Daimashin

I think that having a dictionary with you is a good thing, especially if it is a pocket size one. I mean, you may not have a phone to research what you need to know or something could go wrong with the one you have. A dictionary would be much better than having to ask someone to translate all the time.

Only if it not one of those huge and heavy ones. I wouldn't want to carry something so inconvenient everywhere I go.  I think there are smaller versions that don't have as many words, I'll most probably use those if I really need to.

無節目，單身寡仔一名. 多數會在屋企看電視打機.

杞人憂天 (Qǐrényōutiān) - Extreme paranoia

Literal meaning - Qǐrén worries sky.

A long time ago there lived a man named "杞人"(Qǐrén). Qǐrén is always worried that the sky will fall. His friend asked him why and Qǐrén said that it was because the sky had no support whatsoever. His friends told him that the sky is air, therefore did not require any support. This scared Qǐrén even more as he was now afraid that the stars and the moon will fall. He fainted so his friends brought him home, at night he died from shock because he saw a shooting star and thought that the stars were falling down.

杞人憂天 (Qǐrényōutiān) is used to describe someone with extreme and unfounded paranoia.

Example:

"好好的，怎麼會突然間得到癌症呢？你不要「杞人憂天」了."

That sounds weird. But if you say so...I should give it a try before calling it weird though. I usually just cram information. I know I have a photographic pictorial mind, so once I see it I will remember it. That's just me.

It's not that odd when you think about it actually. Chewing gum puts me in a cheerful mood. It also keeps my mind relaxed and keeps me focused on the subject matter. Most of the time when I read something, my brain itches to do something else and chewing gums do the trick.

I don't know of any language that sounds "sexy" but I've always thought that Korean sounds "porny." Maybe it's the way I hear it and the fact that I don't understand the language made it sound as though Koreans are flirting all the time.

I think it's always better to start out young but only if the children is interested. Children's brains are still developing and this is a good time for them to absorb knowledge. The older we get, the harder it is for us to learn anything.

前倨後恭 (Qián jù hòu gōng) - Treat people based on status.

Literal Meaning - Before bad after good.

During the end of the Warring States, there lived a man called "蘇秦"(Sūqín). He was a poor man and was looked down upon by everyone including his family. Even the pet dog got better treatment, the reason was because Sūqín was poor and useless according to them. Sūqín swore that he will one day be rich and powerful, he studied hard and finally the King of Zhao noticed him and appointed him the Prime Minister of Zhao. He returned home years later, this time he was greeted with respect and honor by his family and friends.

前倨後恭 (Qián jù hòu gōng) is used to describe people that treats people according to their stature.

Example:

"見高就拜，見低就踩 「前倨後恭」真現實!"

People have different methods that help them to remember words and meanings when learning a language. When I was studying Chinese, I used to chew gums when memorising. The rhythm of chewing actually helped me to remember the words better. Is there a habit that you do when studying that can help you learn better?

It seems to me that we are all saying that you are more poetic when we are younger? We're saying that since we grew up, life has simply become more busy and we find more time for pleasures such as watching the television?

Or it could also be that when we're young we are more energetic and have more enthusiasm towards poetry. As we got older, we no longer have as much dedication to poetry because we're more concerned of things that are relevant to our lives. As a result, we lose the passion and fire we once had for poetry.

I don't think it's an antithesis. 'Propose' and 'dispose' aren't antonyms. 'Propose' in this case means to put forward an idea or a plan, while 'dispose' is to decide what happens. Doing some further reading, this proverb is actually a translation from "The Imitation of Christ", and puts forth the notion that God ultimately decides a man's success or failure no matter what. As such, I would say my answer is a) hypothesis.

Seems like TC posed a very good question here. I think the answer is open for debates. I did more digging but couldn't find anything substantial. I hope that the TC will be able to come back with an answer for his question.

洛陽紙貴 (Luòyángzhǐguì) - Great literature.

Literal Meaning - Luo Yang Paper Expensive.

During the Western Jin era, there lived a scholar named "左思"(Zuǒsī). Zuǒsī spent a decade and wrote a book called "三都賦"(Sān dōu fù). The book was very popular so everyone wanted one but the supply of the book wasn't enough. Photocopy technology hasn't been invented yet so people relied on handcopying. This resulted in overdemand of papers in the city of "洛陽"(Luòyáng), prompting the vendors to raise the price of papers. It was because of Zuǒsī's great writings that the papers in Luòyáng became overpriced.

洛陽紙貴 (Luòyángzhǐguì) is used to praise someone for having great literary knowledge.

Example:

"Hunger Games 電影熱潮令到他的小說都大賣, 一時「洛陽紙貴」."

