Chinese idioms?

[bopbopbop]

According to my Chinese friends who did 3/4 SL last year, it's beneficial to know lots of Chinese idioms that you can implement in your writing and speaking etc. Does anyone have a list of some good idioms to know?

[drake]

机会垂青于有准备的人
有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？
众所周知
不胜枚举
丰富多彩／多姿多彩
美中不足
显而易见
亲密无间
三思而行
养家糊口
ｅｔｃ。

[zhe0001]

According to my Chinese friends who did 3/4 SL last year, it's beneficial to know lots of Chinese idioms that you can implement in your writing and speaking etc. Does anyone have a list of some good idioms to know?

I kind of have a list - but not really tailored for essay writing. However this will really help for translation.

爱不释手                   ài bù shì shǒu           Be so fond of something that one will not let it go.
望子成龙                   wàng zǐ chéng lóng　hold high hopes for one’s child
望女成凤
笨鸟先飞                   bèn niǎo xiān fēi       A slow sparrow should make an early start.
车水马龙                   chē shuǐ mǎ lóng　   A continuous stream of horses and carriages. – heavy traffic, bustling
马到成功                   mǎ dào chéng gōng　achieve immediate victory; win instant success
人山人海                   rén shān rén hǎi　    huge crowds of people; a sea of people; a large crowd
见百闻不如一见          bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn  Seeing is believing.
一寸光阴一寸金，寸金难买寸光阴                  An inch of time is an inch of gold ,but an inch of gold will not buy an inch of time
天下无难事，只怕有心人                              These is nothing difficult under the sun if only one has determination.
百闻不如一见                                             Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times .
一年之计在于春                                         What’s done in spring determines the year”
一心不能二用                                            One cannot do two things at once .
远亲不如近邻                                             Close neighbours are better than distant relatives.
家和万事兴                                                All goes well in a harmonious home.
人不可貌相                                                A man can’t be judged by appearance.

[Celeste98]

Hi may I ask did any of you brought a 成语字典 to bring to exam? If so, which one please? Thank you, thank you:)

[drake]

hey, i didn't bring one into the exam because on the front page of the VCAA exams i think it says you are only allowed to bring 2 dictionaries in... so i brought 1 english to chinese dictionary and 1 chinese to english dictionary!

[Celeste98]

hey, i didn't bring one into the exam because on the front page of the VCAA exams i think it says you are only allowed to bring 2 dictionaries in... so i brought 1 english to chinese dictionary and 1 chinese to english dictionary!

Thank you so much for sharing this Drake, really appreciate, all the best to you in Uni!

[99.96 pls]

hey, i didn't bring one into the exam because on the front page of the VCAA exams i think it says you are only allowed to bring 2 dictionaries in... so i brought 1 english to chinese dictionary and 1 chinese to english dictionary!

Where do you get those!? I only have a Chinese-Chinese 1981 dictionary...

[drake]

the chinese-to-english one i borrowed from school... but there is a shop in the city called china book (i think it's called that) that has SO MANY different dictionaries!! http://www.chinabooks.com.au/contact.cfm it has so many different chinese books there too that will help you with translation, listening, reading and responding etc... i only ended up going there right before the exam... so don't know how good the books are though... but there are HEAPS of dictionaries to choose from!

[Orb]

Where do you get those!? I only have a Chinese-Chinese 1981 dictionary...

Trust you willow tree.

[2NE1]

A Dictionary I really recommend is this one http://online.wsj.com/media/cdictionary_DV_20100824035352.jpg
It has both English-Chinese and Chinese-English and most of the common idioms which saved my life in my Chinese 3/4 exam.

Here are some appropriate Chinese Phrases to use when you are writing persuasive/discussion or informative essays.
利弊参半，利弊兼具，权衡利弊 all mean there are advantages and disadvantages 
议论纷纷，争论不休，各执一词，各持己见 ，众说纷纭
丰富多彩
Whenever you are persuading a point you can say
。。。明智之举
eg. when persuading that reading more books is good, you can conclude with
多读书是明智之举。

Hope this helped

[99.96 pls]

A Dictionary I really recommend is this one http://online.wsj.com/media/cdictionary_DV_20100824035352.jpg
It has both English-Chinese and Chinese-English and most of the common idioms which saved my life in my Chinese 3/4 exam.

Here are some appropriate Chinese Phrases to use when you are writing persuasive/discussion or informative essays.
利弊参半，利弊兼具，权衡利弊 all mean there are advantages and disadvantages 
议论纷纷，争论不休，各执一词，各持己见 ，众说纷纭
丰富多彩
Whenever you are persuading a point you can say
。。。明智之举
eg. when persuading that reading more books is good, you can conclude with
多读书是明智之举。

Hope this helped

Thanks for the recommendation! I'd prefer two thinner dictionaries over one big dictionary, I suppose, since it would probably be harder to navigate through a large tome in an exam. Regardless, I'll look into it because it could prove very useful.

Trust you willow tree.

Trust you to stalk my posts, Robin.

the chinese-to-english one i borrowed from school... but there is a shop in the city called china book (i think it's called that) that has SO MANY different dictionaries!! http://www.chinabooks.com.au/contact.cfm it has so many different chinese books there too that will help you with translation, listening, reading and responding etc... i only ended up going there right before the exam... so don't know how good the books are though... but there are HEAPS of dictionaries to choose from!

Did you buy any of the Chinese books there or did you just buy your dictionary?

[zhen]

Where do you get those!? I only have a Chinese-Chinese 1981 dictionary...

You can get them at Springvale Shopping Centre.