errrr i speak cantonese which is the 'easy route' as i think mandarin is like x10 harder. all my family speak cantonese anyway so i wouldn't have a reason to speak mandarin, though my dad claims to be able to speak mandarin a bit. i think it's so much easier to speak than to write it. fact: i can't write my own name which is so ******* shameful and yep i'm ashamed, my parents probably secretly are too. i sat down, got my dad to write it out and tried to copy it but it's literally not as easy as tracing it/trying to draw a similar thing because chinese people legit can see when you've just tried to copy because there's a certain order you have to draw each little line thing in a chinese character. if you do it in the wrong order you can just tell as it doesn't look right and can easily be mistaken for another word.
lol sorry if it's a bit long but yeah. if you're passionate about it by all means go for it, but i can't even take in the easy option and it's rewarding if you can and i'd say it's something you can be proud of. lol a chinese person who doesn't know chinese, i feel embarrassed of myself.
