Just came over an interesting site, that has all its articles and even comments in both a Chinese and English version. This is certainly very helpful for intermediate to advanced Chinese learners, since they can read the Chinese version and afterwards the English version, to check if they understood everything correctly.

The site focuses on environmental issues. I only looked at a couple of articles and my impression so far is that it focuses more on good news and has an optimistic outlook. Maybe too optimistic sometimes, so the balance is a bit shifted…

But otherwise, it is an informative read and certainly helps to improve your Chinese skills. At the top right corner you can chose between English and Chinese. Some articles to get you started:

• Hainan: a province under pressure
  海南：生态省面临生态胁迫
• Campus action: Chinese students take a stand
  校园行动: 环保渐成中国大学生关注重点
• Asian nations face “unprecedented” water crisis
  亚洲将面临空前的水危机

Link: www.chinadialogue.net

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俗语：功到自然成
拼音：gōng dào zì rán chéng
解释：下了足够功夫，事情自然就会取得成效
翻译：With enough effort, success will come naturally.

Today’s proverb is 功到自然成. 功 is the effort, as you might now from 功夫, 下功夫. 成 is the success, like 成效, 成就. So it means “once effort is there, success will come naturally”. Reminds me of yesterday’s Slashdot article The Secret to Raising Smart Kids which basically states that “功到自然成”.
Other news: Since my proverbs and chengyu are getting more and more, I’ll try to tag them for better looking up.
Moving on to the examples:

• 别以为自己太傻了，没有天赋。应该相信功到自然成的的道理。
  Don’t think you are stupid and untalented. Believe that you can achieve success with sufficient effort.

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俗语：聪明一世，糊涂一时
拼音：cōng míng yī shì ， hú tú yī shí
翻译：Even smart people can have a momentary lapse in judgment.

A funny proverb that I came over today. 聪明 is smart. 糊涂 means confused, silly. 一世 means always in this case and 一时 means for a short time. So put together it means “Always smart, but confused for a moment” or “even smart people can have a momentary lapse in judgment”.
As an example I found this:

• 五年来的美国聪明一世，糊涂一时[news.sina.com]

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成语：得心应手
拼音：dé xīn yìng shǒu
解释：得：得到，想到；应：反应，配合。心里怎么想，手就能怎么做。比喻技艺纯熟或做事情非常顺利。
翻译：to come handy, to come natural; with high proficiency

This chengyu describes that you are very proficient and good at doing a certain task. 得心 is that what comes into your mind, what you are thinking or what you want to do. Thus notice that 心 refers to your mind! 应手 means that you can realize it or put into practice. Literally translated it is “the mind thinks and the hands do it”. The figurative meaning is that you can do something with a high proficiency, and that it comes natural and handy.
For example:

• 拼音输入法比较简单，只要习惯了，打字就会得心应手。
  Pinyin input method is rather easy. Once you are used to it, it will come very natural.
• 平时多做题，考试的时候解题就能得心应手。
  When you practice often, you will be able to solve the problems in a test with more ease.

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成语：夜长梦多
拼音：yè cháng mèng duō
解释：比喻时间一拖长，情况可能发生不利的变化
翻译：The longer you wait, the more unexpected, undesirable things can occur.

A very straightforward chengyu, which literally means “a long night has many dreams”. Although sleeping long and dreaming is usually something agreeable, in this idiom it commonly refers to a negative event (like nightmares).
For example:

• 这件事儿应该赶紧解决，免得夜长梦多。
  We should quickly get this done, so that nothing unwanted happens meanwhile.

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Here is an overview of some common types of Chinese dictionaries. While you are learning Chinese, you may have to use one or another so I hope this helps you to find out which dictionary you need to use (or buy…).

双语词典

What everyone who is learning a foreign language needs: a dictionary for two languages. For example 英汉/汉英词典 (english-chinese/chinese-english) or 德汉/汉德词典 (german-chinese/chinese-german). It contains translations for the characters as well as for words and expressions.

新华字典

The standard Chinese dictionary. Very compact and handy for looking up words. Note however that it is a 字典, which means there are explanations for characters and some common expressions, but there is no specific list of all possible compound words and expressions. In order to use it, you already need to have a certain level of Chinese so that you understand the Chinese explanations.

词典

This dictionary is more detailed than the previous one. This means you will find less common characters in it, too. In addition there is a list of many possible expressions and compound words with the current character. The one I’m using and recommend is 现代汉语词典.

成语词典

Chengyu are Chinese idioms, one which I focus on my site, too. There are so many of them, that an entire dictionary exists. It contains their explanation, as well as their origin, an example sentence and synonyms, antonyms.

小学生词典

As the name already says this dictionary is for schoolchildren. Nevertheless, I believe it is very helpful for language learners, too, because it also contains the stroke order for each character and the most common expressions. Furthermore it is compact and clearly structured, because it only contains important, easy and commonly used characters. And maybe the illustrations in it will improve your learning experience…

同义词／反义词词典

As the name already says this dictionary contains synonyms and antonyms. It is often used by students and comes handy for writing an essay or expanding your vocabulary.

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俗语：百闻不如一见，百见不如一干
拼音：bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn ， bǎi jiàn bù rú yī gàn
翻译：It’s better to see something with your own eyes instead of only hearing about it. And it’s better to do something instead of only seeing it.

I just came across this proverb which I like alot. 闻 means to hear, as you can see, there is an ear (耳) in the character. 不如 means “is not so good as”. So literally translated, the meaning is “Hearing something a hundred times is not so good as seeing it once. And seeing it a hundred times is not so good as doing it once.” So being practical and active is better than staying passive or depending or others.

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成语：与众不同
拼音：yǔ zhòng bù tóng
解释：跟大家不一样
翻译：different from the rest, standing out from the masses

That’s probably what a lot of parents are hoping their children to become. 众 are the masses of people, which can already be seen in the structure of the character. Three people 人 together! 与 means 和, 跟 and in this context it means from the masses, as the masses. 不同 is “not the same”. All together it is “Not the same as the masses”. So you see the Chinese and English order are a bit reversed. Furthermore this chengyu is mostly used in a positive sense.
Example:

• 很多家长都希望他们的孩出类拔萃，与众不同.
  Many parents are hoping that their children become outstanding and different from the rest.
• 他的打扮经常与众不同.
  He often wears very individual clothes.

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