How do you study Chinese idioms?

[grawrt]

I feel like I've been learning idioms for a long time but it never sticks. I understand the meanings and recently it's like I know which idioms I want to use but I half remember them, so of course there's no point using it if you can't say the complete idiom. I was just curious how everyone incorporates idioms into their daily life, or how you guys actually manage to remember them?

[Johnny20270]

My gf says that she she finds is somewhat silly when she hears people speaking idioms incorrectly, to her and others the speaker sounds a touch dumb / or perhaps bit of a show off 

 

I guess its a bit like when speaking English when you hear someone using a difficult adjective and it sounds totally out of context. 

 

My Chinese is not at the stage whereby I would know how to use an idiom correctly

[Demonic_Duck]

I somewhat agree with Johnny20270's girlfriend. If you try too hard to incorporate vocabulary above your level and end up using it wrong, you can end up sounding pretentious and not very smart. I think that's more the case for native speakers, though - as a non-native you'll never get everything 100% right, and making mistakes is part of the learning process anyway. People will tend to be forgiving as long as they understand what you mean.

 

Also, you'll always have a wider receptive than productive vocabulary, and idioms are of course no exception. Try and pick up on those idioms that you hear the most often, as they're probably the ones that will turn out to be the most useful. Drill them a few times until they feel natural and roll off the tongue - think of them as one inseparable chunk, rather than the sum of their parts. Then, try to find relevant conversational opportunities in which to use them.

[Johnny20270]

actually, yes her opinion originates from hearing Chinese businessmen talking like that and colleagues, never a 外国人 I think we get a much wider birth for mistakes and just ends up receiving an affectionate giggle when it sounds wrong

 

Now  that I think about it more, DD makes a good point! I have actually used a few idioms where they just seem natural, didn't even think about it.

 

1st: 人各有志 when my teacher asked me in a coffee shop as to why I come to china to learn Chinese in my 40's  She seem perplexed by my decision 

2nd: 眼不见心不烦 when I talked to someone about her a private matter

3rd: 

 

Interestingly both times they just popped into my head and whats more I never review them in ANKI. They are always 'suspended'. I suppose for me the lesson is, unless its personally meaningful I'd avoid it, such as 饭后百步走活到就是九十九.... well not a idiom, more of a 俗话 I guess. Those type sound a bit preachy....

[889]

You'll learn maybe a dozen or so expressions and then won't be able to resist the temptation to show off by using them, whether they're wholly appropriate to the mood or not. Most likely it'll be not, and you'll look silly. So many aspects of learning Chinese, and I'd put learning to use idiomatic expressions way down the list of importance.

[Qiaonansen]

I just started a new Chinese idiom series on my website. I'm not sure if it will be any help for you but you can give it a try. If you join the newsletter on the site you will get updates every time I post a new Chinese idiom video. Here's the link to the latest video:

 

http://learnchinesecafe.com/车水马龙-che-shui-ma-long/

[grawrt]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I know that using an idiom incorrectly is bad, which is why I only use it if I'm entirely comfortable with it and can remember but it's very rare. I'll try drilling the most common that I hear to see if that well help me in incorporating idioms in speech. Of course it wont be the most important thing on my studies but I've been taking a class this semester on idioms and I kind of would like to keep up the studies on it.

 

@qiaonansen~ are the videos uploaded via youtube? I'm still on the mainland so can't view the video. I'll be back home soon so I'll take a look later.

[Qiaonansen]

@grawrt ~ you don't use ExpressVPN? I live in Taiyuan, China, and using ExpressVPN I watch Netflix, post to Youtube, watch videos on Youtube, use Facebook, gmail, etc.

 

Here's the link: 

 

https://www.expressvpn.xyz?referrer_id=8853487&utm_campaign=referrals&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=referral_dashboard

 

You may have to first find a free (slow) VPN service to access this link. But once you have ExpressVPN, it's like surfing in the states.

[Johnny20270]

@grawrt ~ you don't use ExpressVPN? I live in Taiyuan, China, and using ExpressVPN I watch Netflix, post to Youtube, watch videos on Youtube, use Facebook, gmail, etc.

 

 

 

ExpressVPN is too expensive in my view and wasn't that fast when I had it

 

I use Red Apricot 110Kuai per year. It only has a Chrome extension and works almost all the time (can go down for a hour or two every month). Its not fast enough to stream HD in real time from You tube but is anywhere in China? but doesn't take that long to load videos. Also ExpressVPN only allows  1 computer and 1 handheld device

 

REd Apricot is not available for mobile device so limited in that aspect with but 110K v 620K for ExpressVPN there is a saving to be considered

[grawrt]

I didn't bother with a VPN because my internet connection here is already weak and very slow, I think a VPN would make that even slower. Besides, for the most part I was okay with staying away from youtube and stuff. Although some things have been a bit of a pain, alas i'll be back home in a few weeks so no point getting one. I might consider it if I come back next year.

[skylee]

Not sure if "idioms" include 成語. One way to learn 成語 is to read 史記, or stories from 史記. It is where many 成語 comes from.