.

井井有条
jǐng jǐng yǒutiáo
in perfect order; neat and tidy




Photo Source: Flickr

Daily Chinese Proverb: No Pain, No Gain

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Friday 6 November 2009 2 comments

This Chinese proverb is in stark contrast to 不劳而获. The English equivalent to this proverb is no pain, no gain. It says without the work, there is no harvest.

一分耕耘, 一分收获
yī fēn gēngyún, yī fēn shōuhuò
Without plowing and weeding there is not a harvest

Daily Chinese Proverb: Educational Development

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Thursday 5 November 2009 0 comments

This proverb is about how a good education program takes a long time to develop. It also makes me think about the methods I am using to learning Mandarin which are quite disseperate and not like a traditional syllabus.

Also interestingly, our education programs tend to be very un-environmentally friendly using a lot of paper and resources to sustain it.


十年树木,百年树人
shí ​nián ​shù ​mù​, bǎi ​nián ​shù ​rén​
It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man

Daily Chinese Proverb: Reap Without Sowing

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Wednesday 4 November 2009 0 comments

This proverb is the opposite of the English proverb 'Reap what you sow', which means the hard effort you put in will be rewarded. This proverb is about something unearned. To reap without sowing or to have the rewards without having put the effort in.

不劳而获
bù ​láo​ ér​ huò​
Unearned / Reap without Sowing

Daily Chinese Proverb: To Advocate....

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Tuesday 3 November 2009 0 comments

Today's Chinese proverb is actually more of an idiom. However seen as I seem to be spending increasing amounts of my time marketing on projects recently this one seems very appropriate for me at the moment. As most of the time I spend trying to make other people becoming advocates, this is a phrase I would be using quite often.

When you break these characters down its meaning is very clear. To devolop and to promote (making something bigger).

发扬光大
fā yáng guāng dà
Advocate


Incidently I have learnt the last two of these characters with Heisig, which means 光 ray (of light) and 大 big.

Chinese Spicy Beef & Tomato Soup: Recipe

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Monday 2 November 2009 0 comments

Chinese Spicy Beef & Tomato Soup
Serves 4


This spicy beef and tomato soup is a very tasty wholesome meal. It is based on a rich and creamy Chinese recipe I found in a book some time ago. I served it with some prawn crackers and a nice crusty bread roll. I really love the effect of the egg nesting like clouds on top of the soup. The egg contrasts with the spicy nature of the dish.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins

You Will Need:

1 tsp of soy sauce
1 tbsp of rice wine
2 tbsp cornflour
pinch ground black pepper
400g beef (cut up into bite size pieces)
1 tablespoon Oil
1/2 tsp of ginger puree or grated ginger
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
4¼ cup Chicken stock
4 cloves of roughly chopped garlic
1/2 tsp of 5-spice
pinch of salt
Tin of chopped tomatos
2 Sticks of Celery

To Serve:
2 Spring Onions (Scallions)
Prawn Crackers
Crusty Bread Roll


1. Mix together the Rice wine, soy sauce, pepper and cornflour (cornstarch) in a bowl. Add the beef and turn until well coated.

2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the beef, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry until beef becomes brown.


3. Add the stock, 5-spice, chili flakes and salt and bring to the boil. Add the tomato and celery. Cook for 25 minutes on a low heat.



4. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs (If you pour them in fast they will sink), without stirring so that they resemble clouds floating on top of the soup. Cook for a further 5 minutes.


5. Garnish with the chopped spring onion (scallion) and serve immediately.


How I Served
Chinese Spicy Beef & Tomato Soup:

With a bread roll, prawn crackers and spring onions on top.

Enjoy your Chinese-style Spicy Beef & Tomato Soup.

Daily Chinese Proverb: Helpless

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 0 comments

This Chinese Proverb speaks of times when you are helpless in a situation. This is used in situations such as crises where things are unavoidable. In these situations it is useful to remember 防不胜防 (you can't guard against it).

A similiar English proverb is that "My hands are tied".

束手无策
shù​ shǒu ​wú​ cè​
to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it

Daily Chinese Proverb: Gamble

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin Sunday 1 November 2009 0 comments

This Chinese proverb is about a gamble. It is to warn against putting all your stake on one bet. The common English proverb with a similiar meaning is 'To put all your eggs in one basket'.

孤注一掷
gū ​zhù ​yī ​zhì​
to stake all on one throw


20 Chinese Proverbs Hath October

Posted by Charlie @ Discovering Mandarin 2 comments

Here are the 20 Daily Chinese Proverbs I published and translated into English, Hanyu Pinyin and Mandarin during October. I had a little trouble with keeping the proverbs daily this month due to my laptop breaking. I aim to be more on track this month.


You may also be interested in my daily proverbs for September and August.

October's (almost) Daily Proverbs

October 1st
与日俱增
yǔ rì jù zēng
grow day by day; increase steadily
October 2nd
各有千秋
gè yǒu qiān qiū
Each has something they are good at / Each has its advantages
October 3rd
一暴十寒
yī bào shí hán
one day's sun, ten days' frost
October 4th
爱屋及乌
ài wū jí wū
love the house and its crow
October 5th
络绎不绝
luò ​yì ​bù ​jué​
an endless stream
October 6th
不自量力
bù zì liàng lì
Overconfident / To overestimate capabilities
October 7th
胡思乱想
hú ​sī ​luàn ​xiǎng
to let one's imagination run wild
October 8th

对牛弹琴
Duì niú tán qín
to play the lute to a cow

October 9th

开天辟地
kāi tiān pì dì
to split heaven and earth apart / Giant Steps
October 10th
井底之蛙
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
Frog in a well
October 11th
鹤立鸡群
hè lì jī qún
a crane standing among chickens
October 12th
好事多磨
hǎoshì duō mó
the course of true love never runs smooth
October 13th
变本加厉
biàn běn jiā lì
be intensified
October 14th
似是而非
sì shì ér fēi
Apparently right, Actually wrong
October 15th
见异思迁
jiàn ​yì ​sī ​qiān​
to change at once on seeing something different
October 17th
浑水摸鱼
hún ​shuǐ ​mō ​yú​
to fish in troubled water
October 18th
塞翁失马. 焉知非福.
Sài ​wēng ​shī ​mǎ​. yān​ zhī ​fēi ​fú​.
The old man at the frontier lost his horse. How do you know it is not a blessing?
October 19th
垂涎三尺
chuí xián sān chǐ
To drool over
October 30th
防不胜防
fáng ​bù​ shèng​ fáng​
you can't guard against it
October 31st
拆东墙补西墙
chāi​ dōng ​qiáng ​bǔ ​xī ​qiáng​
pull down the east wall to repair the west wall

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