Daimashin

Since you wish, the correct choice is "I wish I were" because wish is an indication that you want something that is not there, and not possible. Always use "were" when accompanying "wish". Use "was" for indicating something that has happened or exists now. Example: I wish I were you so that I'll be as rich as you. (You're not him). If I was a jerk, I apologise. (Indicating that I was a jerk) I don't know how correct that is but that was how I was thought back at school.

I felt that understanding the language will help me to find jobs. The other was that so that I could read the subtitles to the movies that have spoken language that I don't understand.

It depends on the situation at hand for me. I'll use whatever type I find fit for what I'm going to say so slangs are definitely used by me but not to the extend that I sound informal or rude.

沐猴而冠 (Mù hóu ér guàn) - Appearance can't hide true nature. 沐猴 (Mù hóu) - Showered monkey, 而冠 (ér guàn) - wears crown. After Xiang Yu successfully taken over Xian Yang city from Liu Bang and crowned himself The Conqueror of West Chu (西楚霸王). He felt that he should return to his hometown Peng City (彭城). He decided to move the capital of his kingdom from Xian Yang city to Peng city. One of his officials was worried that it'd be a waste of public funds so he objected to the idea. They got into a heated argument, out of anger the official called Xiang Yu, (沐猴而冠), saying that Chu people will always be Chu people, didn't matter what they wore, they were still savages in nature. Xiang Yu was infuriated and ordered to have that official penalise with the sentence of cooked to death. 沐猴而冠 (Mù hóu ér guàn) is used as a mockery meaning that clothes can't hide a person's nature. Example: "粗人就是粗人， 無論穿什麼衣服也是粗人一個. 這就是叫「沐猴而冠」."

I think any English literature books are hardest to read especially the books by Shakespeare like some have said. The sentences are so convoluted and the words used are so confusing that it takes multiple times of reading to grasp its meanings. Some also like to use a lot of flowery words and fluffs that it makes me sleepy just by looking.

Studying with friends for me is preferable because we can discuss about words and terms we do not understand. Also, we can correct each other when we make mistakes in writing or pronunciation. It's always better to have someone to practice your language on.

Why are Champion, First Runner up, and Second Runner up called 冠军, 亞軍, and 季軍 respectively? These terms originated from the era during reign of 秦二世 (Emperor of Qin 2nd). 冠军: During the war between the Qin army and the rebel alliance lead by Xiangyu. The alliance's emperor King ChuHuai once bestowed 宋義 (SongYi), his personal officer the title of 卿子冠軍 (Qīng zi guànjūn) meaning the champion of all army. 亞軍: 亞 in Chinese means inferior or second class. Xiang Yu addressed Fan Zeng as "亚父" meaning second father. 季軍: Liu Bang was the third son in his family. During his younger days, he had a name called "劉季" and thus "季" is used to indicate the meaning third.

約法三章 (Yuēfǎsānzhāng) - Simple Terms/Regulations. Literal meaning - Three laws. During the end of the Qin Dynasty, the emperor of the rebel alliance 楚懷王 (King Chu huái) made a promise that whoever made it first into 咸陽 (Xiányáng) the capital of Qin will be crowned 關中王 (Emperor of Guānzhōng). The race was between 劉邦 (Liúbāng) and 項羽 (Xiàngyǔ), because Xiàngyǔ strayed from his path and engaged the Qin Army in the Battle of Jùlù, his progress was stalled and so Liúbāng made it first. Once inside the capital, Liúbāng having witnessed the ridiculous laws that were set by 秦始皇 (Qínshǐhuáng) decided to remove all of them and only set three simple rules: death for murderers, prison for assaults, and prison for thievery. His move won him the heart and trust of the citizens of Xiányáng. 約法三章 (Yuēfǎsānzhāng) means to make simple rules and regulations. Example: "我現在跟你「約法三章」， 如果你測驗合格的話我就買遊戲機給你."

The internet is truly a wonderful place to learn. Even something like this is available for people to learn. I've never seen anything like it, I'll be sure to check it out some time.

Sounds very limited and unnecessary to limit only to those that are native speakers. Truth be told, I've seen people that are not native speakers speak and write excellent English, even better than those that are native.

I believe that there is no such thing as one language being harder to learn than the other. The key here is exposure. It all depends on your language background. For Chinese speaking people, some will say that English is harder to learn. For Japanese, they say English is harder to learn. The point is, whatever language that is not your native language will be harder to learn because it's not in your nature and your lack of exposure to the language.

I did sometimes with my brother and sister because we didn't want our parents to know what we were talking about but only very little. These days I use coded languages mostly for creating account passwords on the internet.

For English books I'd say it's The Rise and Fall of Qin Dynasty. I love Chinese histories and this is the only book of it that I have read in English which is why it's the most unforgettable for me.

