It is important for foreign students to learn popular Chinese expressions when they come to study in Mandarin language courses in China if they want better understanding of Chinese people. For instance, 把话说清楚is one of those you should understand which is applied to require that the other party should give a clear explanation. For instance, 甲：有人老在领导面前说我的坏话，别以为我不知道。乙：把话说清楚，你说的”有人”指的是谁？

Another level of meaning is that to indicate some consequences that will take place under abnormal situation or this abnormal situation is not expected. For example, 这种产品正常情况下可以使用十年，不过咱们把话说清楚，使用不当会大大缩短它的寿命。Sometimes, it can be 话说清楚 like 大家有困难，我会尽力帮助解决，不过话说清楚，谁想让我帮他做违法的事，想都别想. When it refers to the first level of meaning, it shows doubt or dissatisfaction while the latter case is a reminder or warn.

There is a pattern with similar meaning that the foreign students often see when they learn Chinese online free is 把话说在前面, which is used to indicate some fact exists or it is possible to have some unsatisfactory results, emphasizing that it is not the speaker’s fault if this case really happen. It is usually used in the first person, carrying the tone of warning. For example, 我帮你找了个工作，不过咱们把话说在前面，这工作很辛苦，待遇也不高，你看要不要干？

Another expression that the students should know when they learn to speak Chinese is 算了， meaning to think it is not necessary to do so and it should give up or not be investigated. It often used to persuade and comfort. Sometimes it carried the tine of having no choice and letting the things drift. We can say算了，旧的不去，新的不来. We can say as 罢了.