Daimashin

The most suitable language for swearing in my opinion is in whatever language the person you're swearing at can understand. No point in swearing in a language no one can understand. Unless, you're swearing to let off steam instead of really scolding the person that is.

天衣無縫 (Tiānyīwúfèng) - Simply perfect.

天衣 (Tiānyī) - Celestial clothes, 無縫 (wúfèng) - Seamless.

郭翰 (Guō hàn) was a very famous tailor. The clothes made by him were all beautifully designed. One day, he organized an event to showcase his clothes claiming that his clothes were fit for the heavens. His arrogance infuriated one of the goddess in the heavens named 織女 (Zhīnǚ), the celestial weaver. She descended to earth and warned Guō hàn not to insult the gods and showed him the true clothings fit for gods, a piece clothes that doesn't have any sewing points and seams. Guō hàn begged Zhīnǚ to leave him the piece of clothing claiming that he wanted admire it but Zhīnǚ warned that ordinary humans shouldn't wear it. Guō hàn ignored the warning and proceeded to wore it in public claiming that he made it. The clothing then disappeared in plain sight and Guō hàn was humiliated.

天衣無縫 (Tiānyīwúfèng) is used to describe something that is perfect.

Example:

"這一輛車真的毫無瑕疵， 簡直是「天衣無縫」."

There were pros and cons with electronic dictionaries. One particular problem I had with mine was that the pen that does the touch screen thing didn't always work. Also, the response was really slow sometimes, it took me less time to just look it up in a paper dictionary.

I like mimicking different accents when I read. My favorite is British accent, it sounds classy and royal when I use it. Personally, I use American accent whenever I talk to people but I feel that knowing other accents help me understand other people better.

I don't need motivation because studying or focusing on reading gets my mind off things. I tend to forget my problems when I study my languages. I guess wanting to forget even for a while is large enough motivation for me to pick up my books.

I remember back at school, I used to carry an electronic dictionary that does English to Chinese translation and vice versa. It was a very useful tool that everyone in my class had to have one as required by our lecturer. It helped me a lot back then. I know that electronic dictionaries are also available in other languages. Have you ever used one, and if you did, was it useful to you?

投鼠忌器 (Tóushǔjìqì) - Think before acting.

投鼠 (Tóushǔ) - Catch rat, 忌器 (jìqì) - beware of the wares.

Once upon a time there was an emperor that was harsh in dishing out punishments to subordinates that have done wrong. No matter how the advisor persuaded the emperor, the emperor wouldn't listen. One day, the advisor caught a rat and released it in the imperial chambers where all of the emperor's beloved wares are kept. The emperor was afraid that his men would damage his wares so he chose to catch it himself. The rat ran all over the place and because the emperor was afraid of damaging his precious wares, couldn't catch the rat. The advisor took the rat as an example, and told the emperor that he should consider the consequences before dishing out punishments as his actions might cause dissatisfaction among the officials.

投鼠忌器 (Tóushǔjìqì) is used to tell people to think before they act to avoid unwanted incidents.

Example:

"做人應該要懂得「投鼠忌器」， 不要只會橫衝直撞."

愚公移山 (Yúgōngyíshān) - Great Determination

Literal meaning - Old man Yu move mountain.

Once upon a time there was a man called 愚公 (Old man Yu) who lived in a secluded area blocked by two huge mountains. Each day Yu had to walk far and long to work. One day he has had it and told his family that they will work to clear the path of the two mountains. Thus, everyday his entire family would work on the mountain bit by bit hoping that can flatten the mountains. A passerby saw this and laughed at Yu saying that Yu's work is only "howling at the moon." Yu then argued back that although he may die but his heirs would carry on his work, so does his heirs' heirs, and so on. Finally, Yu's determination had touched the heavens. The Jade Emperor sent two gods down and have the two mountains removed. From that day onwards, nothing stood in the way of Yu's path.

愚公移山 (Yúgōngyíshān) is used to symbolise great determination.

Example:

"我們做什麼都需要毅力跟堅持就像「愚公移山」一樣， 不可以半途而廢."

對牛彈琴 (Duìniútánqín) - A waste of effort to explain.

對牛 (Duìniú) - For cow, 彈琴 (tánqín) - Play the zither.

Once upon a time there was a traveller musician who loved to perform with his zither. One day he was walking along a farm and saw a cow working really hard. He felt pity that the cow had to work so hard. Later in the day, the musician bumped into the cow again but this time the cow was grazing. In order to show his sympathy, the musician decided to play his music for the cow. No matter how beautiful the music was the cow simply didn't care and continued to graze on grass as usual. After a while, the musician finally realised that no matter how good he was, the cow simply won't understand his music.

對牛彈琴 (Duìniútánqín) is used to describe someone that is too stupid to understand and that explaining is just a waste of time and effort. It can also be used as talking to the wrong audience.

Example:

"怎麼講你也不明白簡直是「對牛彈琴」, 白費心機."

Four hours is the longest I've spent on learning Chinese. It's Chinese Literature class when I was in college, didn't have much choice because my grades were involved, hehe. Thinking about it now, it was actually pretty fun.

Yup, "驥" is an old character mostly only found in literature books and classic novels. Not many people use it anymore. "驥" has similar meaning to "良驹."

按圖索驥 (Àntúsuǒjì) - Sticks to procedure, inflexible.

                              - Locate something based on pictures.

