Chinese proverb: 在家千般好，出门步步难 What does it mean?

Chinese proverb: 在家千般好，出门步步难

I have been trying to work out what this means in English, and would appreciate some help.  

This is what I have so far:

"在家千般好，出门步步难
zàijiā qiān bān hǎo, chūmén bù bù nán"

 

"在家" At home "千般好" much good,

"出门步步难" outside step step hard.

 

I think this proverb means "Home is very comfortable, stepping outside is hard."

 

What do you think?  对吗？

来italki一年了 My teacher, Elena Ann, said this. I'm trying to understand it correctly. 来italki一年了，有欢笑，有泪水，有失落，也有喜悦，感谢能和您一同成长。 i came to italki a year ago; there's been laughter, tears, loss and joy; i feel gratitude; and together, with all of you, we can grow. is this what this means?

Thank you to my Teacher, Elena, and all my iTalki Friends Dear Teacher Elena: This morning I received my academic results for last semester, for my Chinese language studies at my university in Australia. Because of your outstanding teaching, help and support, I received all high distinctions. This is the best possible result I could hope to achieve. Also, because of your teaching, I have received an academic exchange scholarship which will allow me to study further at a Chinese university for six months, later this year. 亲爱的教授，我非常感激，对您的教学和您的友谊。感谢您从我的心脏。 Your grateful student, Andrew

Thank You Dear Teacher I just received a formal offer of an exchange scholarship to study Chinese language at Tianjin Normal University in China. It is only through the excellent teaching and support of my italki teacher, Elena Ann, and the help of all my exchange partners on italki, that I have been able to qualify。 非常感谢你们！

Finding the right teacher I study Chinese at university in Melbourne. I have just completed my first semester, 6 months, of Chinese studies. I have good teachers at university, but in class, it's hard to get much individual attention. So italki has been a very important part of my study. I have a great Chinese teacher here on italki. Her name is Elena Ann (http://www.italki.com/teacher/1263046). We found each other by chance, but I have stayed with her by choice. She worked with me all through my difficult first semester of learning Chinese. She is clever, patient, kind and very, very persistent. It seems to me that finding a good teacher is very much by chance. I follow people on www.italki.com who interest me and watch what they say. You can tell a lot from how someone responds to a question. Trial lessons can help too. I think the idea of packages of lessons is a good one, as it is a bit of commitment, to stick with study for a period of time. To me, finding the right teacher is a bit like finding a girlfriend or boyfriend. It often starts by chance, you feel each other out, trying to see whether you are suited to each other. Often, you find the right person in quite unexpected places. Please tell me how you found your language teacher or tutor? Was it easy to find the right person? Did you stick with your first choice? Was it love at first sight? Do you have any hints for other students? ~~Andrew

怎么说：“请先走”？ Please correct: 我在队列中。我希望让一个年长的人先走。怎么说：“请先走”？

老师，非常感谢您！ Tonight I completed my last exam for this year in Chinese at my university in Melbourne. My lecturer says I passed. I am so happy! I absolutely could not have done it without you, Elena Ann. You have pushed and pulled me through this year. You are funny, patient, persistent, encouraging, cheerful, clever, strict and sometimes downright mean! :) In other words, you are a talented teacher. I know "friends don't need to thank", but 老师，非常感谢您！ Elena Ann: http://www.italki.com/teacher/1263046

Why am I learning Chinese? A Chinese friend recently asked me why I was learning Chinese. I thought about it a bit, and this was my reply: I am a pensioner, I live on my retirement earnings and work part-time. This gives me a lot of freedom to do and be precisely what I want. This includes working my way through my "bucket list", the list of things I want to do before I "kick the bucket" (a euphemism for dying). For instance, last year I ran away to sea, and spent three months as the only passenger on a large container ship. I travelled from China to South Africa, and then to South America's east coast, and then all the way back. It was fascinating and I loved it. My next major project is to live and work in China for a year. To do this, I am studying the teaching of English as a second language, and also Chinese language and culture. I study at RMIT University in Melbourne, and online, here on italki.com and other places. My motivation for learning Chinese is made up of a number of things. I strongly believe in lifelong learning. I believe that intensive and continued learning keeps my mind young and agile. I've been a programmer and worked with computers all my life. I've been able to absorb and manipulate the highly rational and orderly knowledge systems that characterise computing. If you like, I believe I am good at absorbing artificial languages, such as those used in computing. However, I suspect that "natural" languages, such as Chinese, require a totally different type of learning. I want to see if I am capable of learning a major human language, even though I am over sixty, and have never been fully fluent in any human language beyond my native English. Also, I am fascinated by China, both for it's future and it's amazing history. I have good friends in China, and want to continue visiting and exploring China. I believe that having at least a limited ability to speak and read Chinese will allow me to get closer to the "real" China and Chinese people. I also believe that the 21st century is the Chinese century, and that Chinese affairs are very important for Australia's present and future. So I want to understand China better, and feel that having access to it's language is essential to achieve this. I'm not starry-eyed about China. I understand that there are many issues facing China and it's leadership. This is a big part of why I want to be able to speak and read Chinese: so I can get closer to the sources of information and analysis of China's current affairs.

Courage - 勇气 Please correct this translation: "Courage does not always roar. Sometime, courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying 'Tomorrow, I will try again.'" 勇气不会时刻闪耀，有时勇气只是日末的一句低吟：明日再战。