Class of 2015!

[vobinhood]

Hello fellow Chinese students. Our teacher has chosen "face' as our detailed study topic.

erm.... ahaha

[brightsky]

Hello fellow Chinese students. Our teacher has chosen "face' as our detailed study topic.

That's actually quite an interesting topic, although quite a difficult one: http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9D%A2%E5%AD%90. Chinese people are all about 'fighting for face', and collectively dread 'losing face'.

[lisax3]

Could anyone please list some idioms that they use or idioms that are easy to embed and remember?

[vobinhood]

Could anyone please list some idioms that they use or idioms that are easy to embed and remember?

These are some that I found quite useful：

In general：
应有尽有 - to have all one needs/to be fully equipped
丰富多彩 - rich and varied
运用自如 - handle very skillfully/to operate easily/have perfect command of
互相联系 - mutually related
互相沟通 - communicate with each other
精神倍增 - be very lively
如痴如醉 - obsessed with
老少皆宜 - suitable for both the old and young
明智之举 - sensible act
四方八面 - all directions
中产阶级 - middle class
开阔眼界 - broaden one's horizons
心平气和 - calmly and without stress
跌脚捶胸 - angry or stressed about something
前景可期 - to have a promising（or bright) future
受益匪浅 - to benefit from
受益良多 - to benefit greatly
不自量力 - overestimate one's capabilities
衣食住行 - basic needs
妙手空空 - to not own a thing in the world/empty handed
分手代理 - does not have the heart to do so
手忙脚乱 - in a rush/in a hurry/to act with confusion
一清二白 - perfectly innocent/blameless
一清二楚 - perfectly clear/perfectly understood
一清如水 - as clear as water/honest and incorruptible
怡情悦性 - cheer the heart and compose the mind
美不胜收 - indescribably beautiful
可操左券 - to be certain of success/sure to succeed
息息相关 - be closely connected with
素质教育 - all-round education
远远超过 - surpassing by far

Idioms useful in evaluative writing essays in particular：
各持己见 - each sticks to their own view
见仁见智 - opinions differ
纷纷纭纭 - diverse and confused

Idioms used at the start of a conclusion:
综上所述 - to sum up/in summary (which could be shortened to 综上）
总而言之 - overall/long story short （which could be shorted to 总之）

You could search these up on http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php to find out the pinyin, further meanings, etc.
Hope these help！

Could anyone correct me or add more to the list?

[Shinkaze]

Hello fellow Chinese students. Our teacher has chosen "face' as our detailed study topic.

DID. YOU. JUST. STOLE. MY. IDEA. LOL

I was going to do that but since you do it I'll probably just leave it hahah! I'm thinking of doing 'fake products in China' but I'm not sure if it's okay or not because it's not a good side of Chinese culture? Someone give me advise please and thank you hahah!

[vobinhood]

I'm thinking of doing 'fake products in China' but I'm not sure if it's okay or not because it's not a good side of Chinese culture? Someone give me advise please and thank you hahah!

Hmm, I reckon the majority of detailed study topics would be something that relates to Chinese history and culture.
Fake products in China mostly relates to China's contemporary production chain and economy - not much of 中国文化历史 to talk about here.
So it might be something new that the assessors haven't heard before, drawing more attention to your DS !

[Shinkaze]

Hmm, I reckon the majority of detailed study topics would be something that relates to Chinese history and culture.
Fake products in China mostly relates to China's contemporary production chain and economy - not much of 中国文化历史 to talk about here.
So it might be something new that the assessors haven't heard before, drawing more attention to your DS !

I don't really like 文化历史 which is why I thought of this topic haha! I mean I've done a bit of background research and look how much information on the internet and seems like they do have quite a bit And I actually like the topic and it doesn't sound too commonly done? ( people please don't steal my idea LOL ) but yeah I'm just worried the assessors might say that I'm 'putting down' on their culture or something? Do you think they'll think it that way or?

[vobinhood]

I'm just worried the assessors might say that I'm 'putting down' on their culture or something? Do you think they'll think it that way or?

I don't think that they will judge you upon your opinion of the contemporary Chinese culture but they WILL mark you on your Chinese speaking ability. So as long as you carry the discussion with fluency and confidence, you'll be fine.

Moreover, I would say having such a brazen opinion would make you sound controversial and hence, stand out.
But by all means, check this through with your teacher at the start of the academic year.

[Shinkaze]

I don't think that they will judge you upon your opinion of the contemporary Chinese culture but they WILL mark you on your Chinese speaking ability. So as long as you carry the discussion with fluency and confidence, you'll be fine.

Moreover, I would say having such a brazen opinion would make you sound controversial and hence, stand out.
But by all means, check this through with your teacher at the start of the academic year.

