Meaning of the idiom 好好学 - Hǎo hào xué (?)

[Fish 小鱼]

I think this counts as an idiom? Phrase? Something?

Anyway, a Chinese friend once said "好好学" (hao hao xue, literally 'good good study!') to me, as an encouragement to keep on with my studies. Some people have said yes, this is a common phrase of encouragement, but others have said they have never heard of it, or they don't understand what I'm trying to say.

 

Has anyone heard of this phrase, and if I were to use it in daily writing/informal use, would I look like an idiot if it isn't very commonly known?

 

Thanks for any input!

[lling]

好好学 - Hǎo hào xué - So studious

好好学.. - Hǎo hǎo xué - Learn .... well ( Yeah it's also a common phrase of encouragement)

好好学 ( Hǎo hǎo xué ) 习，天天向上 - Good good study, day day up ( Chinglish )

[Demonic_Duck]

@lling: Shouldn't the second one there be [hǎohāo xué]?

 

Edit: Also, to clarify for the OP, the word boundaries are as follows:

 

• 好｜好学
  [hǎo | hàoxué]
  Very | studious
  ——————————————
• 好好｜学
  [hǎohāo | xué]
  Diligently | study
  ——————————————
• 好好｜学习，天天｜向上
  [hǎohǎo | xuéxí, tiāntiān | xiàngshàng]
  Diligently | study, every day | upwards (figuratively "improve").

 

Only the last one of these really counts as a set, idiomatic phrase. The other two aren't idiomatic.

 

Finally, if you're saying 好好学 and being misunderstood, it's very likely a pronunciation problem. Many people have trouble with the [x] sound in 学, making it sound more like [shui] than [xue]. Combined with tonal problems and lack of context, this can make it difficult to be understood.

 

I suggest posting a recording of yourself on a site such as vocaroo, so that we can see if that's the case.

[Yorin]

The phrase 好好学习，天天向上 (a non Chinglish translation would be "study diligently, improve every day") was coined by Mao if i remember correctly. You'll find the slogan written on many walls in class rooms throughout China.

 

There's nothing special about the construction "好好 <verb>" in this sentence by the way. 好好 is an adverb like any other, you can say 好好工作 (work diligently) and so forth...

[Fish 小鱼]

Checked back so late here... thanks very much guys! ^_^

[Leah. X.]

FYI, “好好” means "to try hard/do well"

好好学 means "study hard"

好好吃 means "eat with good table manner" or "enjoy the meal"

好好玩 means "have (great) fun"

好好做 means "do well"