Originally Posted by Wren
And even if I am wrong, I think DD will be better off knowing Mandarin than not.
Ren

I think learning Chinese is too hard to make it worthwhile for non-Chinese . I have not tried to learn Chinese, but there is an interesting essay "Why Chinese Is So Damn Hard" by David Moser, who has: http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html .

"To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle." - George Orwell