I have no doubts on my Chinese speaking ability (well maybe I do...) but yeah I should be able to do fine hopefully A lot of people are telling me SLA people are fluent anyway so I just really want to stand out with my topic and thank you for the advise I'm definitely going to ask my teacher

[99.90 pls]

Theoretically, they won't judge you on your stance on Chinese culture. In practice, you can't be sure. Don't risk it. You don't need to stand out THAT much, it's more about:

1) Language (vocabulary, pronunciation, tone; do you sound like you're casually having a conversation or are you obviously regurgitating memorised lines?)

2) Structure and logical flow of your responses.

Example: Do you have any pet animals?
-Contention and quantification (Yes; I have three pets)
-Followed by argument/point/aspect 1 (A dog named Spot who does this and that)
-Aspect 2 (A frog who I met in a pond; brief anecdote)
-Aspect 3 (So on and so forth)
Conclusion (I love them all, they bring happiness and variety into my life; you can afford to spin a couple fancy-arse idioms in here)

Come oral exam time, I'd memorised about 60% of my script, and went ad lib more times than I would've liked; however, as long as you stick to this a logical format, you can't really go wrong, especially if you speak Mandarin at home.

[Leezy]

Theoretically, they won't judge you on your stance on Chinese culture. In practice, you can't be sure. Don't risk it. You don't need to stand out THAT much, it's more about:

1) Language (vocabulary, pronunciation, tone; do you sound like you're casually having a conversation or are you obviously regurgitating memorised lines?)

2) Structure and logical flow of your responses.

Example: Do you have any pet animals?
-Contention and quantification (Yes; I have three pets)
-Followed by argument/point/aspect 1 (A dog named Spot who does this and that)
-Aspect 2 (A frog who I met in a pond; brief anecdote)
-Aspect 3 (So on and so forth)
Conclusion (I love them all, they bring happiness and variety into my life; you can afford to spin a couple fancy-arse idioms in here)

Come oral exam time, I'd memorised about 60% of my script, and went ad lib more times than I would've liked; however, as long as you stick to this a logical format, you can't really go wrong, especially if you speak Mandarin at home.

And be sure to actually know what your talking about, if you just go off on memorised responses or if you fill your whole oral up with idioms, the examiners could catch you off guard with a question asking about your idiom. eg "因材施教是什么意思?“ Usually difficult questions are a good sign, it shows that you can improvise/understand a high level of chinese.

[Shinkaze]

Theoretically, they won't judge you on your stance on Chinese culture. In practice, you can't be sure. Don't risk it. You don't need to stand out THAT much, it's more about:

1) Language (vocabulary, pronunciation, tone; do you sound like you're casually having a conversation or are you obviously regurgitating memorised lines?)

2) Structure and logical flow of your responses.

Example: Do you have any pet animals?
-Contention and quantification (Yes; I have three pets)
-Followed by argument/point/aspect 1 (A dog named Spot who does this and that)
-Aspect 2 (A frog who I met in a pond; brief anecdote)
-Aspect 3 (So on and so forth)
Conclusion (I love them all, they bring happiness and variety into my life; you can afford to spin a couple fancy-arse idioms in here)

Come oral exam time, I'd memorised about 60% of my script, and went ad lib more times than I would've liked; however, as long as you stick to this a logical format, you can't really go wrong, especially if you speak Mandarin at home.

Yupp haha I just asked my teacher and that's what she said too But yeah I'm now thinking of doing 三字经，弟子规 or 二十四孝 now What do you guys think?

[99.90 pls]

Yupp haha I just asked my teacher and that's what she said too But yeah I'm now thinking of doing 三字经，弟子规 or 二十四孝 now What do you guys think?

Tbh, I have no idea what any of those are haha

The most important thing, though, is to make sure the topic is do-able. You are NOT judged on the difficulty of the topic at all. Some of my peers decided to go with harder topics and overload their script with idioms and complex language; it didn't do them any favours come exam time.

Try to study people, because in general, they're much easier to rote learn. (Although steer clear of politicians and politics in general) Birth date, family, childhood, career, achievements, relationships etc. can easily be memorised and regurgitated flawlessly, to your advantage. Personally, I did a Taiwanese singer (邓丽君) because my tutor had loads of information about her, and it wasn't a very common topic.

P.S. Such a dog, Leezy

[Shinkaze]

Hey! What are you guys up to? I just finished my general conversation and still thinking about the topic for detailed study Am I behind? ><

[lisax3]

Hey! What are you guys up to? I just finished my general conversation and still thinking about the topic for detailed study Am I behind? ><

How many words is everyone's general conversation so far? Mine's only 5000
And no you're not behind, I haven't finished my general conversation or started thinking about my detailed study ahaha