成语：千里送鹅毛
拼音：qiān lǐ sòng é máo
解释：比喻礼物虽轻，但情意深厚

A not so known, but still very straightforward Chengyu where it helps to know the story behind it. Literally translated it means to bring a swan feather over 1000 miles as a present. 里 (Li) is an old Chinese unit of length that corresponds to 500 m.

The Chengyu story behind it is that during the Tang dynasty many people bought valuable presents from far away to the emperor. So there happened to be one man from a very remote region who wanted to present a very beautiful white swan to the emperor. During the long trip the swan got quite dirty, so when he arrived at a lake, he took the swan out of the cage so that it could…eh… take a bath. But to his big anger the swan flew away!!! (What a surprise…) So after a phase of despair he picked up a few left feathers and decided to see the emperor anyway. At the palace he felt quite uncomfortable among all the other visitors with big presents. When it was his turn he said 礼轻情意重，千里送鹅毛 which means that my present is little but my sympathy is grand, this is why I am bring you this feather from so far away. To his fortune the emperor forgave him and even had to laugh at his cleverness.

So this Chinese idiom is used to describe that even though a present looks small, the effort and the sentiments behind it where big.

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• 笨鸟先飞 bèn niǎo xiān fēi (2)

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：滚瓜烂熟
拼音：gǔn guā làn shú
解释：象从瓜蔓上掉下来的瓜那样熟。形容读书或背书流利纯熟。

This chengyu is a synonym to 倒背如流. 瓜 (gua1) is the water melon. 滚 (gun3) means to roll. In this context it refers to the melon falling down and rolling a bit. 烂熟 (lan4 shu2) means that the melon is very ripe, so that it almost cracks open. Here you have to know that the Chinese character 熟 can stand for a ripe fruit, but also means that you are very familiar with something and someone. This is important to keep in mind. Then then meaning of the whole chengqyu will be much clearer. “To know something as good by heart as a ripe melon”. This comparison doesn’t really exist in English, but this is still an easy way to memorize it. Basically it expresses that you memorized something very well. However, you have to add a verb like “背“ (to memorize) in front of it, while in 倒背如流 you don’t have to because it is already in the chengyu.
Example (例子):

• 他把这首古诗背得滚瓜烂熟。
  He memorized this poem very well.

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成语：笨鸟先飞
拼音：bèn niǎo xiān fēi
解释：行动笨拙的鸟要先飞。比喻能力差的人怕落后，做事比别人先动手。
翻译：a slow sparrow should make an early start

Literally translated this means “the stupid bird flies first”. It doesn’t have such a negative meaning as it suggests. All it means is that someone with lower abilities should start off earlier, because he knows he is behind the rest, so he is ready to do more work in order to catch up. An appropriate English translation is “a slow sparrow should make an early start”.
For example:

• 自己能力差，只能笨鸟先飞，多下点功夫。
  If your skill is low, you have to work harder, because a slow sparrow should make an early start.

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成语：一举两得
拼音：yī jǔ liǎng dé
解释：做一件事得到两方面的好处。

In this chengyu we see the word 举 (ju3) again.In this context however it means “act” as in 举动 (ju3 dong4). 得 (de2) means to receive. It is a positive chengyu meaning that you can benefit in two ways from one act. An English translation would be “to kill two birds with one stone”. In German it is “zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen”.
Here is an example (例子):

• 天天运动既对身体好又能减肥，岂不是一举两得？
  Daily sport practice is good for your health and reduces weight, isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?

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成语：举一反三
拼音：jǔ yī fǎn sān
解释：反：类推。比喻从一件事情类推而知道其他许多事情。

举 (ju3) in this context means “to give, to provide”. 反 (fan3) in this chengyu means “to turn, to derive”. I hope you already know 一 and 三 when you are learning Chinese. But for all who don’t, it’s easy: one stroke is “one” and three strokes is “three”. See how easy and logical Chinese can be? Back to today’s lesson: This chengyu is often used when talking about education and learning methods. It means that with one example you should be able to derive several others from it. Especially when doing exercises you should remember 举一反三. Chinese students hear this chengyu a lot, because they have to do a lot of practice exercises. For example when you learn 1+2=3, with 举一反三 method you should find out by yourself that 2+1=3 and 3-1=2 and 3-2=1. So from one example you learned three other important facts.
Let’s look at an example:

• 做习题时要动脑筋，最好能够举一反三，这样才最有效.
  When doing practice exercises you should use your brain and extrapolate learned material, this way you get the most out of it.

I never heard of the word extrapolate before, but it means “to infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information” and is a suitable translation for 举一反三.

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成语：过目不忘
拼音：guò mù bù wàng
解释：看过就不忘记。形容记忆力非常强。

This chengyu is also related to reading, just like the 一目十行. It is quite easy to understand: “Passing your eyes and not forgetting”. 过目 refers to a quick reading through. So 过目不忘 means reading something through just once and not forgetting it after that. It shows that one has a strong visual memory.

Some examples:

• 他读书总是过目不忘，所以考试很轻松。
  He can memorize everything he is reading, that’s why taking tests is very easy for him.
• 我多希望看书能过目不忘，那样学习该多容易啊！
  I wish I could remember everything I read when studying. Studying would be so much easier then!

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