Yesterday I muttered 'à mon avis' from the small amount of French I know; meaning in my opinion. (I must admit to being quite bad at French, so apologies here.) So I was thinking, about how to say 'In My Opinion' in Mandarin.MDBG suggests:在我看来zài​ wǒ ​kàn ​lái​But I know from both the French & English, there are many ways to say this.selon moi and d'après moior in English variations include:"In my opinion", "In my view", "As I see it",...

Here is to a wonderful Christmas and English new years holiday to everyone that has supported me this year. I will be back in the new year, with renewed efforts to learn Mandarin. In the mean time, all my best wishes for a peaceful, wonderful time this Christmas.圣诞快乐Shèng​dàn​kuài​lèMerry Christmas新年快乐xīn​nián​kuài​lè​Happy New Y...

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 ...

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. --------------------------------------My Chinese studies all started with martial arts. My teacher in Atlanta,...

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...

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 ar...

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 Busin...

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 torm...

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 guīdifferent routes to the same destinat...

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 exci...

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 bìSuperhuman Incidentally I think that Greg has made a superhuman effort with his Heisig learning.Photo Source: DamnDigi...

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 bèiget twice the result with half the effort事倍功半shì bèi gōng bànget half the result with twice the effortAn English pair of...

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 yǒutiáoin perfect order; neat and tidy Photo Source: Fli...

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 shōuhuòWithout plowing and weeding there is not a harv...

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,...

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 Sow...

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...

Chinese Spicy Beef & Tomato SoupServes 4This 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 minsCooking Time: 45 minsYou Will Need: 1...

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...

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 th...

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 ProverbsOctober 1st与日俱增yǔ rì jù zēnggrow day by day; increase steadilyOctober 2nd各有千秋gè yǒu...

This proverb is one that describes exactly what has happed causing the current global recession. It talks about solving a problem, by creating the exact same problem elsewhere. Which is exactly what has happened in modern society shifting debt around until it got out of control.拆东墙补西墙 chāi​ dōng ​qiáng ​bǔ ​xī ​qiáng​pull down the east wall to repair the west w...

This Chinese proverb means that sometimes things can't be prevented. Much like my recent experience of having a broken laptop could not have been prevented. This allows thought to be taken away from the incident and how to deal with it instead. If it could not have been prevented, now look to how to deal with it.防不胜防 fáng ​bù​ shèng​ fáng​you can't guard against it...

Just a quick note to say I am back, with my new laptop after my old one broke a while ago. It is very beautiful (windows 7 seems to be working well), much faster than the old laptop and has loud inbuilt speakers.All very impressive I'm sure, but I have been busy in my absense. I started Heisig's Remembering the Simplified Hanzi as anticipated when the book came. Although I haven't been testing myself much, past asking my girlfriend to casually...

The interenet regulator ICANN has now allowed web addresses to be in non-Latin characters – such as Chinese, Arabic, Hindi or Russian Cyrillic script. The first of these Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) is thought to be up and running by the middle of next year.This is quite exciting and interesting although all web addresses will still need "http://" at the beggining. It is being billed as one of the biggest changes to the interenet...

This is another Guest post from a friend that continues to learn Mandarin. Today's guest post is from Boyd, who runs several successful and interesting blogs related to Chinese culture. Boyd runs an Business English course for Chinese speakers. Chinese speakers My favourite of Boyd's blogs is Boyd's Bijou or his Musings on China. Here is a little about Boyd's journey Learning Mandarin.-----------------------------------------------------Chairman...

I wanted to do a proper post about learning Hanyu Pinyin and the Chinese tones. I found this video which is remarkably helpful distinguishing the intials, finals and tones. Though it looks like it was made for children, It hink it is useful for anyone learning the language.I will write a post when I get my new laptop with tables of the intials, the finals and the tones. With tips on how they are pronounced and equivalents in English. Hopefully this will give a little more deatail to what this video shows with how the syllables...

Just a quick message to those of you who do drop by here fairly often. A massive thank you for all helping me out with my Mandarin and I wanted to let you know that I haven't stopped and I certainly haven't quit writing here or learning Mandarin.My laptop decided to die a quiet and very untimely death this week (not the explosive death shown here). Which caused me more distress than the material laptop-ness of it. I had lots of posts saved...

This Chinese proverb means to crave something, to desire it and this proverb although could be taken to mean to literally salivate. I prefer the meaning to have a strong desire or craving. 'to drool over'.垂涎三尺chuí xián sān chǐTo drool overThe picture depicts my desire to get to China, and the celebration that will ensue. One of my goals is to spend Chinese New Year in China at least on...

This Chinese proverb comes with a fine story, about a wise man. It comes to mean a blessing in disguise. When smething bad happens, we must look for the good that follows. Equally when something great happens, we must be ready for something bad to happen as a consequence. Things are comparitive; the good comes with the bad.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...

This Chinese proverb describes someone taking advantage of a confused situation. It is similiar in use to 趁火打劫 (to loot a burning house.)浑水摸鱼hún ​shuǐ ​mō ​yú​to fish in troubled water...

China seems to like to be the best at everything, even if it doesnt always turn out the way they had intended. (See South China Shopping Mall for example) Also see 'The Onions' satirical and funny take on a certain recent rather large parade.Here are two Chinese building projects that are fantastic but a little crazy:Automobile Museum in Nanjing, An origami inspired, drive through automobile museum in Nanjing the capital of Jiangsu province...

Firstly, my Heisig book came today. Excited!!!! (due to being busy I start learning tomorrow.)The main reason for this post is that I have been asked by several people recently, to include Heisig's suggested 1500 Traditional characters as I had eluded to them in a previous post.Heisig proposes a method of learning where you only learn the meaning of the character and a way to remember how to write it through a story of its primitives and...

This Chinese proverb serves as a warning to us. It talks about how some people are never satisfied with what they have. It is also important to realise that happiness is found in moments not things.This proverb is used to describe how someone might follow a fad, and as soon as it falls out of fashion change to something new.见异思迁 jiàn ​yì ​sī ​qiān​to change at once on seeing something differentPhoto Source: Fli...

This Chinese proverb describes the feeling of a paradox. Where something seems correct but leads to a contradiction or a situation which defies intuition.似是而非sì shì ér fēiApparently right, Actually wr...

This Chinese proverb describes perfectly what I hope the Heisig method of learning Mandarin will do to my learning process. Intensify it.This proverb is actually more often used in a negative way though. How one may aggravate or cause a situation to intensify through their actions.变本加厉biàn běn jiā lìbe intensifiedThe further story behind the character 本 (běn) can be found over at Grace Lee's How do you know Chinese?Photo Source: Fli...

乐队(band): 南拳妈妈 Nán Quán Māmā Nan Quan Mama国家(country): TaiwanNan Quan Mama are a Taiwanese pop group that are famous throughout Taiwan and China for their brand of C-pop / Mandopop that incorperates rapping and singing by different members. The guys all rap, whilst the choruses seem to be usually 'Lara' the female vocalist singing a catchy melody. Nan Quan Mama are also the official spokespeople for Motorola in Taiwan.It turns out past...

I ordered Heisig's the 'Remembering the Simplified Hanzi' last week as you may know if you read my post about my excitement. Whilst learning with this method I am still going to be carrying on learning sentences from books and carrying on with Rosetta Stone (although I have been finding my progress in it rather slow recently.)I won't be doing much preparation before I start this method of learning the Hanzi. Though, I did hunt out the list...