A couple of thoughts to share, as someone who studied Mandarin in Taiwan the 1990s, encourages his kids to learn Chinese (1), and still loves to study 4-charact

A couple of thoughts to share, as someone who studied Mandarin in Taiwan the 1990s, encourages his kids to learn Chinese (1), and still loves to study 4-character colloquialisms: * "Chinese is a world script" - The author Tom Mullaney notes the rising popularity of Chinese classes in schools all over the world. I think Chinese script is actually holding back Mandarin from becoming more widely spoken. It's difficult to write properly, and adds another layer of complexity to remembering vocabulary. I think it's much easier for people to learn a language that has an alphabet-based script, and it's possible to go further with such a language in a given period of time. * Paradoxically, the rise of software to write Chinese characters has really made it much easier to write. I say this as someone who learned in the dark ages before such software was widely available. If I had to write a sentence in Chinese using a pen and paper it would be painful for both myself and the reader ... but on my phone or using a laptop or desktop computer I can manage social media, email, and other lightweight uses thanks to easy pinyin input systems. It's improved my reading ability, too, because now I am interacting in Chinese on my devices using language that's more like spoken Mandarin, whereas 20 years ago most of the printed materials I encountered tended to be written in more formal style. * Mandarin as a world language. The increasing importance of the Chinese economy is becoming a big driver for spoken Mandarin in other parts of the world. I've encountered Thais and Vietnamese who can speak it quite well (but not write) in order to do business or interact with Chinese tourists. A friend who recently visited Italy saw the same thing in high-end shops with young Italians behind the counters being able to speak proficient Mandarin. * I disagree with the idea presented by @peterburkimsher that a lack of spaces are a problem. Chinese grammar is very straightforward, and in my opinion it's not hard to figure where words start and end (even if you don't know a specific term). (Incidentally, kudos to Peter for developing his system ... I don't have specific suggestions to market it, but I like the idea of leveraging Fire Ex and other hooks). * There are interesting examples in Vietnam (2) and Korea of societies that abandoned Chinese characters in favor of their own alphabets. It's true that cultures lose the connection with ancient literature and older historical documents ... but not their history, thanks to the spread of literacy and public education combined with a strong interest in history and famous people from centuries past. 1. http://www.ilamont.com/2014/10/our-review-of-chinese-summer-camp-in.html http://www.ilamont.com/2014/10/our-review-of-chinese-summer-... 2. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/chunom.htm https://www.omniglot.com/writing/chunom.htm