I'm thinking antithesis too since anti implies of opposing idea. I can be wrong though, I'm only answeing this with my limited knowledge on English. You may need more input on this to be sure but I'm fairly sure is antithesis.

Yes, to a certain extent. Loving to read does help to improve ones language. Reading is great for expanding ones vocabulary. Also, people are known to excel in the things they love so when one loves to read, naturally they'll be good at the language.

As irrelevant as poetry may seem to people nowadays, we can't deny that it's still used. It's still a part of the heritage that we must preserve. Not many people are into poetry anymore and that concerns me, I'm afraid that it will soon become a lost art.

乘風破浪 (Chéngfēngpòlàng) - Great Motivations.

Literal Meaning - Ride the wind split the wave.

Once upon a time there was a young man called 宗愨 (Zōng què). He was well trained from the young by his uncle in the form of martial arts. He was also taught that a man must have great ambitions. One day, while his family was asleep, a group of bandits tried to rob them. Zōng què single-handedly defeated the bandits and succeeded in sending them fleeing. His uncle was very impressed with Zōng què's bravery and asked his nephew, "What is your ambition, son?" Zōng què answered that he wanted to, "Ride the wind, and split the waves of the sea!"

乘風破浪 (Chéngfēngpòlàng) is a metaphor saying one has great perseverance and ambitions.

Example:

"這一次考試這麼難，他都能拿到好成績. 真是有「乘風破浪」的毅力!"

I love memes, it's such a great way to express something when words just don't cut it. Some are done so well that it's become some form of internet art. Not helped by the fact that most of them are so funny. This is one thing I don't mind spawned from internet.

For me, I can not separate myself from the words "actually" and "man." I always say these two words when I'm talking to people like "Actually this or actually that" with "man" at every sentence. My female friends get annoyed sometimes because I call them "man" haha.

I know three languages too so I guess I'm trilingual. Two languages are compulsory subjects at school so I had to study them since small. While the third one I took it from my own interest in the language.

東施效顰 (Dōngshīxiàopín) - Copycat

Literal meaning - Dong Shi Mimics Frown(顰).

During the Warring States there lived a beauty named Xi Shi and an ugly named Dong Shi. People will often run away whenever they saw Dong Shi because she was ugly. One day while Dong Shi was walking on the street, she saw a huge crowd gathering. It turned out that everyone was looking at Xi Shi. Xi Shi was not feeling well so she frowned but that wasn't the reason people were looking. Dong Shi thought that people were attracted to the way Xi Shi frowned so Dong Shi decided to copy Xi Shi. Dong Shi started to frown all day and that startled everyone causing them to ran away in fear.

東施效顰 (Dōngshīxiàopín) means nothing more than a copycat.

Example:

"Flappy Bird 那麼有名，我也要「東施效顰」有樣學樣，設計一個遊戲."

I took a look and it's very plain for now. Wanted to join but I don't know where to post my stuff.

Get more exposure to everything Japanese. Learn and study their culture too and you'll know how Japanese speak Japanese. Sometimes, the Japanese you learned may not be how native speakers use it. Also, if you can find someone that knows Japanese to help you practise.

走馬看花 (Zǒumǎkànhuā) - Treat something carelessly.

Literal Meaning - Walking horse look at flower.

A long, long time ago there lived a young a man who was tall, dark, and handsome but he had an imperfection, he was a limp. One day, he went to a dating agency hoping to look for a wife. The young man's criteria was a perfect girl. The employee claimed that he had found one for the young man. The young man worried that the girl will refuse if she saw that he was a limp so the employee came up with an idea to mask that. The next day, the employee brought the young man who rode on a horse to meet the girl. The girl held a rose up, the young man say that the girl was indeed very beautiful so he asked the employee to set up the wedding immediately. During the night of the wedding, it was revealed that the girl actually had a distorted nose which was covered up by the rose she held. Both the young man and the girl complained that they lied to each other in the end.

走馬看花 (Zǒumǎkànhuā) is used to describe someone carelessly jumps into conclusion without further discovery.

Example:

"你沒有檢查清楚就買了這部車，你看有缺憾. 你這樣「走馬看花」草草了事怎麼行呢?"

I agree that it's best to go to that country to study the language but it's not crucial. What I'll probably do is go to that country once I've learned the language to really test my command of the language. Learning is one thing but actually using it in front of native speakers is another.

Maybe you can look for clubs or societies in your specific language. Joining clubs is always a good way to find people that share the same interest as you. Joining language clubs will most definitely net you many same native speakers.

What makes learning a new language fun for me is knowing about the possibilities of knowing one language that will open to me. Knowing the language means I can learn more about their culture and literature. I enjoy studying about these things so knowing the language makes it more accurate.