Easy for elementary school students to remember! A four-character idiom that expresses the feeling of trying your best
Many elementary school students may be thinking, “I’m trying so hard, but I’m not seeing results…” Surely the adults around them, watching over their efforts, also want to offer the right words.
In these seven articles, we introduce four-character idioms that express children’s desire to “try hard” and their spirit of “persevering.” They’re easy for elementary schoolers to understand and useful in everyday life, so learn their origins too and let them motivate you in your studies and club activities!
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- Learn the meanings too! Cool four-character idioms that elementary school students will want to remember
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- For Elementary School Students: Four-Character Idioms You Can Use for New Year’s Resolutions — How to Set Cool Goals!
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Easy for elementary school kids to remember! Four-character idioms that express determination (51–60)
Say what you mean, do what you say.4
It’s a phrase often used to boost motivation by declaring your goals, with the idea that you absolutely follow through on what you say you’ll do.
It’s a playful twist on the original expression “fugen jikkō” (silent execution), which means to act without saying anything, and it is said to have become widely known through Hiromitsu Ochiai’s use of it.
It conveys the importance of putting goals into words and how doing so solidifies your resolve to push forward.
By clearly expressing your goals in words, you may also start to see the path for how to move ahead.
a serious match4
This four-character idiom expresses giving something your all and tackling it with true seriousness; it conveys the determination to seize your goal.
Originally, it referred to fighting with real swords and risking one’s life, but from the sense of “a life-or-death exchange,” it came to be used as a phrase that expresses moving forward with firm resolve.
Because it involves a contest with real swords, one might picture interactions between people, but it’s used for all kinds of goals.
Rather than meaning to defeat a goal, it reads more as an expression of one’s stance—of setting one’s own resolve.
Independence and self-reliance4
It’s a phrase that expresses the stance of acting on your own judgment and strength without interference from others or outside forces, and taking responsibility for it.
It strongly conveys the idea of holding firmly to yourself and pushing forward.
It also expresses the strength to carry things out by your own power rather than relying on those around you, in order to stick to your own way of thinking.
It feels like words that teach you what’s necessary to live true to yourself, carrying a strong, determined will.
cooperation in unity5
It’s a four-character idiom that expresses uniting hearts and joining forces, embodying a spirit of compromise and a drive to push forward.
When there are multiple people, differences of opinion can arise, but it conveys the idea of overcoming them and moving toward a shared goal.
It suggests an ideal in which exchanging views, setting a single objective, and advancing toward it unleashes great strength.
Rather than a phrase that simply seeks friendliness, it conveys a forward-driving attitude of mutually elevating one another and pressing ahead.
Easy for elementary school kids to remember! Four-character idioms that express a spirit of striving (61–70)
unity; standing together as one5
The four-character idiom “icchi danketsu” is often used as a slogan at events like sports festivals.
It means becoming one and cooperating together.
Even walls that can’t be overcome by one person can sometimes be surmounted when everyone combines their strength.
Acting with one heart toward the same goal brings friends closer and deepens relationships.
Since each person has a different way of thinking and a different personality, it’s not easy, but when your class is working toward a single goal, please remember this phrase.
giving it your all5
In baseball, when a pitcher throws the ball with all their strength, it’s called “zenryoku-tōkyū,” meaning a full-power pitch.
In other words, it means facing something by using all of your strength.
Don’t you also have moments when you need to give it your all? For example, before a sports match or a test.
You cut back on time for games or videos to practice or study, right? When we see that kind of dedication, we say, “That’s zenryoku-tōkyū.” Putting your whole heart into something and aiming higher is truly wonderful.
coexistence and mutual prosperity5
Living and succeeding by helping one another is called “coexistence and mutual prosperity.” It can be difficult in situations where there are winners and losers, but it’s wonderful when everyone can get along and work hard together.
That way, we can inspire each other, and by learning ways of thinking we ourselves don’t have, we may even increase our chances of success.
Instead of thinking only about yourself, please try to spend your days with kindness, keeping others in mind as well.
I’m sure that, in the end, it will come back around and benefit you too.


