Daimashin

It's not entirely necessary but I think I will, just in case when the need arise. Most probably I'll need a dictionary when I'm asking for directions only since I agree that no one will wait for you to look up words. These days, Google is easily accessible so I don't think carrying a dictionary is as crucial as it used to.

囫圇吞棗 (Húlúntūnzǎo) - Skim through without understanding. Literal Meaning - Swallow dates whole. During the Yuan Dynasty there once was a doctor that liked to ask his patients to eat fruits. One day, a man with stomach cramps came to see the doctor. The doctor told the man that it was due to constipation and asked him to eat dates. The man then left in a hurry. The next day, the man came back with a toothache, the doctor asked him what happened and the man replied that although his stomach no longer cramped but because he ate too many dates, his tooth ached. The doctor said to him, "I asked you to eat dates but never asked you to overeat it. Obviously your tooth will ache when you chew so many dates!" The man then replied, "Oh, so chewing will lead to toothache, now I know what to do." The man then left again in a hurry. On the following day, the man once again returned to the doctor and this time, he had a bloated stomach. The doctor once again asked him, "What happened to you???" The man repiied, "You said that chewing dates will make my tooth ache so I swallowed them whole instead!" In the end, the doctor managed to heal the man by inducing vomit. 囫圇吞棗 (Húlúntūnzǎo) means someone that only listens to half of the story and never understands the meaning. Example: "你只會對成語, 但是不知道他的意思,這就是「囫圇吞棗」只知其一不知其二."

Back in the day, me and my classmates love multiple answer tests. We wished that every exam would be multiple answers. Generally we only have like 20 percent of such category while everything else is written and critical thinking. Multiple choice can also be challenging sometimes as it takes a good amount of understanding the artical in question to answer correctly.

From what I know, they are different in terms of a number spelling for certain words like realize/realise, honour/honor, and so on. US and UK also have different terms for the same things like hood/bonnet, trunk/boot, and etc. There are plenty of other things too but it's going to take a very long time to explain everything.

I wouldn't really say more attractive for me. I'll be more impressed with the person than feeling attracted. Impressed because he/she is smart to be able to learn multiple languages and gains more respect from me.

I knew about Google's translator, it pops up everytime I visit a site in a foreign language. I seldom use it though because I don't like to read translated things, they look like a mess. I'd rather surf blind and find my way to the page I want.

兩敗俱傷 (Liǎngbàijùshāng) - Double K.O. Literal Meaning - Both lose and hurt. During the Warring States, Kingdoms Qi and Yi were about to battle each other. Qi's advisor knew it was a bad idea as both kingdoms were equally matched. In order to persuade Qi to stop with the plan, the advisor told King Xuan (齊宣王) a story that went, "In the forest, two dogs were talking with each other about a cunning rabbit. Dog A told Dog B that Rabbit was very quick and hard to catch but Dog B said that it was the fastest hunting dog so no rabbit was too quick for him. Suddenly, Rabbit jumped out from nowhere and taunted Dog B to chase Rabbit. Rabbit was indeed very quick so Dog B had a hard time chasing it down. Both of them ran and ran and ran for days until one day both Dog B and Rabbit collapsed and died due to exhaustion." King Xuan changed his mind after listening to the advisor's story. 兩敗俱傷 (Liǎngbàijùshāng) means two equal sides fighting will eventually lead to both losing in the end. Exmaple: "你聽我勸吧，你跟他再鬥下去遲早會「兩敗俱傷」."

Every person has their pros and cons. One student might be bad at pronunciation but good at grammar while another might be the opposite so they can help improve each other. I think group learning is actually more beneficial because we can help each other like yin and yang. Each person's advantages will compliment each other.

I agree too. Know the cultural background does help in learning a language. For starters, it will allow us to know when to throw around certain words when speaking in their native tongue. Also, the language is a part of the culture so when we learn a language we are also indirectly learning their culture.

Depends on whether I was previously exposed to the language or not. Also greatly depends on your interest towards said language. If you really like the language you're learning, you will only enjoy learning it. If you don't like the language, it feels hard no matter how easy it is to learn.

狼子野心 (Lángzǐyěxīn) - Wild Ambition. Literal Meaning - Wolf Wild Heart. Once upon a time a wealthy man found to two wolf cubs and decided to keep them as pets. The wealthy man's butler warned that wolves should not be kept as pets as they belonged to the wild but the wealthy man didn't listen. After a period of the the pair of cubs grew up into adult wolves. One day, the butler told the wealthy man that their chickens had been missing. The rich man thought that it was his pair of dogs that stole them so he had them caged. Later that day, while the wealthy man was asleep the pair of wolves crept up on him wanting to eat him. His pair of dogs saw this and broke out of the cage and killed the pair of wolves. The butler arrived and saw this, he told the wealthy man, "I told you so, wolves are wild at heart." 狼子野心 (Lángzǐyěxīn) means someone that has sinister intent and bad ambitions. Example: "元帥， 劉邦此人「狼子野心」, 你絕對不能跟他議和."

