#heritagelost

[lovedecorateletters]

Notre Dame ~ beautifully profiled in the book: Monuments that tell stories of Paris. I hope the story of Notre Dame May continue.., 😭 #notredame #sadforparis #heritagelost #ourhopeisingod #lovedecorateletters https://www.instagram.com/p/BwT_hxVhV2C/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1r7jnk4qnsojy

[thechartreuselife]

Just a few more images of Notre Dame de Paris. The last image in the group is taken on the Ile de la Cite, but a couple blocks from the cathedral, with St Chapelle’s tower in the background. . #notredamedeparis #parismourns #unbelievable #parisfrance #heritagelost #chartreuseandco (at Île de la Cité) https://www.instagram.com/chartreuseandco/p/BwSYw-tnnhh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1enf1stw1l0u4

[the-queenmaker]

☯ & ☪! I was also wondering if you have any particular 成語 or phrases that you use a lot/find very useful or versatile?

☯ : what do you love about your language?

The thing I love the most about Chinese (with a focus on the writing system, which is across the board for multiple dialects, and also is my favorite part of my language) is how complex and meaningful it is. Every word looks like a small picture that shows how people saw them originally, and understanding how they saw those pictures connects us to our past. 

Like a really easy example: the character for “wood” is 木 (which looks a bit like a tree, yes?) so if you take two of the trees and put a whole bunch of them together you get 森林 (”forest”). Put it under the 利 sound (“li”) sound character and you get 梨 (”pear”, pronounced “li”). Put it next to the character for “wind” (風) and you get 楓 (“maple”, and both are pronounced “feng”). 

There are better examples out there probably (like the one I wrote for pretty), but that’s my favorite thing by far. 

☪ : what do you hate about your language?

Lol hate is a real strong word there, but there’s one criticism I have about Chinese (again, writing) is that it’s not very accessible. Like, back in the day, you really had to dedicate your life to this thing, that’s why education was such a big deal, it showed your “class” because of how much work you had to dedicate to memorizing thousands and thousands of characters. For that reason, I understand why they implemented a simplified characters system (for accessibility) but at the same time, a part of me feels really sad because the simplified system loses a bit for me. 

The example I always use is the character for “love”. The simplified 爱 has a 友 (”friend”) on the bottom. The traditional 愛 has a 心 (”heart”) in the middle. Small differences, see? 

Lol I realized this turned into an ode to the writing system rather than the language, but it’s actually hard for me to talk about the speaking part of it because Taiwanese/Mandarin was my first language so I don’t remember learning it? Whereas the writing part I really had to try to keep up with so it stands out more to me. ^^;

As for the second part of your question, I wouldn’t know where to start lol because there’s just so many and when you say 成語, I think you might be referring to the four-character idioms? And those aren’t so widely used anymore? But just off the top of my head:

一言九鼎 (”one word nine pots”) is basically a verbal pinky promise.

驚弓之鳥 ("surprise arrow of bird”) indicates someone who’s jumpy due to a past hurt. 

名落孫山 (”name falls grandchildren mountain”) indicates someone who’s fallen behind their competition. 

三人成虎 (”three people become lion”) is used when rumors are spread so much that they become fact. 

[infj-feelings]

At the urge of my friends, I took the Meyer Briggs test once and got INFJ. I stumbled upon this blog and everything here is so on point and relevant that I'm trying not to reblog every single post, but it's so difficult!

(Not trying to be a party-pooper, but I suggest you take the test several times and alone, just to be sure of your type.)

I’m glad you can relate to the things I post, and feel free to reblog to your heart’s content!

– Hana