Is it an idiom?

Idioms are usually four-character phrases that tell a special meaning. Because most idioms either come from folk stories or legend stories, people are familiar them. These days, however, a lot of seemingly weird “idioms” spring up from the Internet.

When we first heard phrases like喜大普奔, we can’t even guess its meaning it until we see the explanations. For example, 不明觉厉 (bù mǐng juě lì) is made up by the first characters of four Chinese idioms, which is 喜闻乐见 (xǐ wěn lè jiàn), 大快人心 (dà kuài rén xīn), 普天同庆(pǔ tiān tǒng qìng), 奔走相告(bēn zǒu xiāng gào). So, the meaning of this weird idiom喜大普奔 is actually a combination of the four idioms: the news is so exhilarating that everyone is celebrating and spreading it to the rest of the world. We can use this popular “idiom” in the following example: “告诉你一个喜大普奔的消息吧, 期末考试取消了！”, which means “Here is news for celebration: The final examination is canceled!”

So much so, this is not a word that you Chinese tutor will choose to teach you in class, because this is an Internet word, which many people think that it should only be used for fun instead of in formal occasions. To those of you who are reading this post, maybe you may regard this as a way to have fun. Maybe we can also understand a thing from this language phenomenon that: language is always changing as culture changes and that we should keep up with times.

Color Green in Chinese Culture

In Chinese learning, color learning is an important part. In Chinese culture, colors have deeper meanings under the visible appearance. The meaning of different colors. For example, you are not supposed to present a green hat as a gift to your Chinese friends. Why? Let’s learn colors in Chinese culture.

The color green is a very special color in Chinese learning. In English, green means new, young or freshman. In Chinese, there is a saying called “wear a green hat”. If  “他被带了绿帽子” or he is wearing a green hat, it means he was betrayed by his wife or girlfriend.

Why is this saying? It comes from a story.

The story says: Long time ago, the husband often went on business trip, leaving his wife at home. She was so lonely and empty that she dated her neighbor and unluckily they were caught being together when the husband returned. The husband forgave them, but they were still in contact. One day, they came up a plan: The wife will let the husband wear a green hat to fight cold, and when the husband went out, her lover would come and date her. Thus, wearing a green hat means someone is betrayed by his wife or girl friend.

Are you interested in this story? 

The color green has other meanings. In China, 绿色食品 or Green Food means food which causes no damage to the environment. Besides the color green, there are a lot of colors that have very different meanings from the ones in English.

Learn Chinese everywhere

Many people across the world are beginning to learn Chinese mandarin, even kids in America has begun to learn pinyin at their kindergartens. Take America as an example, from kindergartens to a high school, there is a rapid rise in interesting among American pupils to study Chinese language.

There are many reasons why learning Chinese has become so popular, especially nowadays. First, Chinese has long history full of legends, which attracts many who want to know about its history and culture, thus learning the language. Second, Chinese is spoken by the largest population in the world. Third, China’s international influence has been raised a lot nowadays. Furthermore, the rapid economic development is still undergoing since long time ago and mastering a foreign language means more opportunities in the career.

More and more foreigners' learning Chinese reflects the economic development in China. On the other hand, over two hundred Confucius institutes have been set up in 69 countries. On TV we can see many foreigners take part in Chinese class online. The number of foreign students who are attracted by the mysterious and charming language and come to china learning Chinese also increases steadily every year.

Advice for Learning Chinese Online

Many people choose to learn Chinese because Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world aside from English. And also many students find it’s hard to find a native Chinese tutor, so they choose to learn Chinese online. Today, I will give you some advice.

1.      The first, also the most effective way to learn Chinese online is to get a tutor: If you went the self-study route, then tutor who can help you learn Chinese online is a must. There is a source--Skype, there will most likely be a charge unless you bargain to teach English, to learn Mandarin online with a native tutor will make you Chinese learning much easier.

2.      Second, one cannot become proficient in any language without taking the time to learn it. Use flash cards, audio, tutors and so on. Learning some basic Chinese phrases online is quite important. Exposure to these phrases, even if you've only learned vocabulary, will help you understand sentence structure. Websites such as ichineselearning.com have lists of basic and common Chinese phrases.

3.  Third, choose a great program. There are a multitude of online programs ranging in price from free to $500. You have to decide which program is best. Of the many online resources, hskcourse.com is maintained by a team of professional Chinese teachers with years of experience in teaching Chinese as a foreign Language. 

This site uses a progressive approach to help you learn hsk grammar, with each session built on the previous one. Every grammar point is introduced with easy-to-understand explanations and typical examples. 

If you are a serious learner who wants to learn HSK grammar the easy way and to speak Chinese efficiently, this for you!