I only know a few, they are "dodge the bullet," "fight an uphill battle," "open up old wounds," and "quick on the trigger."

I have always thought that beginners always start with single words first. Understand the meaning of each word before moving on to sentence structures and grammars. Isn't that the way to learn a language? I was taught this way when I studied my languages.

I think OP was asking if we've seen or heard of new technologies that can enable dumb (as in not able to talk) people to speak again. Years ago, I thought there was something that you put at the throat which enabled dumb people to speak. Perhaps, someday a device will be created that can read minds and transfer is to an audio device.

I'm not going to lie about it so the answer is yes. Sometime, I wished that I were born in a country that is native English. The reason is because I've always thought that I'm best at English but I live in a country that doesn't fully utilize my knowledge of it. I feel that it's a waste.

州官放火 (Zhōu guān fànghuǒ) - Do whatever one pleases. Literal meaning - State Magistrate sets fire. During the Sung Dynasty there once was a State Magistrate that forbade the use of the word "light" because his name had the word "light" in it. For example, when his secretary ordered to "light" up the candles, he was sentenced 300 strokes of the staff. During the Mid Autumn Festival, the State Magistrate was puzzled as why nobody lighted any lantern so he decided to release a statement that said, "In conjunction with the Mid Autumn Festival, I (the magistrate) will set fire to the city for three days." What he actually meant was to set lights to the state for three days but because he forbade the use of "light," he replaced it with "fire" instead. This caused everyone to fled city in fear because they thought that the magistrate was going to literally set the city on fire. 州官放火 (Zhōu guān fànghuǒ) is used to describe someone that abuses his/her power and do whatever he/her pleases. Example: "只許州官放火，不許百姓點燈. 自己做就可以，別人想做就不行!"

Very good explanation on the use of "however" Denis, I wanted to explain it too but you said it well. Better than what I would have explained.

I've been through and back from Textbroker after reading this topic. Did some research and it seems that it's very hard to earn there because of its strict rules. People spend hours looking for stuff to write instead of writing them. Besides this, some of the instructions are too vague so a lot of them get rejected. I guess you need to be really good at generating facts to earn good money there.

Nope, I never felt embarrassed for not knowing a language. It's not my language so it's only natural I don't understand it just like many other people don't understand my language. There is slight awkwardness but never to the point of being embarrassed.

Yes you can if you set your heart into it. It might be a little harder but if you can give it enough effort, you can do it. I agree it's the attitude towards learning that ultimately influences your success. Don't give up easily and keep trying and anything can be done.

畫龍點睛 (Huà lóng diǎn jíng) - Make things even better. Literal meaning - draw dragon with eyes. Once upon a time there lived a famous artist. One day the artist was summoned by the emperor to draw a picture of a dragon. The artist initially refused citing that bad things can happen but eventually agreed after the emperor threatened to have him executed. Soon the painting was done, but the emperor was furious because the dragon did not have irises. The artist said that dragons can't be painted with irises because the dragons would come alive. The emperor laughed hearing it and insisted that the artist drew the irises. The dragon in the painting indeed came alive and flew away after the artist included the irises in the painting. 畫龍點晴 (Huà lóng diǎn qíng) means to add something to an already great thing to make it perfect. Example: "你這套西裝加上我這個領帶，簡直是「畫龍點睛」完美組合!"

Nope, not anymore. I used to be the deputy president of the Chinese Language society back at high school and that was it. After leaving education I've never joined any language club. I guess I just don't have the time for other things right now.

Nope, I'm not as accustomed to writing in my native language than writing in English. This is because almost every material that I come in contact with is either written or spoken in English. From where I live, I rarely get to write in Chinese which is my native.

Sounds like a good idea. I've seen a couple of topics that post on learning language materials but they get mixed in with others making it hard to keep track sometimes. Having a section that compiles them all is great. I support this and hope the mods will take this into consideration.

鷸蚌相爭 (Yù bàng xiāng zhēng) - Two parties fight only benefits the third. Literal meaning - A snipe fights with a clam. Once upon a time the Kingdom of Zhao had a misunderstanding with the Kingdom of Yan. Both kingdoms were ready to go to war, the adviser of Zhao heard about this and decided to persuade the King of Zhao to cancel the plan. The adviser told the King a story about how one day a snipe was hungry and went looking for food and found a clam. The snipe tried to eat the clam but the clam fought back, after hours of struggling both of them fell. During this time, a fisherman passed by and saw the two of them lying on the beach. In the end, the fisherman ate both the snipe and the clam. After hearing the story, the King of Zhao realized that it was a mistake because his battle with Yan might allow the Kingdom of Qin the opportunity to conquer them both so the King of Zhao cancelled his plan for war. 鷸蚌相爭，漁人得利 (Yù bàng xiāng zhēng, yú rén dé lì) means then two sides fighting each other will only benefit the third party. Example: "你又何必跟他爭的士呢，搞到「鷸蚌相爭」 給第三者先上到車."