作壁上觀 (Zuò bìshàngguān) - Sideline observers. Literal meaning - Stand on a cliff and watch. During the Battle of Jùlù where 項羽 (Xiàngyǔ) infamously defeated the Qin army's 300,000 soldiers by using 破釜沉舟 (Pòfǔchénzhōu), there were actually other rebels at the battlefield. These rebels were part of the alliance army led by Xiàngyǔ but they were too scared to enter battle because they were terrified by the sheer size of the Qin army. When the battle broke out, only Xiàngyǔ's army of 20,000 soldiers entered battle while the other rebel armies stood on top of a cliff and watched the battle cowered in fear. 作壁上觀 (Zuò bìshàngguān) is used to describe people that only observe a certain situation and not participate. Example: "我想這一次遊戲我不要下場， 還是「作壁上觀」比較好."

Never heard of this actually, would you care to elaborate further? Is it some program to watch on Youtube like in a class about language learning?

Having a tutor is always good especially when you're just starting out. A tutor can point out your errors and correct them. The tutor can teach you the basics and show you where to start. Maybe after we're on the intermediate level we can start to study on our own.

I think the best perks to knowing a second language is that we get to travel to one more country and be able to communicate with one more race.

千金一笑 (Qiānjīn yīxiào) - Precious smile. Literal meaning - Thousand gold one smile. 周幽王 (Zhōu yōuwáng) was a brutal emperor that mistakenly killed one of his ministers. The minister's son wanted to avenge his father so he devised a plant. He gifted a beautiful lady to Zhōu because he knew that Zhōu was a pervert. Zhōu was of course delighted but there was one problem, the beauty never smiled and always looked sad. In order to make the beauty happy, Zhōu played a prank on his generals. Zhōu ordered his men to light up the smoke signals. His generals who were guarding the borders saw the signal and quickly rushed to Zhōu's rescue only to find out that they were pranked by their emperor. The beauty saw all this and finally smiled, to Zhōu's much delight. Some time after, Zhōu's kingdom was attacked, he once again order his men to light up the smoke signals but no one ever came to his rescue. The beauty once again smiled and said to Zhōu, "Your time has come, it's time for you to pay for what you've done." 千金一笑 (Qiānjīn yīxiào) is a figure of speech saying that a girl's smile is worth a thousand gold. Example: "要用到鑽石戒指才能夠讓你開心， 這一次真的是名乎其實的「千金一笑」."

People say that words can lie but body language can't. I think there is a certain truth to this, most of the time when we dislike something we are not honest about it but our body language reflects what we actually think. We may say that we are not in hurry but our body will have signs that we do without realizing that indicate we are indeed in a hurry for example.

I think it does especially in languages that require different tones. Having a more flexible tongue will let you speak out words more clearly and precise. There are times when we find it hard to speak fluently, smoothly is because we are tongue tied and words don't come out right.

With the abundance of smartphone apps and the internet making everything so convenient, electronics dictionary is a thing of the past it seems. I looked for mine after starting this thread but it didn't work anymore. It was a very useful tool back at school last time when smartphones didn't exist.

Welcome and enjoy your time here. There are plenty of tips and advices here at Linguaholic. I'm sure the Spanish section will be of help to you.

沉魚落雁 (Chényúluòyàn) - Very beautiful girl. 沉魚 (Chényú) - Diving fish, 落雁 (luòyàn) - Descending bird. An idiom about two beauties that lived in two different times. A very straightforward tale about two of the four great beauties of China, 西施 (Xīshī), and 王昭君 (Wáng zhāojūn). Legend has it that Xīshī liked to wash clothes at the river, whenever she goes to the river the fish always dived into the bottom. Reason was because the fish felt ashamed of themselves under the beauty of Xīshī. Wáng zhāojūn was famous for being sent away for a diplomatic marriage. This happened during her journey where a couple of birds was flying above and they caught a glimpse of Wáng zhāojūn. The birds were so mesmerised by her beauty that they fell to the ground. 沉魚落雁 (Chényúluòyàn) is a compliment to tell a female you meet that they are really beautiful. Example: "'鍾嘉欣'真的很美， 就像「沉魚落雁」一樣的美."

I mostly relied on the Oxford dictionary because it has detailed explanations of words. I've been using it for as far as I can remember. But nowadays, there are so many online dictionaries I don't use it as much anymore. I now always refer the thefreedictionary for meanings and thesaurus.

Even though clear and simple words are preferable but we shouldn't neglect complicated and artistic words altogether or it'll become extinct. As unnecessary as big words might seem, they do have their usefullness in certain writings especially in literary writing. Basically, separate both types with different types of content writing or conversation based on the situation at hand.