8 Chengyus To Inspire You For The New Year

Have you ever had a traumatic experience that left you scarred and scared to try the same thing again? For me, it was math. If I trace carefully, the root of my fear of math goes back to second grade in China when I overheard my math teacher making a condescending comment about my math test performance.

For you, maybe you met someone who really discouraged you from learning Chinese Mandarin. Even though I am not making much progress regarding my fear of math, I hope I can ignite your interest in learning Chinese Mandarin. Allow me to present you with a list of eight chengyus that each begin with 一 (yī, one) and will accompany you through the ups and downs of your Chinese Mandarin journey, inspiring you to create an exciting 2017. You can also read more on 一 (yī, one) here.

My fear of math is something that can be summarized in the chengyu 一年被蛇咬，十年怕井绳. This chengyu reads, “once bitten by a snake, one is scared of a coiled rope for the next ten years”. The English equivalent is “once bitten, twice shy”.

Isn’t it funny how negative events seem to have a stronger impact than positive events? You only need to be bitten by a snake once, and you will be scarred for ten years. For me, my fear of math lasted more than 15 years. However, the fact that you are reading this article means you are ready to uplift that curse. You never know, your attempt to undo the impact might be 一箭双雕.

一箭双雕 literally means, “one arrow two hawks”. You achieve two results by doing one thing. By giving Chinese Mandarin another try, you might be able to cast away your fear and open up endless possibilities.

Although rushing is never good, it is still important to keep in mind that time is valuable.

一寸光阴一寸金 means, "an inch of time, an inch of gold". This is completed by the second line which says "an inch of gold can't buy an inch of time”. All together this saying is telling us that time is valuable and money can't buy time. As the end of the year quickly approaches, make sure you do allocate quality time with your family, friends and loved ones.

Examples:

As social media quickly becomes part of our lives, to stay connected and up to date with the world, our attention gets scattered all over the place. So when you are doing something, it becomes ever more important that you are doing it wholeheartedly.

On a serious note, here is a goal suggestion if you need one for your New Year’s Resolutions.

Awesome! I love your goal. When you begin your Mandarin journey, I hope everything goes smoothly. This next chengyu is often used for an actual journey. When someone goes on a trip, we wish them a safe trip by saying 一帆顺风 (Have a good/safe trip; smooth sailing).

Now, a smooth sailing might be too boring, right? We are encouraged to ride the waves sometimes, to know the value of happiness. Similar to your Mandarin journey, you will run into complicated characters or concepts. Before you have mastered the first difficult concept, the next difficult concept is already on its way. 真是一波未平，一波又起！

This chengyu means you haven’t resolved one problem, yet another problem is on the horizon already. Fear not, the good thing is that we will have teachers or partners to keep us company!

One great feature about italki is its vast selection of teachers; you are bound to find a teacher that will make you feel like both of you already knows each other! Some teachers will really click with you, and they will make your learning journey a thousand times better!

With a joyful journey, I hope you will fall in love with Chinese Mandarin, so much so that you feel like 一日不见，如隔三秋 when you part with your Chinese Mandarin notebook after a study session!

I hope these eight chengyus will provide inspiration for you throughout 2017. All of these eight chengyus begin with the character 一 (yī, one). It is a reminder that “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. Funnily enough, I accidently counted seven chengyus when there was already eight of them. See why I said my fear of math is going nowhere?

Your turn!

See if you can spot all eight chengyus in the paragraph below.

你是否也有过 “一年被蛇咬，十年怕井绳” 的经验呢？ 不管那件事故有多严重，趁着新年的到来，给自己一个新的回忆吧。说不定还会有一箭双雕的收获，一让你克服你的痛苦的回忆，二让你迈入一个新的世界。正所谓一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴，想要学习中文的伙伴不要拖太久哦。从今天起写 “一心一意学中文” 的目标吧。学习语言和去旅行一样。旅程有时会是一帆风顺，轻松学习基础概念和单词，但时常会有一种一波未平一波又起的挫折感。这个时候有老师的帮助是非常关键的。italki上有很多的老师，你会找到一个让你觉得一见如故的老师！这时候你的学习旅程就会更加愉快！当你再次翻开你的笔记本时，你会有一日不见，如隔三秋的感觉！加油！

Nĭ shì fŏu yĕ yŏu guò “ yī nián bèi shé yăo, shí nián pà jĭng shéng” de jīngyàn ne? Bù guăn nà jiàn shì gù yŏu duō yánzhòng, chèn zhe xīnnián de dào lái, gĕi zìjĭ yī gè xīn de huíyì ba. Shuōbudìng hái huì yŏu yī jiàn shuāng diāo de shōu huò, yī ràng nĭ kè fú nĭ de tòng kŭ de huíyì, èr ràng nĭ mài rù yī gè xīn de shì jiè. Zhèng suŏwèi yī cùn guāngyīn yī cùn jīn, cùn jīn nán măi cùn guāngyīn, xiăng yào xuéxí zhōngwén de huŏ bàn bù yào tuō tài jiŭ é. Cóng jīntiān qĭ xiĕ “yī xīn yī yì xué zhōngwén” de mùbiāo ba. Xuéxí yŭyán hé qù lǚxíng yīyàng. Lǚchéng yŏu shí huì shì yī fān fēng shùn, qīngsōng xuéxí jīchŭ gài niàn hé dāncí, dànshí cháng huì yŏu yī zhŏng yī bō wèi píng yī bō yòu qĭ de cuò zhé găn. Zhège shíhou yŏu lăoshī de bāngzhù shì fēicháng guānjiàn de. italki shàng yŏu hĕn duō de lăoshī, nĭ huì zhăodào yī gè ràng nĭ juéde yī jiàn rú gù de lăoshī! Zhè shíhou nĭ de xuéxí lǚchéng jiù huì gèng jiā yúkuài! Dāng nĭ zài cì fānkāi nĭ de bĭjìbĕn shí, nĭ huì yŏu yī rì bù jiàn, rú gé sān qiū de gănjué! Jiāyóu!

Have you ever had a traumatic experience that left you scarred? It doesn’t matter whether the impact is small or big, now is a great time to create a new memory as the New Year is approaching. You might end up killing two birds with one stone by trying to create a new memory. One, you might overcome a painful memory, and two you might open up endless possibilities.

As the saying goes, “An inch of time, an inch of gold, an inch of gold can't buy an inch of time”. If you are interested in learning Chinese Mandarin, now is the perfect time to start your goal of "learning Mandarin wholeheartedly”. Learning a language is like going on a trip. Sometimes the trip will be very smooth, just like learning the basic concepts and vocabulary with ease.

Occasionally, however, we do run into waves and waves of problems. At that point, a teacher will be incredibly helpful. italki has a great selection of teachers, and you are bound to find one who really clicks with you as if you have already met before. Your teachers will help you create an even more joyful journey. I hope that you will fall in love with Mandarin so much that it feels like you have parted for years the next day you pick up your Mandarin notebook. Jiayou 加油!

Hero image by Alyn (CC0 1.0)