You are here: Home > 2012 > January

Archive | January, 2012

7 Chinese Idioms for the Year of the Dragon

By on January 9, 2012 in Essential Chengyu

2012 is the Year of the Dragon. Do you know what the dragon symbolizes for Chinese people? The dragon has been a sacred creature since ancient times. It is the king of beasts and represents strength, wisdom, rule, and unlimited potential. Chinese people still consider themselves descendants of the dragon. How about 7 commonly used [...]

Read full story • Comments { 3 }

Chinese Slang: The Ba Series for Tests, Interviews, and Karaoke

By on January 6, 2012 in Advanced Chinese Slang

We all love people who are 厉害 (lì hai – awesome). China also has a long history of monarchic rulers. And so, some Chinese slang combines the two — along with three activities that take up a lot of time for young people: test-taking, interviewing, and karaoke.  1) 考霸 (kǎo bà): Test Master 考霸 (kǎo bà) refers [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Chinese idiom for “strong start, weak finish”

By on January 4, 2012 in Essential Chengyu

Are you off to a strong start for 2012? Then don’t forget to keep pushing for a strong finish. Because otherwise you’d just end up with 虎头蛇尾 (hǔ tóu shé wěi). 虎头蛇尾 (hǔ tóu shé wěi) literally means a “tiger head” and “snake tail,” and means that you start off strong, but finish weak.  A breakdown [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }

Our best posts of 2011

By on January 1, 2012 in FluentU, Recommended Reading

A collection of our best posts from 2011, according to you (and me too): 10. Business Chinese vocab word list: Job titles and positions Perhaps not our most creative post, but many of you found this “super useful.” We’ll have more word lists coming! 9. Essential Chengyu: Warren Buffett’s favorite OK, I never actually got to [...]

Read full story • Comments { 0 }