After learning basic characters, the next level in Chinese is combining them into words, and then idioms. This free guide helps you understand advanced idioms like 「自告奮勇」. Meaning and usage are below.
Let’s dive into the idiom 「自告奮勇」. Its definition and application are outlined below.
告: to say, to express. Take the initiative to ask for a difficult task.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
zì gào fèn yǒng
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
ji6 gou3 fan5 yung5
There are a countless number of Chinese idioms, each with unique meanings and applications. We’ve provided these resources to help guide you as you dive deeper into learning Chinese.

