Is it okay learn both Mandarin Chinese and Traditional writing?
My 4 y.o. son and I are learning Mandarin through Rosetta Stone, but we are practicing Traditional writing and calligraphy. Is this a waste of time?
I understand that through learning traditional, I can eventually learn Simplified. I’m not sure when we will ever get to China and there are no local Chinatowns near us, so still not sure if I should learn to speak Mandarin or Cantonese. Most of the books and resources seem to be in Simplified from catalogs and websites.
I just want to know the best way to go about learning Chinese without wasting time, money and effort.
Thanks in advance!
Simplified writing is simpler, but traditional writing is much more meaningful. I would recommend learning traditional characters, unless you really don’t care about characters other than learning as little as possible. As well, traditional characters are used in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
If you don’t know whether to learn Mandarin or Cantonese, definitely learn Mandarin. It is spoken by far more people, it has a much simpler set of sounds and tones, and it is not a written language in China (it is a written language in Hong Kong), and there are far more and better text books. I speak both Mandarin and Cantonese.
Rosetta Stone Chinese Review – Learn To Speak Chinese