[Review] What kind of textbook is "New Edition Chinese Four-Character Idioms & Common Expressions 800 with CD"? Introducing effective study methods
Hello, I am Ijichi (the courage @taroijichi@taroijichi), a coach at
I have looked through over 100 grammar books to create curricula, and based on that experience, I would like to review textbooks that you might be curious about, as I am also interested in them myself.
This is the one I am reviewing today!
I have tried to write this as detailed as possible, but if there is anything else you would like to know, please feel free to contact me. Let's take a look right away!
Content included
The content included in this book consists of the following three types:
・Four-character idioms (chengyu) often used in spoken language
・Common expressions that are difficult to understand through literal translation
・Proverbs that are common knowledge for Chinese people
Also, as similar books, there are excellent titles from Koseikan such as "300 Chinese Idioms You Want to Remember" and "300 Chinese Chengyu You Want to Remember", and since this book seems to cover almost all of that content, you don't need to worry about the volume of information included 😊
Feature 1: Learn in conversation format
Each page contains four idioms or common expressions, and because you can learn them within example sentences in a conversation format, it is easy to visualize the usage scenarios and remember them.
Also, it comes with audio, including Chinese to Japanese, and all conversation sentences. The audio length is about 1 minute per page, and the speed is slightly slower than that of a native speaker.
It is not too difficult, so if you have passed the Chinese Proficiency Test Level 2 or HSK Level 5, you can learn it without any trouble.
By the way, although it comes with a CD, you can also download the audio even if you don't have a CD player 😊 That's a relief.
Feature 2: Categorized entries
Instead of alphabetical order by Pinyin, Parts 1 to 3 are categorized by animals, numbers, and others. For example, it looks like this:
Part 1: Niú tóu bù duì mǎ zuǐ (Cow's head doesn't match horse's mouth): Inconsistent
Part 2: Yī fēn qián yī fēn huò (One cent money, one cent goods): You get what you pay for
Part 3: Yìngzhetóupí (Hardening the scalp): Doing something reluctantly but taking the plunge
In Parts 4 and 5, 80 common expressions & proverbs and chengyu are included respectively along with example sentences. *There is no audio for Part 4 and beyond 😢
In Part 6, 160 expressions similar to Japanese are listed with translations. *There are no example sentences for Part 6 😢
If you are the type who gets fired up by saying "I'm going to build this up steadily in alphabetical order!", that's fine, but for those who want to learn a bit more enjoyably, this categorization is very helpful.
Feature 3: Similar and opposite expressions are also clearly noted when included.
I think this is a really great way of writing it. When looking at this type of textbook, you sometimes feel, "Wait, wasn't there something with a similar meaning?" and this book covers that thoroughly.
Recommended level and effective study methods
Includes a sample schedule
I think it will be easier to learn if you tackle this after you have acquired a certain level of general vocabulary, such as after passing HSK Level 5 or the Chinese Proficiency Test (Chuken) Level 2.
Also, regarding the pace, the textbook says 2 pages a day for 2 months, but I think you could push yourself a little more.
Part 1 has 25 audio tracks, each lasting just under a minute, so listening to all 25 tracks in Part 1 only takes 25 minutes. Since it is calculated that it won't take an hour even if you listen and read aloud carefully to memorize them, I recommend doing all of Part 1 every day for a week.
After that, it is good to continue with Part 2 every day for a week, and then Part 3 every day for a week in the same way.
For the subsequent Parts 4 to 6, there is no audio, so after roughly memorizing the whole thing, register only the parts that are difficult to remember into a vocabulary app to learn them for about 3 weeks, and continue reading aloud Parts 1 to 3 during that time as well. By doing this, I think it would be good to finish in about 6 weeks.
▼Sample Schedule▼
Week 1: Read aloud all of Part 1 every day
Week 2: Read aloud all of Part 2 every day
Week 3: Read aloud all of Part 3 every day
Week 4: Review all of Parts 4-6 (& read aloud Part 1)
Week 5: Register difficult parts of Parts 4-6 into an app and repeat (& read aloud Part 2)
Week 6: Repeat the difficult parts even more (& read aloud Part 3)
Please give it a try!
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