English Idioms

Why do people start language learning? For many it is a necessity and a chore but for others it is a delight and a passion. This podcast episode will go over my journey of the last 5 years of discovering languages for myself and how I got into it, as well as what brings me to iTalki to become a language tutor. Hope this episode brings everyone here encouragement in their own language learning journey!

Chinese Idiom: 南辕北辙 (nán yuán běi zhé) Hello everyone! 大家好👋 Welcome back to my Chinese idiom sharing! Today we learn a classic and useful four-character idiom: 南辕北辙. Basic Info Pinyin: nán yuán běi zhé English meaning: Heading in opposite directions; actions contradict goals （行动与目标完全相反，越努力离目的地越远） The Story 成语典故 Once a man wanted to go to the southern State of Chu, but he drove his carriage straight to the north. His friend reminded him: “Chu is in the south! You are going the wrong way.” The man said proudly: “My horse runs fast, I have enough money, and my driver is excellent!” He never realized that wrong direction makes all advantages useless. The better his conditions were, the farther he got from his goal. 从前有个人想去南方的楚国，却驾着马车一路向北走。 朋友提醒他：“楚国在南边，你方向走反了！” 此人却自信地说：“我的马跑得快、路费很充足、车夫技术也好！” 他始终不明白：方向错了，所有优势都毫无意义。自身条件越好，反而离目标越远。 3. Meaning & Usage This idiom describes: Your actions are totally opposite to your goals. No matter how hard you try, you will not succeed. 这个成语比喻： 行动和目的正好相反，方向出错，再努力也无法达成目标。 Examples 1. 如果你目标是学好中文，却从不练习，那就是南辕北辙。 If your goal is to learn Chinese well but you never practice, you are heading in opposite directions. 2. 方法不对，所有努力都南辕北辙。 Wrong methods make all efforts contradict your goals. Hope you understand this idiom well and can use it in daily Chinese conversations! Leave a comment below if you like today’s sharing, and tell me which Chinese idiom you want to learn next~

Hi, I just wanted to know if anyone is interested in language exchange for your English or Chinese, and my Korean. I'm a native Korean, intermediate in English and a beginner in Chinese. Let's learn from each other on a regular basis.

English students try this. Choose the correct answer.

马🐎mã In 2026, the Chinese zodiac year is the Year of the Horse.

are the times posted in my time zone

Hi! I'm still in Phu Quoc. I was able to change my hotel because it was too noisy in the old one. Well, I feel really tired because I've changed a lot of places for living lately.

Todos queremos mejorar a la hora de hablar Inglés, la pregunta del millón... ¿Cómo? Hay muchas maneras y me da gusto poder compartir contigo tan sólo una... Mi dicho es: ya todos hablamos Inglés es sólo que todavía no nos damos cuenta. ¿No me crees? Te lo compruebo justo ahora: tú ya sabes cómo se dice la palabra "enfrentar", ¿Te acuerdas cómo se llama esa red social que tiene la F azul? El face... y así se dice enfrentar o encarar en Inglés. ¿Te gustaría aprender más palabras así de fácil?

I came across an interesting comments online about the pros and cons when you turn on your personal computer(PC) all the time. I often use my PC at work and at home, too. So, I would like to summarize and share some of the interesting points here. Many people might worry about if we should turn off your PC after you work every time you use it. Because it takes some time to start up your PC again once you shutdown it. The upsides to keep turning on PC are as follows 1) It turns on quickly 2) It puts less strain on Hard Disc Drive(HDD) 3) Data in the storage is hard to be gone. These are in case of long use at work. On the other hand, the downsides are 1) It eats a lot of electricity bill. 2) It deteriorates and shortens lifespan of a PC. 3) The cooling fan is noisy during the night 4) Sometimes it is forced to be shutdown for some reason. Especially regarding electricity bill, a penny saved a penny earned. The comments shows how you should handle depending on the use frequency of your PC. A) A few times a week: Shutdown every time after you are done. You sometimes start up your PC even when you don't have to use it. B) A few times a day: Use sleep function during the day and shutdown your PC during the night. C) Long time use every day: Basically use sleep function. Shutdown it once a week. I think I have to distinguish my PC depending on where I use it,