按圖 (Àntú) - According to pictures, 索驥 (suǒjì) - Search for great horse. (Ji means horse of good breed)

During the Spring and Autumn Period, there lived a man famous for his ability to look for good horse breeds named 伯樂 (Bólè). Bólè has a son who is very dumb. One day, Bólè decided to teach his son his skills and gave a book about horses to his son. He asked his son to look for a good horse based on the pictures in the book. His son set out to look for a horse and he found it, that's what he thought initially. He brought the "horse" back and showed it to his father. When his father saw it he was surprised to see that the "horse" that his son brought home was actually a frog. His son claimed that the frog had all the characteristics of a marvelous horse just like what were stated in the book.

按圖索驥 (Àntúsuǒjì) has two meanings: one is to say that a person that only knows how to stick to rules and procedures. The other is to describe someone looking for something based on pictures.

Example:

"你每一件事都是跟著規矩去做， 「按圖索驥」是不行的， 要會變通."

I think there are more American English users is because of the exposure of all things American with entertainment being the biggest factor. We are exposed to American cultures, their way of speaking, and of course their English. It's just how we are raised, American English is more mainstream which is why most spell checkers use American English.

Welcome Samson, glad to have you on board. I hope that you will enjoy your stay. You mentioned that you're from Nairobi, I'm curious as to what languages are spoken there?

南柯一夢 (Nánkēyīmèng) - Life is but a dream.

南柯 (Nánkē) - Title of a folklore, 一夢 (yīmèng) - One dream.

淳于棼 (Chúnyú fén) was drunk one day and he tripped and fell under a tree. He got up and found that the tree has grown huge in size, later his two guards told him that they should leave now because the Emperor has summoned him. Upon meeting the Emperor, the princess fell in love with him and so the Emperor decreed their marriage. Chúnyú fén was happy and decided that he would serve the people good to repay the Emperor's kindness. Time flew and twenty years have passed, Chúnyú fén was old and has two children but his wife passed away due to sickness. He felt upset and sat in his room all day until one day the Emperor appeared and told him that it's time to return to your world. Chúnyú fén was shocked to hear that he wasn't living in the real world. He opened his eyes and saw his servant calling out to him. He then realised that he fell asleep under the tree he tripped on and what happened was all a dream.

南柯一夢 (Nánkēyīmèng) is a philosophical way of saying that our life is nothing but a dream.

Example:

"人生無常就如「南柯一夢」還是看開一點好."

What kind of professions do you believe can help you get better at a certain language. I think being a tour guide is a good profession. I have a cousin that started out ten years ago, he only knew English and Chinese back then, after a period he started leading Korean and Japanese tourists and now even though he can't write, he can understand and speak both languages albeit not perfect.

I am surprised that no one thinks language is connected to earning potential.  If you can't communicate with others, how can you even sell yourself in an interview or do business?  I think our language has more to do with our financial success than we'd like to think.

I think most of the replies were addressing the quote TC posted stating that language determines how much money you save. Language is relative to how much we earn that we know but the mind boggling part is how different languages can help us save money.

Mostly, my ability to read and speak Chinese has always been an added advantage whenever I apply for a job. Of course, the prerequisite must is proficiency in English. Coupled with qood qualifications and experiences, it's not too difficult to get hired.

I'm lucky that I never met with a job that requires me to speak foreign languages. In my country as long as I'm able to speak English and the national language, I already met the requirements in the language part. Though, knowing Chinese is always an advantage when applying for a job here.

螳螂捕蟬, 黃雀在後 (Tángláng bǔ chán, huáng què zài hòu) - Create a distraction or only cares what's in front and neglects other things.

螳螂捕蟬 (Tángláng bǔ chán) - Mantis stalking cicada, 黃雀在後 (huáng què zài hòu) - Canary at the rear.

During the end of the Spring and Autumn Era, the King of Wu only cared to celebrate its victories in battle but completely neglected that the Kingdom of Yue is still plotting against him. His son the prince came up with a story, he appeared wet in front of his father and this prompted the king to inquire about what happened to his son. The prince replied with the following story: "I was out hunting today and I saw this cicada resting on a tree branch, all of a sudden a mantis appears and ate the cicada. While the cicada was enjoying its meal, a canary was approaching the mantis from the rear. The cicada was so focused it completely missed the canary. I tried to save it by shooting the canay but I was so focused on that canary that I didn't realise that there was a pond behind me." The king laughed hearing his son's story saying that the prince only bothered on what's at front but neglected his rear. The Prince then replied, "It's true father but isn't that what we're doing right now. Kingdom of Yue is looking for the perfect time to attack us." The King replied, "What, this again? I'll not listen to such rhetorics anymore!"

The King's stubbornness has finally led to the demise of the Kingdom of Wu as the Kingdom of Yue launched its assault.

螳螂捕蟬, 黃雀在後 (Tángláng bǔ chán, huáng què zài hòu) was used to decribe about people that only cared of what's in front but neglected other things around. Now it can also be used to desribe people using something as distraction while plotting behind.

Example:

"你去前面分散他的注意力， 我在後面暗算他. 這就是「螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後」， 哈哈哈!"

Subbed forever. I don't like dubs mainly because the original dialog is usually altered when dubbing. Watching original dialog with subs is also a way to learn the language.

Yes, same here. I have forgotten most of the materials in the book as well. Regarding of "千字文", is it a novel or something? Or is it like a reference of teaching various topic? It sounds very interesting.

"千字文" is not a novel but a poem. The poem is contructed by using one thousand characters that never repeat. It's for people learning Chinese.

Anki is also available on the Android and Apple appstore if anyone wants to know but it is a paid app. I haven't try it myself, can someone that has the phone version shed some light on how good it is?

I have also read it when I was studying but after so long of not using it I've already forgotten most of it. Other than this, I've also read "千字文" which is a book made entirely without repeating a single word.

Hi welcome, linguaholic have a lot of Chinese language related infos, I'm sure you can find a lot of useful stuff here.